PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

The American Embassy, in cooperation with the Elie Wiesel Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, as well as the American Corner of Iasi, is pleased to announce the winners of its essay contest for Iasi high school students on the topic of the Iasi Pogrom of June 28-29, 1941. Ambassador Nicholas Taubman presented the awards to the students in Iasi while attending the Conference in Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the Iasi Program on June 28.

During the awarding ceremony, Ambassador Taubman mentioned: "We were heartened by the essays we received, which demonstrated a desire on the part of the students to learn more about what happened, to understand what led to these terrible events, and to prevent it from ever happening again. They wrote of the need to remember what happened and to educate all Romanians about the Holocaust in Romania and to work actively to ensure something like this is never repeated".

First place was awarded to Carmen Madalina Buzdugan of (Colegiul National "Emil Racovita", 10th grade), for her essay, "Torture of the Innocents". The second place winner was Andreea Zaharia of (Liceul "Vasile Alecsandri" nr.6, 11th grade), for her essay, "Theatre of the Past". Third place was awarded to Florina-Rodica Hariga of (Liceul Teoretic "Vasile Alecsandri"), for her essay, "The Iasi Pogrom". All three student winners received cash awards. All students who participated in the contest received a copy of Elie Wiesel's, "Night", which has been published in Romanian by the U.S. Embassy.

All Essays are in Romanian.