MONUMENT OF THE REVOLUTION OF KOZARA

This memorial to the socialist period (Spomenik Revoluciji/Споменик Револуцији) is dominated by an impressive modernist-style rough concrete tower. It is set in a beautiful natural site in the Kozara National Park, on the hill of Mrakovica, at 806 m above sea level. Erected in 1969 and inaugurated by Tito on September 10, 1972, the monument honors the partisans and civilians who died during the Second World War in the Kozara offensive of the summer of 1942. It is the work of the Macedonian-Serbian-Croatian sculptor Dušan Džamonja (1928-2009), who is also responsible for the amazing Monument to the Revolution in Berek, Croatia. The monument in Kozara was one of the most visited in Yugoslavia, with more than 3 million visitors per year. It consists of three main elements and always hosts official ceremonies on May¹, May 9 and July 4.

Tower, wall and museum. The main element is the tower. Standing 33 meters high and with a diameter of 8 meters, this cylindrical structure is made up of 20 vertical fins alternating with protruding and bulging parts. According to its creator, the fins form a play of light and shadow. They symbolize both victory and life (protruding parts exposed to the light) and death (bulging parts, in the shade) of the partisans and the population. The wings continue on the ground with 20 concrete bars radiating around the tower. These are an allegory of the pressure exerted by the Axis forces in Kozara in 1942. Behind the tower, in the wooded area, a wall forms an enclosure 24 m long and 6 m wide. It bears a hundred bronze plaques on which are inscribed the names of 9,921 Yugoslav partisans and civilians who died during the battle of Kozara. Finally, a museum is housed in a rough concrete structure, halfway up the slope, 40 m south of the tower. It was originally dedicated solely to the Second World War in the region. On display are weapons, helmets and documents about the massacres perpetrated by the Ustasha and Nazis in 1942. The place has also become a Serbian nationalist museum: an exhibition with material and panels evoke the war of 1992-1995 while ignoring the atrocities committed by the Bosnian-Serbs. The entrance is guarded by an American-made M8 Greyhound armored vehicle and an artillery piece that were used by the partisans in 1944-1945.