site.btaSouvenir Box of Memories with Stories of Ethnic Bulgarians from Banat Presented in Timisoara
A souvenir box of memories with stories of ethnic Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Hungarians, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Jews and Armenians from the Banat region in Romania was presented Saturday in Timisoara within the European Capital of Culture programme.
"It is a wonderful gift for those who are visiting the town for the first time to understand how tolerant, multiethnic, colourful and diverse it is," the creators of the project told BTA.
The souvenir boxes will be sold in bookstores in town, and Timisoara Mayor Dominic Fritz will hand them out to his foreign guests. They are made of wood and contain postcards, a recipe book and ten life stories.
"The people whose stories you will meet have allowed us to enter their homes, to hear their most beautiful and cherished memories," Cristian Vicol, who wrote the texts and who promotes the project, told BTA.
The memory box tells about ethnic Bulgarian Pavel Velciov from Star Bisnov (Dudestii Vechi). His family settled in the area three centuries ago. His grandparents were gardeners. When they came to the region, the local government gave them land to work on and seeds to plant.
In the culinary section is the recipe of ethnic Bulgarian Ecaterina Nedelcu from Farsang for doughnuts with a type of Romanian brandy. They are made in the shape of a cross on the Wednesday before Easter Lent.
"From the souvenir memory box you will also learn about Vera Eckstein-Sekely from the Jewish community, who is 90 years old today. She had to flee her home during the Holocaust. She was only five years old and the train she was on was bombed," Vicol noted.
Vera and her family initially settled in Arad. Later they went to Bucharest. In 1976, they moved to Timisoara. Vera worked for years as a piano teacher. She gave lessons to the young until the pandemic started. To this day, Vera finds salvation in music.
"We hope that this souvenir box of memories will become our trademark, a calling card, a map of the identity of the region and the city," its creators said.
/YV/
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