“Running into Madness to Stay Sane”: the Spirituality of Nature in the Autobiographical Texts of Female Prisoners from Goli Otok Prison Camp

The text concerns the camp for political prisoners established in 1949 in Yugoslavia on Goli Otok island. This theme was almost entirely absent from public discourse before the 1980s, and real changes and developments in discussions about this part of the history of postwar Yugoslavia occurred only after Tito’s death. Goli Otok as the largest and most infamous camp in communist Yugoslavia is considered a symbol, its name recognized as a synonym of a physical and psychological system for destroying people. In the text I analyze autobiographical texts written by women prisoners (such as Milka Žicina and Vera Cenić). A large number of female inmates were sentenced just for being related to or keeping close contact with a male “enemy of the state”. Thus women were treated not as independent subjects, but as mothers, sisters and wives subordinate to male family members. The social exclusion of women prisoners and their families exacerbated the feeling of isolation and continued after leaving the camp. I am interested in the detail of the strategies of storytelling which are related to spirituality (focusing on nature) both during the period of isolation, when they searched for a way to survive it, as well as after release when the women tried to start a new life

Heritage Without Heirs: The German Legacy in Serbia. The Case of the Museum of Danube Swabians

This article focuses on the first historical museum in Serbia, established in Sombor in 2019 (the Museum of the Danube Swabians), with an exhibition devoted to the presence of Germans in Vojvodina. The artefacts presented at the exhibition, left behind by the Germans who used to live in Vojvodina, have been recognised as part of Serbia’s difficult heritage (the term coined by Sharon Macdonald). The article analyses the permanent exhibition and the museum’s efforts to involve the local residents in creating said exhibition. The article also asks whether the museum in Sombor can shape the collective identity of Serbs and undermine its ethno-nationalist character

Holocaust Emotion Cards: Project Presentation

The purpose of this article is to present the project Holocaust Emotion Cards, which was created as part of the course Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Holocaust Memory, run by Western Galilee College. In the first part of the presentation, we will present the assumptions and concepts of the project, as well as the process of creating the cards. In the second part, we will discuss the cards themselves and the way to use them in educational work

„Rasuti mozaik zapisa i reminiscencija“: ratna odiseja Ženi Lebl u njenim ličnim spisima

"Jolanta Brach-Czaina has pointed out that reflecting upon the female experience cannot only happen in relation to recording the current artistic output of women but must also be accompanied by a "reconstruction of the past and an excavation of the phenomena that have been omitted or misinterpreted" (Brach-Czaina, 1997, p. 8). The words of the Polish scholar aptly describe the goal I set for myself in the reflections upon the autobiographical writings of the heroine of this article, Ženi Lebl, whose personal writings had to wait long for proper recognition both from historians and literary scholars. The analysis conducted in this article aimed to demonstrate that "Dnevnik jedne Judite" and "Ljubičica bela" constitute a valuable source of knowledge on the experiences of one of the leading authors and researchers in the female discourse on war and prison camps in Yugoslavia. What my deliberations particularly accentuate is the issue of war and post-war traumas as a significant element of women’s identity in Yugoslavia, which calls for discussion and reflection. Reading through the lens of her autobiography, Ženi Lebl appears as a custodian of memory who feels responsible not only for keeping the memory of tragic past events alive, but also for the way in which this memory is preserved. The personal writings of the author need to be analysed against the background of the particular political situation. Owing to this, the narration becomes on the one hand a tale about the fate of war and post-war Yugoslavia and on the other - the story of the victims in these conflicts, including women. Many years after the dramatic events Ženi Lebl decides to describe her experiences. In the book "Dnevnik jedne Judite", she writes about the reality of Belgrade under occupation and about family relations, dramatically complicated by the war. In "Ljubičica bela" she recounts the camp structure and the mechanisms governing the reality of the camps. An important issue raised by Lebl is also her reflections on the biological and sexual problems encountered by women prisoners. By describing differing aspects of how body awareness is experienced, the author builds a female perspective of how the body is perceived and thus expresses the particularity of female experiences" (Conclusion).„Jolanta Brach-Czaina je istakla da se razmišljanje o ženskom iskustvu ne može desiti samo u vezi sa beleženjem trenutnog umetničkog stvaralaštva žena, već mora biti praćeno „rekonstrukcijom prošlosti i iskopavanjem fenomena koji su izostavljeni ili pogrešno protumačeni“ (Brach-Czaina, 1997, str. 8). Reči poljske naučnice prikladno opisuju cilj koji sam sebi postavila u razmišljanjima o autobiografskim spisima junakinje ovog članka Ženi Lebl, čiji su lični zapisi morali dugo čekati na pravo priznanje i istoričara i književnika. Analiza sprovedena u ovom članku imala je za cilj da pokaže da „Dnevnik jedne Judite” i „Ljubičica bela” predstavljaju dragocen izvor saznanja o iskustvima jednog od vodećih autora i istraživača ratnih i zarobljeničkih logora u Jugoslaviji iz ženskog diskursa. Ono što moja razmatranja posebno naglašavaju je pitanje rata i posleratnih trauma kao značajnog elementa ženskog identiteta u Jugoslaviji, koje zahteva diskusiju i promišljanje. U svojoj autobiografiji, Ženi Lebl se pojavljuje kao čuvar sećanja koji se oseća odgovornim ne samo za očuvanje sećanja na tragične događaje iz prošlosti, već i za način na koji se to sećanje čuva. Lične spise autorke treba analizirati u kontekstu konkretne političke situacije. Zahvaljujući tome, naracija postaje, s jedne strane, priča o sudbini rata i posleratne Jugoslavije, a sa druge - priča o žrtvama u ovim sukobima, među kojima su i žene. Mnogo godina nakon dramatičnih događaja Ženi Lebl odlučuje da opiše svoja iskustva. U knjizi "Dnevnik jedne Judite" ona piše o stvarnosti Beograda pod okupacijom i o porodičnim odnosima, dramatično komplikovanih ratom. U „Ljubičice bela” ona prepričava logorsku strukturu i mehanizme koji regulišu stvarnost logora. Važno pitanje koje je pokrenula Lebl su i njena razmišljanja o biološkim i seksualnim problemima sa kojima se susreću zatvorenice. Opisujući različite aspekte načina na koji se doživljava telesna svest, autorka gradi žensku perspektivu kako se telo percipira i na taj način izražava posebnost ženskih iskustava“ (Zaključak)

Competition of Memories? The Memory of the Łódź/Litzmannstadt Ghetto in Contemporary Museums in Łódź

There is no individual museum dedicated to the Łódź Ghetto in which 200,000 Jews were confined. However, there are institutions actively working to preserve the memory of the Jewish community in Łódź. This article focuses on two recently established museums in the city: the Radegast Station, founded in 2009, and the Museum of Polish Children, established in 2021. The aim is to analyze the mechanisms that led to the creation of these historical museums and explore their specific functions. I am interested not only in how these institutions shape and present the Jewish heritage, but also in the conceptualisation of the social role of these institutions and the analysis of their presence in the public space. To achieve this, I examine local micro-interactions within the current framework of Poland’s politics of history. Given that nationalism is the predominant ideology of modernity, my text demonstrates how nationalist discourses impact the commemoration of the Łódź/Litzmannstadt Ghetto and influence the remembrance of Second World War

Granična biografija: slika prošlosti u sećanjima Eve Nahir Panić prikazana u „Evi“ Daneta Ilića

The primary objective of this text is an analysis of Eva Nahir Panić’s biography (she lived from 1918 to 2015) titled „Eva“, written by Dane Ilić. The protagonist of this story is a Jewish woman born in Čakovec, who married a Serbian officer, survived the Holocaust, went through the camp for the Cominformists, and finally immigrated to Israel. An interpretative category that creates a framework for reading the text is the term “borderline,” which encompasses two meanings here. The first includes borderline situations (such as the Holocaust and the stay in the Sveti Grgur prison camp) which Nahir Panić had to face in her life and which left an indelible mark on her (the burden of her traumatic experience is passed on to the next generation, in Eva’s daughter, Tijana - signifying a post-memory issue). The second pertains to how she functioned in the borders between cultures which directly influenced her fate. With reference to Ewa Domańska’s concept of the rescue history project executed in Poland, I suggest that the life of Eva Nahir Panić, though undoubtedly filled with painful experiences, ought to be considered not in terms of victimization, but of rebirth and affirmation. Nahir Panić’s life story is a highly personalized narrative, which presents her own identity project, and through it, the reader discovers the potential of the community. This may also provide a starting point for reflecting on the history of Yugoslavia.Osnovni cilj ovog teksta je analiza biografije Eve Nahir Panić (živela od 1918. do 2015. godine) pod nazivom „Eva“, autora Dane Ilića. Protagonista ove priče je Jevrejka rođena u Čakovcu, koja se udala za srpskog oficira, preživela Holokaust, prošla logor za kominformiste i na kraju emigrirala u Izrael. Interpretativna kategorija koja stvara okvir za čitanje teksta je termin „granični“, koji ovde obuhvata dva značenja. Prvi uključuje granične situacije (kao što su Holokaust i boravak u logoru Sveti Grgur) sa kojima se Nahir Panić morala suočiti u svom životu i koje su ostavile neizbrisiv trag na nju (teret njenog traumatskog iskustva se prenosi na sledeće generacije, kod Evine ćerke, Tijane označavajući pitanje postmemorije). Drugi se odnosi na to kako je funkcionisala u granicama između kultura koje su direktno uticale na njenu sudbinu. Pozivajući se na koncept Eve Domanske o projektu istorije spasavanja koji je izveden u Poljskoj, predlažem da život Eve Nahir Panić, iako je nesumnjivo ispunjen bolnim iskustvima, treba posmatrati ne u smislu viktimizacije, već preporoda i afirmacije. Životna priča Eve Nahir Panić je visoko personalizovan narativ, koji predstavlja njen sopstveni identitetski projekat, a kroz njega čitalac otkriva potencijal zajednice. Ovo takođe može biti polazna tačka za razmišljanje o istoriji Jugoslavije.Tema ovog broja: "Balkanske Jevrejke" (the topic of this issue: "Balkan Jewish women")

Višejezične i višestruke manjine. Ko su balkanski Jevreji?

The documented history of Jews in the Balkans can be traced back to the early Middle Ages and has been studied by researchers from diverse perspectives. Undoubtedly, it is a vibrant, dynamic and tumultuous story, set at the crossroads of multiple intersecting cultures and social groups. Although the Second World War profoundly impacted the Jewish world, it did not bring about its end.Dokumentovana istorija Jevreja na Balkanu može se pratiti do ranog srednjeg veka i istraživači su je proučavali iz različitih perspektiva. Bez sumnje, to je živa, dinamična i burna priča, smeštena na raskrsnici višestrukih ukrštanih kultura i društvenih grupa. Iako je Drugi svetski rat duboko uticao na jevrejski svet, nije značio i njegov kraj

Kontrapunkt sećanja: Slika Drugog svetskog rata u dnevnicima Lee Salcberger i Ervina Salcbergera

The chapter analyzes personal documents: diaries and memoirs written mostly during World War II by Lea Abinun Salcberger and Ervin Salcberger. These texts, edited by Danilo Šarenac and Ivana Pantelić, were published almost 70 years after their creation - in 2013, as the book " Two Halves of Memory: Partisan Diaries as a Source for the History of World War II”. Both Lea, a Sephardic Jew from Sarajevo, and Ervin, an Ashkenazi Jew born in Pale, joined the partisan movement in which, although separated, they were active participants. Although they both lost most of their family during the Holocaust (in Jasenovac and Staro Sajmište concentration camps), they survived the war, got married and lived together in Belgrade. Their autobiographical texts document the sociopolitical situation of the war in Yugoslavia, the everyday life of partisans, and the private microhistory of the protagonists. The gender approach used in the analysis of the image of WWII aims to confront the two culturally determined visions - male and female - organizing the structure and semantic layer of texts. As a result, we can see that history is a type of narrative, a cultural construct that is not gender-neutral (Ubertowska 2015). Written in these “inconspicuous texts” (Jerzy Strzelczyk, Inga Iwasiów), the images of memory counterbalance one another, but they also interestingly complement each other.W niniejszym rozdziale analizuję powstałe głównie w czasie drugiej wojny światowej dokumenty osobiste: dzienniki i wspomnienia autorstwa Lei Abinun Salcberger i Ervina Salcbergera. Teksty te w opracowaniu Danilo Šarenaca i Ivany Pantelić zostały opublikowane prawie 70 lat po powstaniu, w 2013 r. w książce Dve polovine sećanja. Partizanski dnevnici kao izvor za istoriju Drugog svetskog rata. Lea, pochodząca z Sarajewa Sefardyjka, i Ervin, urodzony w Pale Żyd aszkenazyjski, byli uczestnikami ruchu partyzanckiego, w którym, choć rozdzieleni, aktywnie działali. Choć oboje stracili większość rodziny w czasie Holokaustu (obóz Jasenovac i Staro Sajmište), oni sami wojnę przeżyli, pobrali się i żyli razem w Belgradzie. Ich autobiograficzne teksty dokumentują zarówno społeczno-polityczną sytuację wojny w Jugosławii, codzienne życie partyzantów, jak i prywatną mikrohistorię swoich bohaterów. Wykorzystywane w analizie obrazu drugiej wojny światowej podejście genderowe ma na celu konfrontację dwóch zdeterminowanych kulturowo wizji – męskiej i żeńskiej, organizujących strukturę oraz warstwę semantyczną tekstów. W rezultacie widzimy, że historia to przede wszystkim narracja, kulturowy konstrukt, który nie jest neutralny genderowo (Ubertowska 2015). Zapisane w tych „tekstach niepozornych” (Jerzy Strzelczyk, Inga Iwasiów) obrazy pamięci stanowią dla siebie przeciwwagę, ale również w ciekawy sposób dopełniają się.U poglavlju se analiziraju lični dokumenti: dnevnici i memoari koje su uglavnom pisali Lea Abinun Salcberger i Ervin Salcberger tokom Drugog svetskog rata. Ovi tekstovi, koje su uredili Danilo Šarenac i Ivana Pantelić, objavljeni su skoro 70 godina od nastanka - 2013. godine, kao knjiga „Dve polovine sećanja. Partizanski dnevnici kao izvor za istoriju Drugog svetskog rata. I Lea, sefardska Jevrejka iz Sarajeva, i Ervin, Jevrejin Aškenazi rođen na Palama, stupili su u partizanski pokret u kome su, iako razdvojeni, bili aktivni učesnici. Iako su oboje izgubili većinu porodice tokom Holokausta (u logorima Jasenovac i Staro Sajmište), preživeli su rat, venčali se i zajedno živeli u Beogradu. Njihovi autobiografski tekstovi dokumentuju društveno-političku situaciju rata u Jugoslaviji, svakodnevicu partizana i privatnu mikroistoriju protagonista. Rodni pristup koji se koristi u analizi slike Drugog svetskog rata ima za cilj da suprotstavi dve kulturološki određene vizije - mušku i žensku - organizujući strukturu i semantički sloj teksta. Kao rezultat toga, možemo videti da je istorija tip narativa, kulturni konstrukt koji nije rodno neutralan (Ubertowska 2015). Napisane u ovim „neupadljivim tekstovima“ (Jerzi Strzelczik, Inga Ivasiov), slike sećanja su jedna drugoj protivteža, ali se i zanimljivo dopunjuju.The text is an outcome of research project No. 2015/16/S/HS2/00092 financed by the National Science Center in Poland. A shorter version of the chapter entitled "Two Halves of Memory: The Image of World War II in the Diaries of Lea Salcberger and Ervin Salcberger" was presented as a paper at the 2nd International Conference "Jewish Diasporas in Europe and Beyond: Fieldwork and Source Studies in St. Petersburg", November 6-8, 2017

Pol emigracije. Balkanske Jevrejke kao posrednice znanja

Kobiece narracje, związane z transferem wiedzy, mogą stanowić interesujący klucz w interpretacji dziedzictwa judaizmu w wielopoziomowym kontekście kultur bałkańskich. Zapoczątkowany w tradycyjnych bałkańskich społecznościach żydowskich transfer wiedzy (tradycji) odbywał się w różnych ośrodkach i w różnych czasach, przede wszystkim za pośrednictwem żydowskich kobiet różnego pochodzenia (sefardyjskich lub aszkenazyjskich). W XX w. problem ten można rozpatrywać przynajmniej na dwóch poziomach, z których oba stanowią fascynujące połączenie idei emancypacyjnych i tradycyjnych wzorców zachowań. Pierwszą grupę mediatorek wiedzy można odnaleźć w mniejszości sefardyjskiej przed II wojną światową. Drugą grupę stanowią kobiety żydowskie, którym udało się przetrwać Holokaust i które - pomimo trudnej sytuacji społeczno-politycznej - postanowiły zająć się badaniem historii bałkańskich Żydów lub udokumentować ich kulturę, chociaż większość z nich nie miała (formalnie) profesjonalnego przygotowania do takich działań. W tekście przedstawiamy krótkie biografie i działania kobiet z drugiej grupy. Wśród nich możemy znaleźć badaczki i popularyzatorki kultury, które używały różnych języków i swoje działania kierowały do różnych grup odbiorców. Nasz tekst koncentruje się na kobietach, które pracowały za granicą. Interesują nas nie tylko wspólne wzorce i kody, ale także różnice w modelach przekazywania wiedzy (i tradycji) przez bałkańskie Żydówki pochodzenia sefardyjskiego lub aszkenazyjskiego.Female narrative connected with the transfer of knowledge can be an interesting key if applied to interpreting the legacy of Judaism in the multi-level context of Balkan cultures. Originating in the traditional Balkan Jewish communities, the transfer of knowledge (tradition) has been carried out in various centres and at different times, mediated mainly by Jewish women of various origins (Sephardic or Ashkenazi). In twentieth-century history, this problem can be considered at least at two levels, both of which present a fascinating intersection of emancipation ideas and traditional patterns of behaviour. The first group of female mediators of knowledge can be found within the Sephardi minority before World War II. The second group is represented by Jewish women who managed to survive the Holocaust and - despite the difficult socio-political situation - decided to research the history of the Balkan Jews or document their culture even though most of them lacked formal and professional training for such tasks. In the text, we present short biographies and life work of women from the second group. Among them, we can find researchers and popularisers of culture who used various languages and worked for various groups of recipients. Our text is focused on the women who worked abroad. We are interested not only in common patterns and codes but also in variations in the models of transfer of knowledge and tradition by the Balkan Jewish women of Sephardic or Ashkenazi origins.Ženski narativ povezan sa prenošenjem znanja može biti zanimljiv ključ ako se primeni na tumačenje nasleđa judaizma u višeslojnom kontekstu balkanskih kultura. Poreklom iz tradicionalnih balkanskih jevrejskih zajednica, prenošenje znanja (tradicije) odvijalo se u različitim centrima i u različito vreme, uz posredovanje uglavnom Jevrejki različitog porekla (sefardskog ili aškenaskog). U istoriji dvadesetog veka, ovaj problem se može posmatrati najmanje na dva nivoa, od kojih oba predstavljaju fascinantan presek ideja emancipacije i tradicionalnih obrazaca ponašanja. Prva grupa žena posrednica znanja nalazi se u sefardskoj manjini pre Drugog svetskog rata. Drugu grupu predstavljaju Jevrejke koje su uspele da prežive Holokaust i - uprkos teškoj društveno-političkoj situaciji - odlučile su da istraže istoriju balkanskih Jevreja ili dokumentuju njihovu kulturu iako većina nije bilo formalno i stručno osposobljena za takve zadatke. U tekstu predstavljamo kratke biografije i životno delo žena iz druge grupe. Među njima možemo naći istraživače i popularizatore kulture koje su koristile različite jezike i radile za različite grupe primalaca. Naš tekst je fokusiran na žene koje su radile u inostranstvu. Ne zanimaju nas samo uobičajeni obrasci i kodovi, već i varijacije u modelima prenošenja znanja i tradicije od strane balkanskih Jevrejki sefardskog ili aškenaskog porekla

"The largest operation to save children during the Second World War" : Diana Budisavljević as an object of memory practices in the Former Yugoslavia and Serbia

Przedmiotem zainteresowania artykułu są przemiany, jakim po drugiej wojnie światowej podlegała narracja o Dianie Budisavljević (1891-1978). Budisavljević była pomysłodawczynią i koordynatorką akcji ratowania serbskich dzieci z ustaszowskich obozów w czasie drugiej wojny światowej. Interesuje nas, jak kształtowała się pamięć o jej działalności, zarówno w okresie istnienia socjalistycznej Jugosławii, jak i po jej rozpadzie – w Serbii. Obecnie mamy do czynienia ze wzmożonym zainteresowaniem Budisavljević w serbskiej i chorwackiej kulturze narodowej. Przeprowadzona analiza publikacji książkowej (Boška Lomovicia, Knjiga o Dijani Budisavljević [‘Książka o Dianie Budisavljević’], 2013) oraz narracji muzealnej (wystawa Najveća akcija spašavanja dece u Drugom svetskom ratu - Dijanina deca [’Największa akcja ratowania dzieci w czasie drugiej wojny światowej – dzieci Diany’], Belgrad, 2018) prowadzi do wniosku, że we współczesnej serbskiej kulturze pamięci postać ta jest wykorzystywana instrumentalnie i używana do doraźnych celów politycznych.The article considers how the narrative about Diana Budisavljević (1891–1978) was changed after the Second World War. Budisavljević was the originator and coordinator of the rescue of Serbian children from Ustashe camps during the war. The authors scrutinize how the memory of her actions was shaped first in socialist Yugoslavia and, after its collapse, in Serbia. Today, Budisavljević is the subject of increased interest in both Serbian and Croatian national culture. Our analysis of the book by Boško Lomović Knjiga o Dijani Budisavljević (Book about Diana Budisavljević, 2013) and a museum narrative devoted to Budisavljević in the exhibition Najveća akcija spašavanja dece u Drugom svetskom ratu – Dijanina deca (The Largest Operation to Save Children During the Second World War: Diana’s Children, Belgrade, 2018) lead the authors to conclude that, as a figure, Budisavljević is used instrumentally and for short-term political purposes in the modern Serbian culture of remembrance