Who stands to benefit from a “reworking” of history?

One of the photographs made during WWII made its way around the world. It displays the moment when, on May 22 1942, Partisan commandant Stjepan (Stevan) Filipović, a noose around his neck, fists held up high, hailed freedom and called the gathered people to take up arms and begin the fight against Fascism. This photograph,…

An absurdity to end all absurdities – how Valter and the “Written Off” were “actually” Četniks

“Us people from the Balkans are afflicted with an illness, the obsession with change”, said in his time Jovan Ćirilov, dramatist and member of the first Committee for the change of street names in 1991. Between 1991, while Vojislav Šešelj and his supporters were holding performances in front of the House of Flowers, brandishing a…

Montenegro and Antifascism – meaning, misconceptions and perspectives

“Professor, how is it possible that, as an elementary school pupil, I learned that the Partisans were good and the Četniks were bad; as a secondary school student, I learned that Partisans were good, but so were the Četniks; and today, in University, I am learning that Partisans were bad and Četniks were good?” “Dear…

“Three distinct histories taught in B-H regarding Fascism and Antifascism”

The educational system in Bosnia-Herzegovina is probably one of the least functional ones in the world. In a country with only 3.5 million inhabitants, there are as many as 13 Ministries of Education and at least 12 different curricula. Especially problematic is the situation in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where each of the…

“When human beings are silent, the inhuman are free to take lives!”

I always welcome invitations to professional conferences. They are always an opportunity to hear and learn something new, to exchange ideas and views with colleagues. The focus of my interest is the study of the Holocaust – a subject that, for some, still belongs to sensitive historic subjects. For me, the further away a conference…

New civil initiative to call a referendum on referendums

“A referendum with fewer signatures and more petition sites” – this is the message of a new civil initiative by 15 unions and seven civil society organisations to launch the collection of signatures for a new referendum so as to ensure that signatures continue to be collected in public places and that the number of…