Exhibition opens on political repression in 1944-1953

BELGRADE - A multimedia exhibition on the repression of the communist regime in Serbia, titled In the name of the people! Political repression in Serbia in 1944-53, opened late Wednesday at the Historical Museum of Serbia in Belgrade.

Earlier on, a minor incident occurred outside the museum building, where members of the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) waved flags and sang songs as a group of young men attempted to take the flags away from them.

Police reacted quickly and overwhelmed the youths.

A police officer said that there were no other incidents.

Author Srdjan Cvetkovic, who gathered the material for the exhibition over a period of three years, said that it is the first museum exhibition on a topic that was long considered taboo.

The exhibition features a very innovative presentation of material related to Goli otok and other gulags, compulsory purchases and collectivisation, elections, the cult of personality and the political culture of the era, Cvetkovic said.

He said that his goal was to present these topics in an objective, strictly scientific manner - not only to make it possible for all generations to face this legacy, but also to prevent anything like that from happening ever again.

Exhibits include documents on the "enemies of the people" and locations of mass graves, original documentation of the Department of National Security (OZNA) and other archival material, authentic photos, personal effects of those killed, as well as audio and video footage containing testimonies by their contemporaries and descendants of Stalinist-style mass executions.

Photo Tanjug, T. Valic