The competition exceeded the borders of Bulgaria
The pandemic provoked young people to realize the cost of human life
In the context of a global pandemic, young people are showing greater interest in topics related to saving lives. This is evident from the record number of participants in this year’s international literary youth competition ” Whoever saves one human life saves a whole universe “, organized by the Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation “Alef”. The topic “I will tell you about my savior” inspired 120 young artists from all over Bulgaria. In the first stage of the eighth edition of the competition – for Bulgarian youth, students from 38 settlements in the country applied for participation. Most stories were received from Burgas, Gotse Delchev, Plovdiv, Ruse, Shumen, Haskovo, Samokov and Sofia.
The young narrators were not afraid to experience the tragedy of the Jews doomed to deportation and destruction during the Holocaust and the drama of their saviors. In their stories, they resurrect a number of examples of dignified behavior, self-sacrifice and heroism. Their works describe the feat of both Bulgarians awarded the The World Holocaust Remembrance Center – Yad Vashem, Israel with the title “Righteous Among the Nations”, and people not on this list, known to few. Some of the authors have even built a collective image of the “saviors”. Others introduce the reader to lifeguards outside Bulgaria – Slovaks, Czechs, Germans, Ukrainians, Spaniards.
The literary works of the Bulgarian students are already in the hands of the 5-member jury. It will nominate the 20 best stories from which the winners will be announced.
The members of the jury are the senior expert in the Ministry of Education and Science Radostina Nikolova, Rumen Leonidov – poet and publisher, Asen Yordanov – journalist, poet, Alberta Alkalay – president of Center “Alef”. For the first time this year, a specialist in ethno-religious conflicts – the writer Georgi Bardarov – is included in its composition.
The literary competition, organized by the Center “Alef”, has gained exceptional popularity and prestige in the country for its eight years of existence, and has been incorporated into the state educational program as an assistant in extracurricular activities in history, literature and civic education.
This year the literary competition has crossed the borders of Bulgaria and already has the status of an international competition. The second stage of the competition – for foreign participants is already underway. The deadline for submission of competition entries from abroad is 1st of May 2021. According to the regulation, they will be evaluated and ranked in a separate category.
As is traditional, the awarding of the winners will take place at an official ceremony in Burgas in June 2021, to which all distinguished artists from Bulgaria and abroad will be invited at the expense of the organizers.
The eighth edition of the literary youth competition “Whoever saves one human life saves a whole universe ” is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture and with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science, the National Children’s Palace and the Municipality of Burgas. Partners of the competition are the Slovak Ministry of Education, the Embassy of the State of Israel in Bulgaria, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands and the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland.
