The authorities of the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

established many

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

memorials A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, Tragedy (event), tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objec ...

during its existence. Several memorial sites were established between 1945 and 1960, though widespread building started after the founding of the

Non-Aligned Movement The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc. After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide. The movement originated in the aftermath o ...

. Yugoslav president

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...

commissioned several memorial sites and monuments in the 1960s and 1970s dedicated to World War II battles, and

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

sites. They were designed by notable sculptors, including

Dušan Džamonja Dušan Džamonja ( sr, Душан Џамоња, ; 31 January 1928 – 14 January 2009) was a Yugoslav sculptor of Serbian ancestry. Education and career Džamonja was born in 1928 in Strumica, former Vardar Banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1 ...

Vojin Bakić Vojin Bakić ( sr-cyrl, Војин Бакић; 5 June 1915 – 18 December 1992) was a prominent Yugoslav sculptor. Educated at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts and by Ivan Meštrović and Frano Kršinić, Bakić's early works were dominated by ...

, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, and architects, including Bogdan Bogdanović and Gradimir Medaković. After Tito's death, a small number were built, and the monuments were popular visitor attractions in the 1980s as patriotic sites, and since the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

and the

dissolution of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, the sites are mostly abandoned. In Slovenia, World War II Veteran Organisation and its branches yearly hold many commemorative events in regard with the subject of the monuments and people remember the fallen on the

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

. On August 28, 2018, author Donald Niebyl published a book titled ''Spomenik Monument Database'', the first-ever English-language guidebook on the WWII monuments of Yugoslavia, after conducting several years of intensive research. For the list of World War II monuments in each republic of the Former Yugoslavia, see: *

List of World War II monuments and memorials in Bosnia and Herzegovina List of World War II monuments and memorials in Bosnia and Herzegovina includes Yugoslav monuments and memorials build on the territory of the present day Bosnia and Herzegovina. History The Yugoslav authorities established several memorial si ...

List of World War II monuments and memorials in Croatia List of Yugoslav World War II monuments and memorials in Croatia represent monuments and memorials built on the territory of the present day Croatia in Yugoslavia between 1945 and 1991. It does not include busts or other statues of individuals ( se ...

List of World War II monuments and memorials in Montenegro A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

List of World War II monuments and memorials in North Macedonia The list of World War II monuments and memorials in North Macedonia represents monuments and memorials built on the territory of the present day North Macedonia during the times of Communist Yugoslavia. History The Yugoslav communist authorit ...

List of World War II monuments and memorials in Serbia This is a list of monuments and memorials dedicated to the National Liberation Movement, its fighters and its victims in the World War II in Yugoslavia, built on the territory of the present day Serbia, including those in the autonomous provinc ...

List of World War II monuments and memorials in Slovenia List of World War II monuments and memorials in Slovenia represent Yugoslav monuments and memorials built on the territory of the present day Slovenia. History The Yugoslav authorities established several memorial sites between 1945 and 1960, th ...

External links

Spomenik Database - An exploration of Yugoslav-era WWII monuments

25 Abandoned Yugoslavia Monuments that look like they're from the Future
{{Authority control Yugoslav culture Propaganda in Yugoslavia

See also

Further reading

External links