site.btaAlef Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation Centre Presents Awards in School Students Writing Competition

The short stories Another Day by Mihail Radu of Romania and The Calling by Ioana Stoyanova of Bulgaria won first place, respectively, in the foreign and Bulgarian divisions of the 11th installment of a writing competition for school students, mottoed "Whosoever Saves a Single Life, Saves an Entire Universe". The competition is organized by the Alef Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation Centre in Burgas.

The winners were announced at an official ceremony in the seaside city on Saturday. The event was attended by central and local government officials and foreign diplomats.

The two top awards were presented by Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov and Polish Institute Sofia Director Karol Zielinski. With the partnership of the Polish Embassy in Bulgaria, all high-placed entrants in this year's competition will go on a five-day tour of Krakow, Warsaw and other places in Poland associated with the history and the remembrance of the Holocaust. The highest-ranked Bulgarian entrants received cash prizes and a chance to earn one-year scholarships.

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev, who presented one of the encouragement awards, said that humaneness should be a part of everybody's daily life, as was demonstrated by our predecessors who rescued the Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust.

BTA is a longtime partner in the initiative of the Alef Centre.