AN inaugural writing competition managed by the Lake District Holocaust Project attracted entries from schools across the country.

The awards were in honour of Alfred Huberman, a young man who arrived in the Lake District from Eastern Europe in 1945 as part of a large group of child Holocaust survivors. It was in the Lakes that they were to begin to rebuild their lives.

Alfred was a gentle person with a passion and ability for writing. He had a long-standing emotional attachment to the Lake District and it was felt that these were reasons why the Alfred Huberman Award should be established in Windermere.

Schools from as far afield as Sussex and Surrey submitted works in the inaugural awards alongside those from South Lakeland, Furness and North Lancashire. The entries were looked at by three lots of judges including the Huberman family and the decisions were virtually unanimous.

Secondary school winner Isabel Hughes, of Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale, wrote in the words of one of the judges "a sophisticated and powerful poem" called 'Falling Glass,' about Kristellnacht.

The judges described the structure of the poem as being 'very strong' and the poem as a whole 'perfectly balanced.' "We will all remember this one," commented the judges.

Second prize winner Isabelle Walker, of Ulverston, was said by the judges to have "produced a piece of writing that looked and felt like an authentic artefact. She took the voice of a ten year old boy and never stepped out of 'character'. The resulting document is moving and intensely powerful."

While John Sedgwick, of Settlebeck School, Sedbergh, who won third prize, was said to have written an extraordinarily powerful piece from the point of view of a Nazi soldier who questioned his conscience.

"It is important that the memory of the Holocaust should be remembered so that we can all attempt to pass on to each generation of children the lessons that can be learned from studying such an appalling moment in human history," said Rose Smith, a senior adviser with the Lake District Holocaust Project. "Alfred had a commitment to telling his story in schools, a commitment now carried on by members of his family, and this award takes his commitment to education out and across the country."

"This was a fascinating competition to judge," said author Catherine Edmunds. "Ultimately it was very uplifting to see how well the children had understood what they had been taught, with all the implications of what had happened. The best writing was superlatively good."

Winners were: Secondary Schools: 1st Prize - Isabel Hughes, Queen Elizabeth School, Kirkby Lonsdale; 2 Isabelle Walker, Ulverston Victoria High School, Ulverston; 3 John Sedgwick, Settlebeck High School, Sedbergh.

Primary Schools: 1st Prize - Thomas Twydell, Milbourne Lodge School, Esher, Surrey; 2 Ruby Gordon, Ghyllside Primary School, Kendal; 3 Pip Park, St Cuthbert's County Primary School, Windermere.