News from History …
Essay competition success for Oyin Adewale
Well done to Oyin Adewale in Year 12 who won second prize in a History essay competition organised by the Foundation for the History of Totalitarianism. Oyin wrote a very impressive essay which greatly impressed the judges of the competition. She attended the prize giving ceremony at the Polish Embassy in London. The awards were presented by the Polish ambassador Professor Arkady Rzegocki. Well done Oyin, what a fantastic achievement!
“Over the Christmas holidays I wrote an essay about Witold Pilecki, a Polish soldier believed to be the only person to voluntarily enter the Auschwitz concentration camp. He entered the camp to report the behaviour of the Nazis back to a secret resistance organisation that he co-founded. Pilecki was selfless to the point where the freedom of his country was worth more to him than his own freedom. Writing this essay caused me to reflect on my own values and whether I could be a greater help to others.
I met many interesting people at the Polish Embassy; I even spoke to someone who had written two books on my EPQ subject! COVID was still very much present, we had to take a group picture with our masks on, which made it quite difficult to look happy. The History of Totalitarianism is holding another essay competition this year and I would encourage anyone in year 12 or 13 to enter.”