The first competition for stories dedicated to motives on the pre-war life and suffering of the Macedonian Jews came out to be exceptionally successful event.

            One hundred and thirty eight literary works were submitted for this competition. These mostly included well-written prose, with exception of the works that did not fit this genre pattern (short story) and were expressed either as historical reviews or as a kind of essays.

            It is interesting that in this rich turnout of friends and admirers of our Institution – which cherishes the memories of a fragmented, violently gone and former extraordinarily picturesque ethnos with original linguistic, folklore and religious culture, for centuries an integral part of the rich Macedonian multiculture – most of the authors found themselves motivated to submit two or more works.

            There was abundance of literary works which included a total of 50 authors with quality literary material. The three-member jury consisting of Zhaklina Mucheva – president of the jury, Gordana Ivanovska-Velkovska and Tomislav Osmanli faced a very responsible task in the last three months and had several rounds of work – first singling out the quality literary works, followed by the most solid works and finally, at its last Internet session held on 15 January 2021, the jury voted for the three most superior stories with distinct literary structure and quality.

Decision of the jury:

           The first prize went to the “The Star” story by Mihajlo Sviderski

 – due to the drama of the text full of internal intensity and achieved with top literary simplicity;

           The second prize went to “Ja vjeni dies“ story by Svetlana Papachek

            - for a very suggestive tragic story in which the literary sentiment does not turn into pathetics;

           The third price went to the literature work “The Broom Man” by Gabriela Stojanoska-Stanoeska

            - for the quality of literalization of a motive (and profession), which grows into a major dramatic metaphor.

        Appreciating the exceptional creative effort invested in this competition seen through participation with numerous works written with knowledge of facts of the life of the Jews in Macedonia and the Jewish religion and culture, the jury emphasizes the participation of the author Antonio Stojanovski and awards him with a Special Recognition for his extensive and dedicated participation. The recognition is also supplemented with a selection of books published by the Holocaust Memorial Center of the Jews from Macedonia.

           The jury wants to especially emphasize and praise the literary qualities and contributions of the finalists in this competition who were shortlisted for the three awards. The jury proposes to award them with Commendations. These are:

Vladimir Plavevski for the short story "Fishermen"

Biljana Loteska for the short story "Unsung Song"

Cvete Jovanovska for the story "Hannah, the girl with blue eyes – A journey without return"

Aleksandra Ristovski for the short story "My Bridge"

      In the course of its work, the jury, among other things, was faced with a principled dilemma raised by a number of quality literary works which do not meet the basic criterion of the competition – namely, to be stories written on the specifically defined topics given on inspiring photos. The members of the jury, respecting the approach consistently implemented towards most of the works that were received, for principle reasons decided to stick to the prescribed competition rules and the works mentioned above, thus regrettably, did not accept the rest during the final evaluation.

With a high level of respect and understanding in the course of the three-month work that included detailed, thorough and multiple reading, followed by the initial valorization on the works that were being received, the jury wants to emphasize that all the decisions above were adopted with consensus.

We express our gratitude to all participants for the exceptionally productive participation on the literally competition “I am telling a photograph” and we hereby congratulate the winners, the finalists and the holders of the Special Recognition, on behalf of our institution, the Holocaust Fund and on behalf of my colleagues from the jury on the awards and acknowledgments.

                                                                                                                        President of the Jury

                                                       Zhaklina Mucheva

         Skopje, 15.01.2021