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Project No. 090 47

Darko Karačić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Slávka Otčenášová, Slovakia

Budapest, January 2010

Remembering and Forgetting World War II within Changing Political

Contexts from 1945 to the Present

– Public Usage of WWII Monuments in Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina

The aim of our project was to research on the changes in the perception of past in

Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina through the development of official treatment of WWII

monuments from 1945 up to present. The focus was on how the politics of these states have

been creating the politics of memory within the given space and time scope.

Both countries used to be part of composite multinational Communist states of

Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, where they played a rather marginal political role. Since the

independence of Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the two countries have pursued their own

policies towards the memory of WWII. The transition period in Slovakia has been marked by

the political change of 1989, while in Bosnia-Herzegovina, it has been influenced by both

failure of Communism and the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s. Firstly, we focused

on the remembrance of WWII in Slovakia and Bosnia as the parts of composite Communist

states. Secondly, we concentrated on the WWII remembrance in both countries as they

became independent post-Communist states pursuing their own policies. Parallel research on

the two countries, which have had different political development after the fall of

Communism, had the aim to offer the view on how different policies influence different

practices of commemoration. This approach proved to be very prolific. The cross-border

cooperation, which was developed throughout working on this project, has shown how

inevitable it is to research on one’s own past within international framework. It is comparative

and joint projects which can contribute to the better understanding of the others, which is a

step towards the better understanding of the European cultures of remembrance.

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In connection with our project, we have conducted both archival research and field

work. Research period took part between April and October 2009. Research in the National

Library in Prague and the National Library in Belgrade, as the centres of former

Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, provided us with rich secondary literature. Research in the

library of Central European University in Budapest helped us with structuring of the

theoretical foundations of the project. The visit to the exhibition Bogdan Bogdanović, Der

verdammte Baumaster/The Doomed Architect in Vienna proved very prolific in connection

with further research on the perceptions of particular Bosnian WWII memorials. Historical

Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina (former Museum of Revolution) and Media Centre in

Sarajevo, as well as the University Library at the University of Prešov, and the Scientific

Library of the town of Prešov provided us with relevant data for our project, based on the

newspaper research.

Regarding the field work, the team has visited and documented the current state and

contemporary usage of WWII memorial places in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as

in Sutjeska, Makljen, Jablanica, Mostar, Široki Brijeg, Sarajevo and Vogošća and memorial

sites in Slovakia situated in Košice, Prešov, Banská Bystrica, Dukla, Svidník, Važec and

Hunkovce. In order to achieve a good basis for comparison, we tried to visit the selected

places on the dates that were in past marked by huge public ceremonials commemorating

WWII held at these places. The empirical part of our work has provided us with rich visual

and archival material, hundreds of pictures and even more archival documents.

During the research, we have made effort to spread the information about our project,

as well as the information on Geschichtswerkstatt Europa among various groups and

institutions - students and teachers at universities: University of Sarajevo, University of

Prešov, University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice, Central European University in

Budapest; history teachers at elementary school Šrobárova, Prešov; the association of history

teachers (EUROCLIO-HIP BiH in Bosnia and Herzegovina), museum workers (Historical

Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, Museum “Battle for the Wounded on

Neretva river” in Jablanica, Army Museum in Svidník, Museum of Slovak National Uprising

in Banská Bystrica) and local journalists. We have also established contacts with the workers

of Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. taking care of German WWII army

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cemeteries in Slovakia. The idea of the project was welcomed and supported by each of the

above – mentioned groups.

In our research we have tried to address the following problems: Why are WWII

monuments and memorials used by the political authorities to construct group identities? In

which ways are the states or political parties using WWII monuments in order to promote

their policies? What kind of change occurs within these policies in different political

contexts?

Political parties, regardless of which political regime or orientation they represent, use

World War II memorial sites as the places for the grouping of people. The Communist Parties

of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia ordered the construction of these sites, and organized the

mass commemorative gatherings held at these places. The central role of these public

ceremonials was to support the ruling regime. This phenomenon, due to the stability of the

Communist rule, proved to be constant and repetitive from the end of WWII until the end

1980s. After the changes towards democracy took part in both countries and the multi-party

system was introduced, the political usage of WWII memorials became variable and dynamic

in the promotion of various ideologies. During the Communist rule, grandiose ceremonies

were held at these sites every year, especially on every 5th

or 10th anniversaries of the main

battles or war events, organized and supervised centrally by the state. From the 1990s up to

today, the happenings held at these sites differ from year to year. Sometimes they are

supported by the central government, accompanied by the appearance and public speeches

delivered by major political figures of Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, such as Prime

Ministers or state presidents. Sometimes the commemorations are organized without their

presence and on a local level; and therefore without the mass media coverage of these events.

Since their invention, the ceremonies held at these memorial places have never been

focused primarily on the commemoration of WWII, but they have been rather used as the

places of spreading the populist ideas of particular political parties. However, this policy of

the usage of the WWII memorials aided the construction of the memory of WWII. The image

of WWII has been changing - from the victorious war of Communism to the exclusive

patriotic war of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, of Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, or

even more of national war of Slovaks, Bosniaks, Serbs or Croats. This is why there are today

two separate commemorations of the Second World War in Tjentište, the former central

Yugoslav WWII memorial place, organized by two contesting associations of WWII fighters

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on two different dates, each supported by different political parties. This is the reason for

which the red stars on the graves of the soldiers buried in Dukla, one of the main

Czechoslovak WWII memorial sites, have been replaced by the crosses.

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MEMORIAL PLACES IN TRANSITION

Destroyed

Left: Photo of the monument on Makljen, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the front page of the book promoting the

memorial sites of Jablanica and Makljen (Gojko Jokić, Makljen-Neretva. Prozor-Jablanica, 1979)

Right: Photo from the newspaper article reporting the history lesson organized for Bosnian-Herzegovinian scouts

at the monument on Makljen, on the 1st anniversary of the opening ceremony of the monument (Oslobođenje, p.

2, 13 November 1979)

Monument on Makljen, Bosnia and Herzegovina, destroyed on 12 November 2000, on the anniversary of the

WWII Battle for the Wounded and the anniversary of the opening ceremony of the monument, five years after

the end of war in Bosnia (photo from July 2009)

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Abandoned

Memorial House in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina, opened in 1975 (photo from July 2009). Once the main

pilgrimage place for the commemoration of WWII is today empty, rarely visited and decaying.

Inside the Memorial House in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina (photo from July 2009)

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Fresco Invader in the Memorial House in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina (upper photo from 1977, down

photo from 2009)

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4 July – the Day of Fighter in Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1973, two years after the

monument was unveiled. It was estimated that around 80.000 people took part in the

celebration of the 30th anniversary of the battle of Sutjeska.

Tjentište, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the 4 July 2009. Since the break-up of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina

in 1990s, no celebration has been held on this date at this place anymore. Two separate commemorations are

organized by two contesting associations of WWII fighters on two different dates in June every year.

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Left: Cover page of the book Partisan monument in Mostar, with the photo of the gate of the WWII memorial

graveyard opened in 1965 (ed. Ico Mutevelić, Partizanski spomenik u Mostaru, 1980)

Right: Photo of the gate of the WWII memorial graveyard from August 2009

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Transformed

Museum of Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. (Photo from Encyklopédia Slovenska, V. zv.,

1981)

The same museum in August 2009. The central monument sculpture Victims warn was created by Jozef Jankovič

in 1969. The sculpture was removed from its original place in 1972, when its author was labelled unreliable by

the Communist Party. It was placed in Kalište, a village destroyed at WWII, far from public. The sculpture was

brought back to its original place in 2004.

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Tribute to Heroes of Dukla, Slovakia. (Photo from: Mindoš, Ivan. Dukla – symbol večnej slávy a živý prameň

dneška, 1989)

Photo taken at the same place in September 2009. Superimposition of symbols in Dukla, Slovakia: after 1989,

red stars have been replaced by crosses.

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Memorial to dead Red Army soldiers in Prešov, Slovakia (Photo from: Jozef Kuchár – Dionýz Dugas. Premeny a súčasnosť okresu Prešov, 1989)

Stars were removed after 1989. Photo from May 2009

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The newspaper article about the religious ceremony dedicated to the Serbian victims killed in WWII in the area

of Kozara, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was held on the memorial area of Kozara by the patriarch of the Serbian

Orthodox Church during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992-1995. During the ceremony, the patriarch

consecrated the cross (Kozarski vesnik, front page, 22 October 1993). This is an example of introducing new

narratives within the commemoration of WWII existing since the times of Communist government, which was

excluding the Church from these events.

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POPULARIZATION OF WWII REMEMBERING

Posters promoting events held to commemorate WWII in memorial places in Bosnia-Herzegovina before 1992

(sources from the Historical museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina)

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Some of the promotional materials on WWII memorial centres in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovakia, published

frequently and in large numbers in the communist Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

“History lessons at the monument on Kozara” (Gojko Jokić, Nacionalni park Kozara, 1978, p. 27). This book

edition, dealing mainly with the memory of WWII, was published in 100.000 copies.

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CHANGES IN THE USAGE OF WWII MEMORIAL CENTRES BEFORE AND

AFTER THE FALL OF COMMUNISM

Tito visiting the Museum of Revolution, Sarajevo (Oslobođenje, front page, 3 December 1969)

Left: the front page of A guidebook of the Museum of the Revolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1986

Right: Museum of Revolution on the promotional postcard – before 1992

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Photos from July 2009 showing some of the main pre-1992 exhibits of the Historical museum of Bosnia-

Herzegovina, previously the Museum of the Revolution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, removed from the main

museum exhibitions, but still inside the area of the museum.

Left: Promotional poster of the permanent exhibition Surrounded Sarajevo in front of the Historical museum of

Bosnia-Herzegovina, displaying the exhibits from the war in Bosnia – Herzegovina 1992-1995

Right: Café Tito situated in the Historical museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina, photo from July 2009

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The opening ceremony of the WWII monument in Vogošća, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Oslobođenje, front page, 21

July 1969)

The landscape of the WWII monument in Vogošća in 2009. After 1995, a mosque and some more buildings

were constructed in the area of the WWII monument, altering the memorial landscape.

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Left: The front page of the main Bosnian-Herzegovinian newspapers of that time, promoting the 40th anniversary

of WWII battles on Sutjeska and Neretva. Title: Sutjeska, Neretva, Freedom (Oslobođenje, front page, 4 July

1983) Right: The newspaper article about the central ceremony of the 40th anniversary of WWII battles on Sutjeska and

Neretva, held in the memorial center of Tjentište, with the title Our strength is in our brotherhood and unity, and

reporting more then 130.000 people present on the ceremony (Oslobođenje, front page, 5 July 1983)

In 1983 there was the last great WWII commemorating event organized in Tjentište, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Oslobođenje, p. 4, 6 July 1983)

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Photo of Ante Marković, the last Prime minister of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, speaking on the

traditional gathering in front of WWII monument on Mrakovica on Kozara, on the Day of the uprising of nations

and nationalities of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. He announced the decision of establishing the

Union of Reformed Forces, a new political party supporting the idea of a reformed Yugoslav federation, to more

than 100.000 people who gathered there. Radio and Television of Sarajevo transmitted his speech live. WWII

was not the theme of the event. (Oslobođenje, front page, 30 July 1990)

A short newspaper report stating that the memorial area of Tjentište was empty on the Day of Fighter for the first

time after WWII (Oslobođenje, p. 4, 5 July 1991)

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Left: The newspaper article reporting 300.000 visitors of the Museum Battle for the Wounded on Neretva river in Jablanica within one year after its opening (Oslobođenje, p. 5, 12 November 1979)

Right: Photo from the Museum Battle for the Wounded on Neretva river in Jablanica, from July 2009. The

museum did not change the name, remaining that way related to commemoration of the WWII battle; however,

the exhibitions were altered after the outbreak of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 2009, one third of the

museum exhibition was dedicated to the WWII and the rest was dedicated to the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina in

1992-1995, and to the regional ethnographic exhibition.

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THE KEY STATE-PROMOTED IMAGES OF WWII

WWII was most often presented as the time of battles and partisan victories in the Communist Yugoslavia. The

titles of some of the articles in the newspaper from the 30th anniversary of the Battle of Sutjeska, with the central

ceremony which was held in the WWII memorial area of Tjentište: The solemn moment of the Heroes' valley; On

the source of heroism; They made a legend; In the Fifth enemy offensive 19.700 partisans fought against and

won over 117.000 enemy soldiers. (Left: Oslobođenje, front page, 4 July 1973; right: Oslobođenje, p. 3, 4 July

1973)

The promotion of national identity through the commemoration of WWII in Slovakia. Both pictures were taken

at the celebrations of Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica.

(Left: Photo from Pravda, 24 August 1984; right: photo taken in August 2009, at the commemoration of the 65th

anniversary of Slovak National Uprising)

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Oslobođenje, front page, 12 June 2006 Oslobođenje, front page, 18 June 2006

The cover pages of the newspapers with the photos reporting on two separate commemorations organized by the

association of the WWII fighters of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the association of the WWII fighters of Republika

Srpska, one of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian entities, in Tjentište on two different dates. The number of visitors of

each of these ceremonies did not exceed several hundreds. However, the media raised their importance because

of the current political propaganda promoted at these happenings. The commemoration of WWII was actually

suppressed, while the primacy was given to heated political proclamations.

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Commemorative ceremony of the 65th anniversary of SNP - Slovak National Uprising in Banská Bystrica, 29

August 2009. A spectacular 3-day programme was transmitted by the state TV and numerous reports were

brought by other media. The commemoration was supported by the Slovak Government, and visited by the

majority of the ministers, as well as the Prime Minister and the president of Slovak Republic (on the right).

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WWII image makers – then and now

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Darko documenting the celebrations Slávka at the German WWII army cemetery of the 65th anniversary of in Hunkovce, Slovakia,

the Slovak National Uprising in WWII in in discussion with a German anthropologist

Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, 29 August 2009 supervising the entombing

of the remains of a soldier,

2 September 2009