PODIZANJE SPOMEN-GROBLJA BORCIMA U OKUPIRANOM BEOGRADU 1941–1944
CREATING A MEMORIAL CEMETERY FOR FIGHTERS IN OCCUPIED BELGRADE (1941–1944)

Summary/Abstract: The Memorial Cemetery for Fighters in Occupied Belgrade (1941–1944), designed by architects Bogdan Bogdanović and Svetislav Ličina, was opened on 20 October 1959, marking both the fifteenth anniversary of Belgrade’s liberation in the Second World War and the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The cemetery was developed over several years, from 1954 to 1959, with initial preparatory activities beginning in 1951. It reflects the official memory policy of socialist Yugoslavia regarding the victims and heroes of the Second World War. During the 1950s, this policy became increasingly inclusive of civilian victims, as well as members and supporters of the Communist Party who were killed, mainly through execution, while imprisoned in jails and camps. A central role in creating the memorial was played by the City Committee of the Association of Veterans of the National Liberation War of Yugoslavia in Belgrade, which coordinated the work of several commissions. Between 1956 and early 1958, these commissions documented unmarked or neglected execution sites in Belgrade and established the number of victims. Construction intensified in March 1959 and proceeded in two overlapping phases: exhumation and construction of the memorial complex. The Memorial Cemetery was established as a new memorial unit within the New Cemetery on Ruzveltova Street in Belgrade, following the reburial of the remains of 1052 individuals (899 men, 138 women, and 15 children, including 13 under the age of two). Only 314 of the victims were identified. The remains were transferred from the Central Cemetery, the New Cemetery, and the area near Nebojša Tower at Kalemegdan.

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