Vojvođanski građanski centar Vojvodina civic centre RESIDENCE PROGRAM NOVI SAD 22 October – 22 November 2018 EUROPEAN CULTURAL HERITAGE ON STAGE 1. Context Key event – Novi Sad raid – World War II The Novi Sad raid, also known as the Raid in southern Bačka, the Novi Sad massacre, the Újvidék massacre, or simply The Raid, was a military operation carried out by the Honvédség, the armed forces of Hungary, during World War II. It resulted in the deaths of 3,000–4,000 civilians in the southern Bačka region of Hungarian-occupied Yugoslavia. The Hungarian occupational authorities began raiding towns and villages in southern Bačka as early as 6 January 1942, ostensibly as a means of suppressing Partisan resistance, though the historical record shows that the Hungarian Government was attempting to improve its geopolitical standing vis-à- vis Germany. The first town to be raided was Čurug, followed by Gospođinci, Titel, Temerin, Đurđevo and Žabalj. Vase Stajića 20D/1, 21 000 Novi Sad Tel: 021/523-173 email: [email protected] www.vccns.org The victims were seemingly detained at random while conducting everyday activities. On 20 January, the city of Novi Sad (Hungarian: Újvidék) was surrounded and placed on curfew; its telephone lines were cut. Over the next several days, the occupational authorities went about arresting "suspicious" individuals. More than 1,000 of the city's residents were killed by the time the raid ended. The victims in both Novi Sad and the wider region were mostly Serbs, Roma people and Jews, though several Hungarians were killed as well. In Novi Sad, victims were forced to march across the frozen Danube, only to perish when the ice sheet was shattered by shelling from the shore. Some were pushed into holes in the ice sheet, causing them to drown or succumb to hypothermia, while others were shot in the street. The Hungarian Government and news media condemned the raid, calling for an immediate investigation. In 1943, the Hungarians conducted a mass trial of those suspected of organizing the raid, handing down four death sentences. The four escaped to Germany before their executions. After the war, several trials were held in Hungary and Yugoslavia, resulting in the conviction and execution of a number of key organizers. The final court proceedings relating to the raid took place in 2011, when Sándor Képíró was tried and acquitted of murdering over 30 civilians in Novi Sad. The raid has been fictionalized in literature and film in both Serbia and Hungary. The killings continue to strain relations between the two countries. In June 2013, Hungarian President President János Áder formally apologized for the war crimes that the Hungarian military had committed against Serbian civilians during the war. In Serbian Society, Raid became politically important event that often disturbs some “ghosts”. Happening itself was one of explanations of rizing Serbian nationalism during the previous war towards Hungarians. Today it is used even from some neo fascist or extreme right organizations, in order to bring relativism history facts. Vase Stajića 20D/1, 21 000 Novi Sad Tel: 021/523-173 email: [email protected] www.vccns.org 2. Residence program Team of VCC will host artists; get them familiar with working and living space and residence program including their responsibilities during stay in Novi Sad. In this period of time, residents will be able to formulate part of agenda by themselves and that part will be incorporated in already planned activities. - Introduction lecture with historian Milivoj Beslin will be held in first week of residence in order to set common ground for all of the participants, and provide them historical context and repercussions of the event - Contacts with different city institutions that can offer credible information about this event will be already established (Library of Matica Srpska, Museum of Vojvodina, Archive of Vojvodina, Museum of the Novi Sad, Museum of contemporary art, Raid Museum). Mentioned institutions will provide core for further work. - Workshop / Meeting with students of Academy of Arts in Novi Sad - Meeting with representatives of the independent cultural scene of the city – Art clinic and KC LAB. - Meeting with movie director Želimir Žilnik / Serbian film director best known as one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave film movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is noted for his socially engaging style of filmmaking and criticism of censorship that was commonplace during the Yugoslav communist era. After the fall of communism and the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, he became an outspoken critic of Slobodan Milošević's regime in Serbia. Žilnik was born in September 1942 in the Gestapo-run Crveni Krst concentration camp near the city of Niš in southern occupied Serbia, where his Serb communist activist mother Milica "Maša" Šuvaković had been imprisoned by the Germans since early 1942. On 2 December 1942, when Žilnik was less than three months old, a group of prisoners managed to break out and escape from the camp, and in retaliation the camp guards executed a number of remaining prisoners, including Žilnik's mother. Only days before she was executed, Žilnik was taken out of the camp and given to her parents, and was thus raised by his maternal grandparents. VCC team in one month period will organize meeting with local community (students, Raid survivors, activists) together with artists and organize different other events in order to raise visibility of creative process that is ongoing. Vase Stajića 20D/1, 21 000 Novi Sad Tel: 021/523-173 email: [email protected] www.vccns.org 3. About organization Mission of Vojvodina Civic Centre is affirmation of opened civil society's values, with clearly defined priorities in promotion and protection of human rights, development of critical dialogue about happening in the region during 90s and including young people in socio- political processes through youth activism. Vojvodina Civic Centre promotes truth, justice, solidarity and responsibility as its basic values. Vojvodina Civic Centre implements activities in three program sectors - Rule of law, transitional justice and dealing with the past - Informal education for youth - Activism for human rights protection With many successful activities, Vojvodina Civic Centre has taken a position of recognizable and credible organization in field of dealing with the past in Western Balkans. During previous years, large percent of VCC's activities were a part of research projects about human rights violations in the 90's on the territory of Vojvodina. Most of our resources were directed toward these activities, which are considered as our main filed of work. With final projects about peace movements and children refugees after military operation Storm we will finish one big chapter. We are finishing primary research work on oral history program Untold stories ( www.neispricaneprice.com ) Plan for the next years includes multiple use of experience acquired during previous work with goal to transfer knowledge, multi sector cooperation between different subjects in country and region and creating strong resource for informal education, development of critical thinking and activism. Through our regular project activities, and unique multimedia library called Conflict library that will be open next spring with printing of 3 books from Untold stories program, we intend to offer innovative approach to the old problems. In the following year, we are expanding our field of work, and for the first time we are entering in one long process Vase Stajića 20D/1, 21 000 Novi Sad Tel: 021/523-173 email: [email protected] www.vccns.org of cooperation with different subject from the region (theatres, actors, poets, visual artists, sociologists and psychotherapists) that will result with documentary play about mothers of missing persons from Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. With creating and maintaining new platform for cooperation with this and similar projects, we intend to contribute to the democratization of the societies in the Western Balkans, and overcome the repercussions of the conflicts by creating participative culture of remembrance. 4. How to get to Novi Sad and Vojvodina civic centre Unfortunately, transportation from airport Nikola Tesla in Belgrade to Novi Sad is not easiest thing to do, even its quite close. To use public transportation, it’s necessary to go through Belgrade and use bus or train to get to Novi Sad. Since bus and train station in Belgrade are being dislocated now and under construction / we advise you to inform us about time of your arrival and we will organize transport directly from airport to Novi Sad. Adress of our organization is Vase Stajića 20D/1, Novi Sad. Contacts: Željko Stanetić – [email protected] +381655410346 Bojan Krivokapić – [email protected] +381642673634 Jelena Dukarić – [email protected] +38162606997 Vase Stajića 20D/1, 21 000 Novi Sad Tel: 021/523-173 email: [email protected] www.vccns.org .