IN SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR I

On the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the beginning of the World War I, the Jewish Historical Museum in Belgrade organized an exhibition entitled plainly JEWS IN SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR I, and dedicated it to all Jews of Serbia, men and women, who in capacity of military combatants or medical staff took part in all wars fought for the glory and freedom of Serbia between 1912 and 1918. Author of the exhibition is Ms. Vojislava Radovanović, director of the Jewish Historical Museum.

Under the same tittle the Museum has also published a high quality monograph with the catalogue, prepared by a historian Milan Koljanin, Ph.D. of the Institute for contemporary History, who is also a member of the JHM expert committee, together with Vojislava Radovanović. The book is in both Serbian and English language, elaborately illustrated and printed in 500 copies.

The exhibition is set in one part of the particularly equipped space of the regular Museum exhibition. A total number of 35 photos are on display, mostly large formats (100 x70), which, apart from their contents, make a strong visual and esthetic impression on the visitor. Along with the photos, a number of interesting items have been displayed.

The opening ceremony took part on September the 4^th at 13:00 p.m., and to enormous contentment of the author ant the team of exhibition teammates, it was attended by so many people that at a certain moment it was not possible for all the visitors to enter the Museum premises.  Following the welcome address by Ms. Radovanović who briefly presented complexity of this project, Ms. Radmila Petrović, chairperson of the Museum expert committee spoke about the exhibition and about the catalogue, thereupon declaring the exhibition open and receiving warm applauding from the audience.  The media were represented by a Tanjug reporter and by a journalist of the Radio Studio B.  The exhibition is opened until September the 23^rd, 2014.

The exhibition is every day accompanied by an electronic video display of available photo material, accompanied by the well-known instrumental musical compositions like “Out there far away” (“Tamo daleko”), “The French ship is sailing off” (“Kreće se lađa francuska”) and the others.

It is interesting to note that the exhibition JEWS IN SERBIA IN THE WORLD WAR I  proved to be a successful combination of a documentary display and strong emotions, which is evidenced in various reactions of the visitors every day.

We would also like to draw attention of our dear readers to the fact that this exhibition and publishing project of the Jewish Historical Museum has also encompassed a reprint of the MEMORIAL TO DECEASED AND FALLEN SERBIAN JEWS  IN THE BALKAN WARS AND IN THE WORLD WAR I, originally published in Belgrade in 1927, of which were preserved solely two photo-copied copies, one kept in our Museum and the other in the Serbian National Library.