The projection of the short documentary-feature film “The Cross from Kosovo” produced by the Genocide Victims’ Museum in Belgrade and the lecture “Crimes Against Serbs and Jews in the Territory of Kosovo and Metohija During World War II” were held in the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo, on Tuesday, March 11th, 2025, starting at 6 p.m. At the beginning of the program, Darko Gučanin, director of the National Museum Kraljevo, welcomed the audience, and in his introductory speech, he spoke about the historical significance of Kosovo and Metohija for the Serbian people, the difficult position of the Serbs during the Ottoman rule and the constant trials they went through.
He emphasized that insecurity for the Serbs in that area existed throughout various historical periods, especially during the Balkan Wars, the First and Second World Wars, when great suffering occurred. The film was created based on the doctoral dissertation of Nenad Antonijević, PhD, and his exhibition “The Silent Crime: Atrocities of Albanian Quislings Against Serbs and Jews in Kosovo and Metohija during World War II”, which was hosted at the National Museum Kraljevo during the summer of 2024, and whose goal was to show this truth. Nikola Miloševski, curator of the Genocide Victims’ Museum in Belgrade, gave a lecture “Crimes Against Serbs and Jews in the Territory of Kosovo and Metohija During World War II”, in which he presented the continuity of the centuries-old suffering of the Serbian people in this territory, the culmination of which was the presence of foreign invaders.
The unfavorable historical circumstances in which the Kingdom of Yugoslavia found itself on the eve of World War II led to the fateful events of March 27th, 1941, which led the country into war against a superior enemy. He emphasized that anti-fascism was deeply embedded in the Serbian national identity. He spoke about the division of the territory of Kosovo and Metohija into German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation zones and the actions of Albanian quisling formations against Serbian and Jewish civilians. Albanian formations such as the volunteer militia, the Ballistas, the Kosovo Regiment and members of the Skanderbeg Division were not effective in military operations. Their actions were successful against powerless civilians, especially in minority Serbian areas. Miloševski characterized these formations as small in number, undisciplined, insufficiently physically prepared and extremely prone to desertion. Paramilitary units systematically attacked Serbian villages, burning houses, killing civilians, committing mass rapes and robberies. Dozens of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries were destroyed or desecrated. Churches and monuments erected in the interwar period were particularly destroyed. All Serbs were declared settlers, to be expelled and deported to central Serbia. In the period 1941–1944, about 100,000 Serbs were expelled from southern Metohija and Kosovo. The crimes of Albanian quislings led to a significant change in the demographic structure of Kosovo and Metohija. After the war, the communist authorities largely ignored the crimes of Albanian formations, and some Albanian collaborators escaped responsibility. The Genocide Victims’ Museum in Belgrade is trying to correct the mistakes made in the work of the war crimes inquiry commission and during the census of the 1960s through its research and professional work. Miloševski also mentioned the suffering of the Serbian population of the southern Serbian province in the 1990s and the pogrom against Serbs in 2004.
After Nikola Miloševski’s presentation, a twenty-five-minute film “The Cross from Kosovo” was shown. The film was directed by Ivica Vidanović, the screenwriter is Božidar Knežević, and the cast includes Dejan Cicmilović, Vasilije Milić and Katarina Milić. The curator Nikola Miloševski and the museum advisor, Nenad Antonijević, PhD, from the Genocide Victims’ Museum in Belgrade participated as expert consultants in the realization of the film. This film is the fourth documentary-feature film produced by this museum. Through documentary segments and feature reconstructions, testimonies and historical sources are presented that shed light on the persecution of Serbs, the destruction of cultural and religious heritage, as well as the tragic events that marked this area. The film emphasizes the importance of preserving historical memory and points to the need not to forget the suffering of innocent victims.
After the screening of the film, a lively discussion began with the audience, who did not hide their enthusiasm for the film, the facts presented, and the emotional impression it leaves.