BETWEEN 1945 and 1960 the Yugoslav socialist state commemorated the multinational anti-fascist armed resistance on its territory during WWII with a series of spectacular modernist memorials, better known as “spomeniks” — a striking book about which was reviewed in the Star on November 13 2018. 

That partisan war lead to the liberation of the Nazi-occupied territories and the creation of one of the most successful multi-ethnic, multi-faith and multi-national political constructs achieved by humankind since the days of Cyrus the Great of Persia in the 6th century BC.

The gigantic memorials’ abstract expressionist style — a bold, avant-garde move away from prevailing socialist realism — created breathtaking, open-air scenarios not only for mass remembrance gatherings but also as welcoming places to visit at all other times.