13 Dec 2022.

Exhibition „Memories from the Ashes: National Library of Serbia on 6 April“ opened

Exhibition „Memories from the Ashes: The National Library of Serbia on 6 April 1941“, organised by the Belgrade Museum of Genocide Victims, with the support of the Cultural Information Centre „Spona“ from Skopje, was officially opened in the National and University Library „St. Kliment Ohridski“ in the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia.

This exhibition will present to the Macedonian public the historical context and tragic consequences of the largest single war crime committed against cultural and identity heritage in the entire area of Europe during the Second World War, in which almost the entire national fund was destroyed, which included about 354,000 titles of monographic publications in about 500,000 volumes, over 1,400 Cyrillic manuscripts and charters from 12th to17th century, a cartographic and graphic collection of 1,500 issues, 4,000 magazine titles and 1,800 newspaper titles, including the entire libraries of cultural greats such as Vuk Karadžić, Lukian Mušicki and Đura Daničić.

During the opening ceremony of the exhibition on the destruction of the National Library of Serbia on 6 April 1941, Director of the National and University Library „St. Kliment Ohridski“ Rahmetuli Kući, author of the exhibition and Director of the Museum of Genocide Victims Dejan Ristić and Ambassador of Serbia to the Republic of North Macedonia Nevena Jovanović, who officially opened the exhibition, addressed the audience.

Ambassador Nevena Jovanović noted that the National Library was, not by chance, one of the first targets of the Nazi German Air Force, and for this reason 6 April 1941 is not only the day when the Second World War began in Serbia and when the capital of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia was mercilessly bombed, but also one of the saddest dates for Serbian and world cultural heritage, when an attempt was made to erase the entire cultural and national identity of one nation.

She emphasised the importance of fostering a culture of remembrance so that such crimes would not be repeated in the future.

Exhibition „Memories from the Ashes: The National Library of Serbia on 6 April 1941“ will be open until 22 December 2022.