WATERBORO — When Molly Doyle was in third grade, she read the book “Number the Stars.” Written by Lois Lowry, the work of historical fiction outlines an attempt by a 10-year-old to rescue a young Jewish woman by pretending she was her sister during the Nazi occupation of Denmark in World War II.

If you think that might be a weighty subject for a 9-year-old, you’d be right, but the book helped spark further research ”“ and a chance for Doyle to take part in a nationwide history contest in the Washington, D.C. area next month.

“It was so powerful,” said Doyle, 14, who is now finishing up her eighth grade year. “When you’re in the third grade, you don’t think anything like that happens.”

In January, Doyle decided to tackle a different aspect of the Holocaust ”“ the folks who deny it ever happened ”“ those who insist that 6 million Jews weren’t murdered, that there weren’t gas chambers at Auschwitz, and that Adolph Hitler never really intended to exterminate all Jews from the face of the Earth.

Her project for the Maine History Day competition ”“ researching the topic and then building a website to illustrate what she’d learned ”“ earned her a first place in the junior category for website creation. The win means she’s been invited to compete in the National History Day competition in the Washington, D.C. area in June. She’s hoping to go if she can raise the funds to do so.

Doyle, who lives in West Newfield, said she knew her submission, called “Folks, it’s a Hoax, a project on the views of Holocaust denial,” would be risky and difficult to do. This year’s theme is “Rights and Responsibilities.” She said the topic meant she’d have to show both aspects over time. And, she said, she knew the research and sources had to be strong.

“The project meant a lot to me, because you can have an effect … I’d like to change people’s minds, show the hurt caused to people ”“ open people’s minds,” she said.

The topic of the Holocaust and its deniers has been on her mind for some time, fueled by her reading when she was younger.

That early reading of “Number the Stars” led to her sixth-grade project on Kristallnacht, the November 1938 night in Germany and Austria where the windows of synagogues, storefronts and buildings owned by Jews were smashed. Instigated by the Nazi regime, rioters burned or destroyed 267 synagogues, vandalized or looted 7,500 Jewish businesses, and killed at least 91 Jewish people, according to an account on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum website.

Doyle learned about Kristallnacht from Johanna Neumann, whose family eventually escaped Germany for Albania, and lived there first under the Italian Occupation and then the German Occupation. Neumann, affiliated with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, was a child when the Nazis came to her family’s door in Germany one night. The neighbors heard them outside, Doyle related, and said the family had left. Miraculously, the officers left.

Doyle and Neumann “met” corresponding through letters, email and eventually a telephone interview through the efforts of family friends. And so when Doyle decided to examine the deniers earlier this year, she valued her continuing conversations with Neumann, who she’s never met in person, but hopes to, next month.

The teen, who plans to attend St. Thomas School in Dover, N.H. in the fall, examined the writings of Holocaust deniers David Irving and Ernst Zündel, among others, along with what she called “everyday denial,” that currently plays out on the Internet.

A section of her website uses historical photographs taken in concentration camps ”“ and asks, “How can one deny this?”

“I believe Holocaust denial is a perfect example of people being irresponsible with their rights to insult and target a specific religion, race, and persons who have already been antagonized in a barbaric fashion,” Doyle wrote in a process paper on her website. “It is my hope that any readers of this website will help extinguish the fire of Holocaust denial.”

In addition to her invitation to compete in National History Day, Doyle recently received word she has been chosen by the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine as the “Outstanding Student of the Year” in her grade because of her website and work on Holocaust denial, and has been invited to a reception on June 1 at Bates College in Lewiston.

Doyle is aware that her generation might not be as aware of the Holocaust ”“ and its deniers ”“ as previous generations. And she’s mindful that ignorance of what happened in the world from the late 1930s to the end of World War II in 1945 might cause it to be repeated.

“The more we can get the younger generation to understand, the better,” Doyle said.

To view Doyle’s website, go to http://96912891.nhd.weebly.com.

Doyle has raised about $400 of the $1,500 she needs to make the trip. Contributions to Doyle’s travel fund for the trip to the National History Day competition in the Washington, D.C. area may be sent to: Molly Doyle, 515 Garland Road, West Newfield, ME 04095.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].