The promotion of the book “Occupied Culture: Nazis, Collaborationists, Museums and Cultural property in Serbia During the Second World War” was held in the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo, on Friday, May 31st, 2024, starting at 6 p.m. At the beginning of the promotion, Darko Gučanin, director of the National Museum Kraljevo, greeted the audience and introduced the participants of the promotion. After that, Mirjana Savić, museum advisor of the National Museum Kraljevo, as the moderator of the program, presented, through short biographies, the present authors of the book: Vladimir Krivošejev, PhD, museum advisor of the National Museum Valjevo and Rade Ristanović, PhD, senior research associate of the Institute for Contemporary History in Belgrade.
Vladimir Krivošejev spoke about the initial research in the field of museology and protection of cultural assets on the territory of occupied Serbia during the Second World War, which over time grew into material for a book. There were attempts to establish museums during the occupation in a significant number of cities, and Kraljevo was among them, which can be seen as an initiative of the Nedić government, but with the consent of the occupying power. Also in 1942, the Decree on the Preservation of Antiquities was adopted, as the first legal act in this area, and the Central Institute for the Preservation of Antiquities was established, which would be the forerunner of today’s Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia. Further work and study of this topic eventually led to a book.
Rade Ristanović pointed out that the Nazis were interested in cultural heritage in Serbia, in the area of prehistory, antiquity and the Middle Ages, where they had space for their racist, pseudoscientific theories. The cultural heritage was controlled by the organization Anenerbe whose goal was the research of “ancient Germanic history and ancestral heritage”, which proved the Aryan right to rule by abuse of archaeology. An important role in this was played by the German officer Reiswitz, who helped save the holy relics from Fruška Gora, which was under Ustasha rule. On the other hand, the book analyzes the extent of the destruction of cultural assets by the German occupying force in this area and offers new knowledge about the cultural policy of the government of Milan Nedić.