The Necropolis for the victims of Fascism (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian: Nekropola žrtvama fašizma) is located in Novi Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was opened in 1975 to commemorate around 700 victims executed at this site during the Second World War,[1] and designed by the architect Bogdan Bogdanović. The monument is located in farmland on a hilltop named Čamića Brdo, just off the main road between Vitez and Travnik. The site was inscribed as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012 [2] in the Cultural Landscape category.
Description
The monument consists of twelve megalithic compositions chiseled from Bihacite [3] stone within a complex of paths and steps.
The megaliths have been described variously as ‘stone dragon sentinels’,[4] ‘paired snakes’,[5] ‘heads of soldiers’,[6] and “large stones engraved with strange primitive symbols that recall those of the Bogomils” [7]
. They are placed on stone plinths, and set in two irregular arcs, in pairs, with the distance between each pair measuring approximately 2–3 metres.
Inscription
На Смрицама између
Буковице и Виленице
≠≠≠≠ злочинци
године 1941
звјерски су
побили око 700
недужних и беспомоћних
грађана с подручја
средње Босне
On Smrike between
Bukovica and Vilenica
≠≠≠≠ criminals
In the year 1941
Horrifically
Killed around 700
Innocent and defenceless
Citizens from the region
Of Central Bosnia
Entrance sign to the Necropolis to the victims of Fascism, Novi Travnik, Bosnia & Herzegovina (1975)
History
Although the memorial site originally occupied a 2 square kilometer patch of land, encroaching farmland has now reduced the memorial area to less than 200 square metres, and a small flight of steps approximately 40 metres long. These steps and the flagstoned area at their base are no longer maintained.
The area around Novi Travnik saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 1992-95 war.[8] As well as the presence of landmines in the vicinity until recently, leading to a general neglect of the area, one megalith is badly damaged, being overturned and broken. A further sculpture appears to be almost completely absent. Several of the megaliths bear bullet impacts, particularly on the eastern-facing side. One word has been intentionally erased from the commemorative stone at the site's entrance. This word almost definitely referred to Ustaše forces.
No conservation or restoration works have been carried out on the monument since its 1975 opening.[9]
A ceremonial wreath laying is undertaken at the monument every 9 May.
^Trumić, Aleksandr (1988). Nacrtane riječi i napisani crteži, spisateljski i graditeljski opit Protomajstora Bogdana. Sarajevo: Faculty of Architecture, University of Sarajevo. p. 82.
