Project duration
Sept. 2015 – Feb. 2017

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Click on the pictures below to read more about the participants and the program of the events
A series of six international events were held from April 2016 to January 2017. As part of the international events held in Serbia, Sweden and the Netherlands there were conferences, expert meetings, presentations, panel discussions, public debates and workshops that engaged various audiences: from experts and scholars, archivists, museum professionals, teachers, NGO activists, students and youth, to decision makers and representatives of the Jewish and Roma communities. Each event focused on two main themes: one related to the Holocaust in Serbia, and the other involving a broader European context, presented and discussed by international experts.
During the events the new online victim’s database, exhibition “October 1941”, and the educational material “Ester” were presented to a wider Serbian and European audience.
In order to contribute to the commemorative activities, and to present the lesser known events and sites of the Holocaust in Serbia, the project events in Serbia were scheduled in relation to particular Memorial Days, and at important places of memory.
The event in Belgrade was held around April 22 – The National Holocaust, WWII Genocide and other Fascist Crimes Victims’ Remembrance Day, at The Palace of Serbia – the official building of the Serbian Government, and with an active involvement of the officials of the City of Belgrade.
The city of Niš was was selected to host an event, among other reasons, to present the international audience with the less known the Red Cross concentration camp and the killing sites around Niš where Serbian, Jewish and Roma civilians were shot by the German Nazis;
The event in Kragujevac was held around October 21 – National Remembrance Day of the Serbian victims of the Second World War, at the Kragujevac Memorial Park – a site where a massacre of several thousands civilians Serbs, Jews and Roma took place in October 1941;
The event in Novi Sad was held around January 27 – International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the date and the place of the Novi Sad Raid when several thousands civilians Serbs, Jews and Roma were killed by the Hungarian fascists in January 1942;
While the participation of scholars from Western European countries who have dealt with the difficult past of the Holocaust was crucial in sharing the latest methodological and theoretical research, the involvement of scholars, students, practitioners and activists from other former Yugoslav countries was important in developing a more empathetic culture of remembrance in the region. Since the collapse of socialist Yugoslavia, narratives of the Second World War not only became nationalized but were actively subjected to political manipulation in order to justify new cycles of violence in the region. But projects such as this one enable cross-border dialogues which are extremely vital in ensuring future stability, peace and an atmosphere of tolerance.
Although each Yugoslav successor state has the right to create its own commemorative culture and remembrance practices for its victims, an understanding of other victims, as in the case of Holocaust commemoration and education, needs to reach beyond the borders created in the 1990s.
Sharing the experiences, challenges, and new research on the Holocaust and other traumatic events of the Second World War in a constructive and collaborative way as facilitated by this project is the way to prevent the next generation from repeating the mistakes that lead to the terrible wars of the 20th century.
No memorial centers or museums have ever been built on the former site of the concentration camp. For a long time the area where the camp was located was in a very poor condition as a result of disuse and neglect.
In spite of the important place that it occupies in the history of the Holocaust, in the post-war era, Sajmište was rarely recognised as a site of Holocaust remembrance. In socialist Yugoslavia, the suffering of Jews tended to be interpreted as a manifestation of the broader ‘reign of terror’ instituted by the Nazis against the civilian population.
Recently, the Belgrade City Council announced the plans of building a permanent Memorial Center at the site. The Museum of Genocide Victims in Belgrade and the newly established Memorial Center Committee are now making plans for the Memorial Center and Museum, with aim to start the project in 2017. By putting the Concentration camp at Sajmište in focus, bringing together Serbian and international scholars and experts, and by creating materials that could be used at the future Memorial, the project “Escalating into Holocaust” aim to contribute to this important task.
By putting the Concentration camp at Sajmište in focus, bringing together Serbian and international scholars and experts, and by creating materials that could be used at the future Memorial, the project “Escalating into Holocaust” aim to contribute to this important task.
The project is financed by the EACEA – Europe for Citizens Programme:
Strand 1 – European Remembrance (REMEM)
The project is supported by
the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Serbia,
and
the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade