The exhibition “Raids – Punitive Expeditions of the Wehrmacht in the Villages of the Žiča Srez in 1941”, authored by historians of the National Museum Kraljevo Mirjana Savić, museum advisor and Nemanja Trifunović, curator, was opened in the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo, on Thursday, October 13th, 2022. starting at 7 p.m. The exhibition was opened as part of the manifestation of the October festivities. The audience was first greeted by Darko Gučanin, director of the National Museum Kraljevo.
He referred to the contribution of this institution, or rather its curators, to the cultivation of the culture of memory of the victims of the mass shooting in Kraljevo in October 1941. The exhibition “Raids – Punitive Expeditions of the Wehrmacht in the Villages of the Žica Srez in 1941” is a supplement to the picture of the cruel suffering of the population of Kraljevo, but in rural areas, through German raids. Then Miloš Milišić, Assistant to the Mayor of Kraljevo for Cultural Events, addressed the audience and emphasized the importance of preserving the memory of the victims of October in Kraljevo, who must never be forgotten.
The exhibition was opened by Miloš Timotijević, PhD, museum advisor of the National Museum Čačak, who pointed out that it is necessary to constantly look back at the fact that in the period from 15-20 in October 1941, the regular German army of the Wehrmacht shot 2,200 civilians, innocent citizens, as a sign of retaliation for the losses of their soldiers. However, the exhibition “Raids – Punitive Expeditions of the Wehrmacht in the Villages of the Žiča Region in 1941” provides data on the suffering of the rural population, where 264 victims were identified, among whom were 45 women and 15 children, and attention is drawn to the numerous crimes committed during a raid by the German army in the villages around Kraljevo. The exhibition also includes numerous photographs of the victims from the tombstones, where in rural communities their families and relatives cherished the memory of the suffering of their loved ones. However, thanks to the work of the exhibition’s authors, a precise list and identification of each victim was achieved, thus including them in the general picture of suffering, i.e. in the memory corpus of society as a whole.