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 Photographic documentation
Photographic material shown at the exhibition was taken from photographic archives of the TANJUG news agency, daily Politika and private collections. The work of photographers Imre Sabo, Goranka Matić and others is also featured.
YOUTH DAY
Many cultural events and those commemorating workers' achievements were held as part of Youth Day celebrations throughout the country. Everything culminated in a grandiose sporting event - rally on the Yugoslav People's Army Stadium in Belgrade .
At Josip Broz Tito's initiative in 1957, his birthday became Youth Day, national holiday dedicated to the young, while Tito's Relay Baton became Youth Relay Baton, a symbol of all the batons.
Everything began with the " Blue Bridge " that emerged from the running track of the Yugoslav People's Army Stadium, which thrilled the audience. It stretched all the way to the state box where Josip Broz stood. Mika Tripalo, President of the central committee of the People's Youth of Yugoslavia crossed the bridge, greeted by cheers and applause, and brought Tito the first Youth Relay Baton.
Local Youth Batons continued to be carried throughout Yugoslavia bringing Tito compliments and best wishes for his birthdays. Seven years after Tito's death, Youth Day celebrations died away. The last event of that kind took place in 1987 and was named "Turn on the Light". The last Youth Baton carrier was a pioneer with a broad smile, Rejmonda Broćaj from Gnjilane. She handed the baton over to Haim Redžepi, the then President of the Yugoslav Youth.
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Belgrade, Yugoslav People's Army Stadium |
GIFTS
Gifts mark the inauguration of a new cycle: New Year, birthday, name-day, opening of a shop, launching of a ship, appearance of a book, launch of a new product, the first time an object has been used and so on. The gift celebrates the first use, defloration or a new start.
The custom of gift giving goes back to ancient times. It is closely related to the rites, associated with the seasons, meant to win the favour of the gods, kings and dignitaries of this world. When parents give gifts to their children, or superiors to their subordinates it always symbolizes the wish for affluence and thriving. In the first case, the wish takes on the form of a request and in the second a promise. Gifts are given in the name of the Invisible Force so that the new cycle can begin with a good omen or anticipation of abundance.
J. Chevalier - A. Gheerbrant , ADictionary of Symbols, Zagreb 1983.
The collections formerly comprising museum holdings of the Memorial Centre "Josip Broz Tito" are kept in the Museum of Yugoslav History . They were build up from 1944 to 1980 and consist of GIFTS given to one person - fellow party member, comrade in arms, godfather, Supreme Commander, Marshal, President of Yugoslavia, president of the Yugoslav communists Josip Broz Tito, Tita, Stari*.
The gifts came from all parts of Yugoslavia "from Djevdjelija to Triglav" with dedications and messages glorifying war victories, work accomplishments, completion of the tasks specified in five-year plans, as well as ideas of brotherhood and unity and socialist society building.
Gorica Erceg - Sarajčić , custodian
* Stari (Old Man) was Tito's nickname
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| Presenting gifts to Comrade Tito |
AT TITO'S
Tito established the first direct links with representatives of the Allies during the Second World War. Until Tito's death in 1980, statesmen, politicians and public figures from more than eighty countries worldwide visited Yugoslavia. Numerous meetings with statesmen primarily from African and Asian states that entered into decolonization process were the result of his decades-long statesmanship that made him one of the most influential figures of the nonalignment movement and the already forgotten policy of active peaceful coexistence.
209 delegations from 128 countries attended Josip Broz's funeral that took place on May 8 th 1980. There were 122 state and 68 party delegations, 4 delegations of liberation movements, as well as 9 delegations of international organizations and 6 other delegations. 31 presidents of different republics, 4 kings, 8 vice-presidents of republics, 6 princes, 22 prime ministers, 11 parliament speakers, 12 deputy prime ministers and 47 foreign ministers were also present.
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Tito with Fidel Castro, Prince Charles, Muammer al-Qaddafi and Nicolae Ceausescu |
TITO'S RELAY BATON - YOUTH RELAY BATON
The holdings of the Museum of Yugoslav History contain unique relics of a unique event in which one in three Yugoslavs had been an active participant throughout the 43 years of its existence. The decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of Yugoslavia to devise a special plan of activities to celebrate Josip Broz Tito's birthday on May 25 th 1945 provided the initial motive for organizing this event.
"On the eve of comrade Tito's 53 rd birthday, our Department of Physical Training and Sport will organize mass relay races of the young throughout Yugoslavia. Young runners will be carrying beautifully made batons containing written birthday messages of best wishes for our Marshal bringing to Belgrade kind regards of the people who will be greeting them on their way", read the letter to youth leadership.
The first relay baton set off from Kumrovec, Josip Broz's birthplace. In the years that followed, the baton started its journey each time from a different place, from a different republic, marking anniversaries of events from the history of Yugoslav nations and ethnic groups. Relay batons were carried all over Yugoslavia, during several months along predefined routes. They were carried by divers under water, climbers brought them to the highest mountain tops, parachutists jumped with them from airplanes, sailors carried them across the sea, and the lightest, miniature ones travelled with carrier pigeons. The public was informed daily about the progress of the baton and the accompanying events and celebrations, first over the radio and later in television reports.
In the first twelve years, more than 20 thousand relay batons were made. The 10,286.500 carriers ran 877,000 kilometres. Batons were most often made of wood or metal with common elements such as a five-pointed star or torch on the top. The authors of these batons were mostly anonymous most frequently pioneers, workers and village youth.
At the closing ceremony, held at the Yugoslav People's Army stadium on May 25 th, the most prominent member of the youth organization would hand over the relay baton to Tito.
As opposed to the first imaginative batons characterized by naive combinations of elements and daring shapes, as the time passed, subsequent relay batons became more and more institutionalized and unrecognizable in terms of their artistic qualities.
Written messages were stored in specially designed, often well-hidden, holes in the body of the baton. Some relay batons contained about ten or even more messages. In the beginning, their content and appearance were exciting and authentic. However, in time, they became stereotyped and impossible to date, unless the date of creation was written on them.
At the news of Tito's death on May 4 th, Presidency of the Conference of the Socialist Youth League of Yugoslavia decided to suspend the baton's journey. Pledging that Yugoslavs would be strong and steadfast in continuing Tito's mission, the last carrier handed over the relay baton to the President of the Socialist Youth League of Yugoslavia.
The federal committee, in charge of Youth Day celebrations in 1987, decided that the last baton should set out from Slovenia. Preliminary design of the relay baton and the poster was proposed by the Ljubljana-based art group New Collectivism. The design was such that it caused uproar and the public, police and the army called for bringing criminal charges against its authors. The reason - the poster they proposed was a modified version of a poster from the arsenal of the Nazi Germany, while the baton itself was a "symbolic building" with four columns - impossible to be carried.
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