A guide through the history of the internment camp on Goli Otok

The presentation of the guide was held in the Great Hall of the Journalists’ House in Zagreb, on Thursday, July 9. The authors of the guide are Dr. Martin Previšić from the Department of History of the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb, Dr. Boris Stamenić, coordinator of the Culture of Memory program in Documenta and Vladi Bralić, PhD student at the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb. The date of the presentation and the accompanying panel discussion was chosen intentionally. The presentation of the guide took place on the 71st anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners on Goli Otok in July 1949.

In the welcome speeches, Türkan Karakurt, Head of the Zagreb Office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Vesna Teršelič, Head of Documenta, addressed the audience. Vesna Teršelič reminded that after last year’s expiration of the decision on preventive protection of Goli Otok, further devastation of the remaining buildings continues, and called on the Ministry of Culture and Local Government to allocate funds for the development of the basis for conservation. During the presentation, several speakers emphasized that this short guide, published by the Documenta – Center for Dealing with the Past and the Zagreb office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, represents a contribution to the memorialization of Goli Otok as well as to the strengthening of a culture of remembrance and democratic education of society as a whole. 

Along with the panel moderator, Dr. Boris Stamenić from Documenta, the discussion was attended by Dr. Renata Jambrešić Kirin from the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research in Zagreb and Mr. Ivo Pejaković, Director of the Public Institution Jasenovac Memorial Area. Renata Jambrešić Kirin spoke about her research with a focus on female prisoners on Goli Otok, and other localities during the Cominform period (1948-1956), as well as about the transgenerational transmission of trauma caused by the experience of life in internment camp. Ivo Pejaković presented his experiences of many years of work in various positions within Jasenovac Memorial Site, and supported the idea of institutional protection of the former site on Goli Otok.

You can watch the video of the panel presentation on the website of the Zagreb office of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung: https://www.fes-croatia.org/news/article/zagreb-972020/

The guide can be found in the attachment.