Bubanj Memorial Site

Bubanj Memorial is a park located on a forested hill southwest of the central city zone. During World War Two this was one of the biggest execution sites in Yugoslavia. The first execution by a firing squad was organized in 1942, when a group of inmates were taken there from the concentration camp in Red Cross. After the February 1942 escape, the number of executed persons sometimes reached a hundred a day. In only two days, on 16 and 17 February 1942, over 1,400 prisoners were executed here. The total number of persons shot cannot be accurately determined, as the bodies were first buried with the help of bulldozers. In an attempt to cover up their crimes, in August 1944, just before the end of the war, the Germans dug out and burnt numerous bones (the burning took 20 days). An estimated 10 to 15 thousand people are believed to have been killed here. The memorial park contains a number of parts symbolically representing the horrors of this place. • The forest – representing the central location where partisans fought for the liberation from fascists • The path leading to the monument – symbolizing the path they had to take to liberty • The monument consists of: • A horizontal white marble relief showing scenes of the peril of the subjugated nation and its ultimate victory leading to freedom. It is followed by the verses of Ivan Vuckovic from Nis, reading: “From the blood of communists and patriots fists were born: fists of revolt and warning, fists of the revolution, fists of liberty. We were shot, but never killed, never subdued. We crushed the darkness and paved the way for the Sun.” • The second part of the monument takes the shape of 3 monumental fists of varying heights, symbolizing a child, a woman, and a man shot at the location. The work of the Croatian sculptor Ivan Sabolic, it was presented to the public on Nis liberation day, 14 October 1963.