“Alef” announces the Eighth National Youth Literary Competition “Who saves one human life, saves a whole universe”

The theme of the narrative competition is “I’ll tell you about my savior”

Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation „Alef” launched the VIII National Youth Literary Competition “Who saves one human life, saves a whole universe.” The theme of the eighth edition of the competition is “I will tell you about my savior”. It challenges young authors to unleash their imagination by relying on historical justice.

There are many examples of dignified behavior and fateful choices that the Bulgarian people make to save their Jews during the Holocaust.

Who is the savior who prevented them from being sent to the death camps? What made him/her risk his/her life to save another person? How does it feel to be in danger and to rely on the courage of a friend or on the morals and philanthropy of a stranger? These are some of the questions that contestants will seek answers to through their narratives.

“Alef “will support young authors with information and bibliography about the Holocaust in Bulgaria, published in the virtual library on our website: www.alef-bg.org.

The narratives will be judged by an authoritative jury. The winners will receive monetary prizes, but there are also many material incentives. The winners / 1^st , 2^nd , 3^rd place / in the competition will have the right to apply for an annual scholarship / 12 months x BGN 135 / or for a one-time financial support of up to BGN 195 according to the Ordinance on the terms and conditions for protection of gifted children and the Program of measures for protection of gifted children. All nominated students will be invited to Burgas for a solemn award ceremony at the expense of the organizers in the spring of 2021.

The national youth literary competition “Who saves one human life, saves a whole universe” organized by Center “Alef” is increasingly emerging as a valuable challenge for creativity. The co-organizer of Alef is the Municipality of Burgas which has supported the competition since its inception. Burgas which is becoming increasingly popular as a city of tolerance, is establishing itself as the capital of youth messages for a more harmonious and humane world through it. The competition is supported by the National Palace of Children and is included in the National Calendar of the Ministry of Education and Science again.

Alef’s prestigious forum for youth creativity not only provides a platform for the manifestation of literary skills for the eighth time, but also proves itself as a means of building a civic position, for the formation of human virtues and their transformation into a personal being. This is especially important today, because a number of situations in modern reality put people’s moral qualities to the test.

The number of participants in the first seven editions of the literary competition exceeded 1,100. More and more students from different settlements in the country are participating in the competition, which is already enjoying an international response.

The eighth edition of the literary competition “Who saves one human life, saves a whole universe” starts on 11^th of November 2020. High school students from all over the country can take part in it with their narratives. Their literary works will be accepted until 1^st of March 2021.

All nominated narratives will be collected in a book edition. The collections containing the awarded literary works from the first five editions, as well as those in the 6^th and 7^th competitions, are available in libraries all over the country and the Ministry of Education and Science honored them with the trust to help in the “Dignity Class” campaign as a unique publication created by children for children.