EIGHTY YEARS

OF THE MEMORIAL COMPLEX

"12th FEBRUARY"
The content

PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................. 5
PART ONE ................................................................................................................................................ 7
1. GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMP NIS (1941–1944) ....................................................... 8
1.1. Concentration camp Nis (formation and appearance of the camp) .................... 8
1.2. The camp of death ........................................................................................................... 11
1.3. Resistance in wire ........................................................................................................... 12
1.4. Camp disbandment ......................................................................................................... 13
1.5. A concentration camp that survived the war .......................................................... 13
1.6. Camp after World War II ................................................................................................ 19
PART TWO ............................................................................................................................................. 21
2. MEMORIAL COMPLEX - MUSEUM “12th FEBRUARY” (1967–1990) ............................ 22
2.1. Preparatory works for the formation of the Memorial Complex .......................... 22
„12. February ” .............................................................................................................................. 22
2.2. Opening of the "Memorial Complex" on February 12, 1967 .................................... 30
PART THREE ........................................................................................................................................ 60
3. MEMORIAL COMPLEX „12th FEBRUARY“ IN YEARS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC
CRISIS AND NEW REVITALIZATIONS (1990-2020) ................................................................ 61
3.1. Memorial complex in the years of socio-economic crisis in Yugoslavia .......... 61
3.2. Damaging and revitalization of the Memorial Complex .......................................62
3.3. Exhibition activity .............................................................................................................. 67
3.4. Educational activity ...........................................................................................................68
3.5. New permanent redesigned setting on the ground floor and accompanying
publishing activityт ..................................................................................................................... 71
3.6. Arrangement of the space in front of the Memorial Complex .............................. 90
"12th February"” .......................................................................................................................... 90
3.7. Visits of Famous People ...................................................................................................92
PART FOUR............................................................................................................................................98
4. CAMP AS INSPIRATION ........................................................................................................ 99
4.1. Filmography ..................................................................................................................... 99
4.2. М Memorial complex „12th February”in the researchers' records .................. 104
(Dr. Milena Zikic) ....................................................................................................................... 104
PART FIVE ............................................................................................................................................. 116
CHRONOLOGY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS RELATED TO THE MEMORIAL
COMPLEX ''12 FEBRUARY” (1967-2021) ..................................................................................... 117
PART SIX .............................................................................................................................................. 123
SOURCES AND LITERATURE ..................................................................................................... 123
PREFACE

Dear readers,
We are proud to present to you the first book about the Memorial Complex
"12th February" which depicts the events from the establishment of the
concentration camp until 2021. Everything that happened is recorded here as a
kind of homage to generations of workers of the National Museum in Nis who
managed the last preserved Nazi conc. camp on the territory of Serbia.
A very common question we encounter in everyday practice is “Why The
Red Cross? ” What is the connection between the name of the international
humanitarian organization and the Nazi camp, synonym of evil? Here is the
answer: the experience of the Balkan wars from the beginning of the 20th century
required from the Red Cross of Serbia and its branch in Nis to build barracks for
storing sanitary material in a certain area on the outskirts of the city. It was
necessary to build a railway station close to that area to facilitate the transport of
the wounded in the First World War which as a result led to locating the storage
buildings of The Red Cross Society in the wider area of today's Memorial Complex
“12th February". The whole area was eventually named Red Cross even a newly
built railway station. When the army of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia decided to
erect barracks buildings in this area, they bought the land from The Red Cross
Society - one of those buildings later became Nazi conc. camp.
The next common dilemma that often arises is in the form of the question:
Museum or complex? The terms "memorial museum", "commemorative museum"
can often be found in the daily press from the period of the SFRY with other
similar examples. The reason for this is the fact that the decision to form a
museum implied exclusively the space of the camp building, which is, after all,
only an integral part of The Memorial Complex "February 12", which is spatially a
more complex monumental structure.
The uniqueness of the Red Cross camp? To laymen, all camps look alike and
they do not understand the difference that makes us, the National Museum and
the City of Nis, especially proud of: the first organized escape of the camp inmates
from any Nazi camp took place in the Red Cross camp which placed it in a special
place on the camp list. This is what sets it apart from many other Nazis camps.
The tradition of commemorating February 12th began in 1945 and it lasts all these
years.

5
 A large number of colleagues from The National Museum participated in
collecting materials for the book, inspired by the wish to make it as
comprehensive as possible, contributing that way to its final form. I owe special
thanks to Dr. Milena Zikic for the work The Memorial Complex ''12th February ”
through the researchers' records as an integral part of this monograph as well as
Aleksandar Dinčić for the assistance in collecting the material. The suggestions of
colleagues from Historical Department of the National Museum of Nis were of
great importance as well as the suggestions of the reviewer Dr. Jovan Zlatic and
museum advisor Marina Vlaisavljevic.
Finally, I dedicate this book to a large number of fellow workers of the
National Museum in Nis, in all positions, who worked for decades to preserve the
Memorial complex "12th February ", thus giving a personal touch to the quality of
its presentation.

Nebojša Ozimić

6
PART ONE

7
1. GERMAN CONCENTRATION CAMP NIS (1941–1944)

1.1. Concentration camp Nis (formation and appearance of the camp)

The main building of the later Nis concentration camp, better known as a
camp on Red Cross, was built in 1930 and until the capitulation of the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia it served as the barracks building of the cavalry regiment "Obilic"1 After
the German soldiers entered Nis, on April 9, 1941, Yugoslavian prisoners of war
were housed in that very building as well as in the other barracks of the cavalry
station. At that time, they were taken care of by the Nis Board of the The Red
Cross Association, providing them with food at first.2 It was some time later after
negotiations with Germans that the sick and those under the age of 20 should not
be treated as army conscripts and should be released.3
Germans completely adapted the barrack and the yard for the camp
in September 1941 with the aim of establishing order and suppressingthe "Serbian
uprising movement ''.4 The fact that the barracks were located away from the city
center and important roads and in the immediate vicinity of the railway and the
station The Red Cross, made it an ideal place to isolate prisoners. Quite a number
of political prisoners were previously interrogated in German, Bulgarian and
Special Police prisons.
Nis district was not involved in some major anti-occupational
activity during the uprising battles in 1941, which was partly due to the small
number of people in the detachments, and partly due to the focus of the national
uprising in western and partly central and eastern Serbia as well as in western and
southwestern parts of Yugoslavia. That is why the German camp in Nis started to
function relatively late, while prisoners were mostly taken to the existing prisons
and the Penitentiary.

During September, the detained Jews worked on strengthening the fence

of barbed wire and clearing the terrain around the camp. So gradually it was

1
М.Миловановић, Логор на Црвеном крсту у Нишу, Ниш,1983,15; Н. Озимић, Логор на Црвеном крсту,
Ниш, 2012, 3
2
Зб.НОР, XII/1-47, с.117
3
ВА, фонд Нда, кут.27 А, ф 3,: док. бр, 1; ИаН, даље: ДЦКН, кут. 15 дел. бр. 3110-3111 од 12. 6. 1941;
док. од 24.4.1941; док. од 15.6.1941.
4
Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu jugoslovenskih naroda (даље: Zb. NOR), tom
I, knjiga 1 (Borbe u Srbiji 1941, dokumenti nemačkih i kvislinških komandi i ustanova), 145; ИаН, микротека,
микрофилм (даље: мф) I, снимак 510 (даље: I/510).
8
turned into clear space. The fence fixing job was completed in November.5 The
camp complex itself was spacious: a building with ground floor, first floor and
attic. There were four large and two small rooms on the ground floor. The large
rooms were marked with the numbers 11, 12, 13, and 14 and they served to
accommodate prisoners, while the smaller rooms were without markings - one of
them was used for interrogations and torture, and the other one for the
commander of the guard. On the first floor, the layout of the rooms was as follows:
ambulance, barber shop for German soldiers and rooms numbered: 3, 4, 5, 6. 7, 8
and 9. In the attic on the façade side facing the appeal plot there were 20 solitary
confinement marked numbers from 1 to 20. During the establishment of the camp,
the purpose of those premises on ground floor and first floor changed.6
The yard of the camp had a square shape and was divided into two
parts. The smaller part behind the building, towards the east, was used for the
walk of the camp inmates, and the larger part in front of the building, better
known as the appeal plac, the place where all the prisoners lined up for counting
and roll call in the mornings and evenings. The yard was illuminated by electric
light, with several strong reflector bulbs and enclosed by a double row of barbed
wire. The inner fence was two meters away from the outside and slightly lower,
with the inside between the wires of the fence filled with coils of barbed wire.
Until the brakethrough, there was an unhygienic kitchen and bathroom in the
yard, and after escaping on February 12, 1942, the sheds that exist now were built.
They served the needs of the camp.7
The camp had two permanent guard posts. One was on the left side of the
main entrance, the other on the opposite side near room 12. Guard places were
doubled during the camp walk. On two towers with searchlights, there were two
guards with machine guns. They were on duty day and night. A wire fence
separated the camp from the barracks full of Germans, and from January 1942,
Bulgarian soldiers, who had the task to assist the camp guards in case of need.

Not all prisoners were treated equally in the camp. There were certain
categories whose members had different fate.

5
М. Миловановић, Немачки концентрациони логор на Црвеном Крсту у Нишу и стрељања на Бубњу,
Београд–Ниш, 1983, 69; НмН, МК12Ф, изјаве преживелих логораша, XII – XIII, изјава Влајка Митића
(непагинирано).
6
НмН, изјаве преживелих логораша, XXI, изјава Јордана Петровића (непагинирано).
7
М. Миловановић, н.д., 71.
9
 The first category - consisted of hostages who were shot in the case of
retaliation – 100 of them were shot for one killed occupying soldier, and for one
wounded 50.8 They were most often caught in random raids and brought in by
truck to the camp.
The second category of prisoners consisted of Jews, who were brought to
the camp to be mentally and physically destroyed as a "lower", non-Aryan race.
They were in the camp temporary, until further deportation or most often for
mass liquidations at Bubanj. They did various jobs in the camp, and they were
specially chosen to dig common graves on Bubanj. Once they were all killed, the
Romani people were put on this job. They were similarly treated during arrests
and deportations.
The third category of prisoners was persons arrested on suspicion of
belonging to or cooperating with the People's Liberation Movement (PLM) and
their military units. Prisoners from this category were taken to be shot for revenge
and separated for contingents for internment in the Nazi labor camps throughout
Europe.
The fourth category of prisoners consisted of those arrested and accused
of belonging to or cooperating with the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland. This
group of detainees was mostly brought by Germans and Bulgarians after the
interrogation in police and military prisons or straight from the action, where they
were captured or arrested. 9
Occasionally there were foreigners in the camp. For Poles, French, Greeks
and others, it is not known where from and why they were brought.10 During 1943
and 1944 there were smaller groups of English, Americans and Russians captured
after the air fights or escaping from prisoner transport.11 This category of the
prisoners was the smallest and they were not shot because Germans respected
the Geneva and Hague Conventions on the Procedure for War prisoners. They
were mostly taken to Banjica and Sajmište and then transported to prison camps
in Germany.

8
Доласком новог заповедника Србије, генерала Бадера, од децембра 1941. квота је смањена на 1:50 и
1:25; М. Миловановић, н.д., 63.
9
Н.Озимић, Логор на Црвеном крсту, 9–12.
10
Александар Динчић, Савезници и страни поданици у логору на Црвеном крсту у Нишу, Ниш, 2016, 19-
20; ВА, Немачка архива (даље:НА), к. 1, ф. 6, док. бр. 59-1.
11
А.Динчић, н.д., 6-7.
10
 Generally speaking, people from various parts of Yugoslavia were brought
in, although the area of the camp covered mainly the southeast and partly western
Serbia.12

1.2. The camp of death

In addition to the Sabac Camp, the Banjica Camp in Belgrade and the
Sajmiste, near Zemun, the Nis concentration camp was considered the central
camp of the German occupation command and its Security Service as ordered by
the commander of Serbia since March 23, 1942.13 The Gestapo really had
jurisdiction over these camps at the beginning of 1942, thus giving them status of
the death camps, as the hostages for planned retaliation were mostly taken from
the central camps, where they were always in the largest number.14 So that meant
that, from the founding of the camp to its disbandment, no one was sure about
the safety of their own life, whether they were political prisoners, Jews, Romanis
or civilians. The psychosis of death was present every day and it left particularly
severe consequences on the surviving detainees. Prisoners were initially shot on
Delijski Vis, near the Serbian military cemetery from the First World War, and later
on the hill Bubanj, above the former barracks 16. of the infantry regiment, 5
kilometers from the city. It was in this place where most detainees from the camp
were shot during the war, but also from the existing prisons and Penitentiary.15
The camp was ruled by a difficult and exhausting regime for the whole time,
along with regular use of physical force. One of the most difficult ways of torturing
the prisoners was punishment by solitary confinement in the attic. There were a
total of 20, of which two were particularly horrific — with no opening on the door
and no windows (blind solitary confinement). Commanders were most often
brought to solitary confinements, as well as political leaders and more prominent
collaborators of both resistance movements.16
Those who were not shot were transported to labor camps throughout
Europe, mainly in Germany, Austria and especially in Norway. Many of them died
in these internments, on the so-called path of the undesirable. Mauthausen near
Linz (Austria) was the most notorious of all labor camps. A large percentage of Nis
detainees were interned and killed there. Somewhat better situation was in the

12
Историјски архив Београд (даље: ИАБ), фонд немачких полицијских докумената службе безбедности
(Befehlshaber und des SD) (даље: BdS), досије B-1405; Н. Озимић, Ослобођење Ниша у Другом светском
рату и први месеци нове власти, Ниш, 2019,7.
13
ВА, НА, к. 9, ф. 8. док. бр. 2.
14
М. Миловановић, н.д., 65; ВА, к. II, 27, ф-5, бр.10
15
Детаљније о стрељању логораша и затвореника у Нишу, видети у: Небојша Озимић, Александар
Динчић, Бојана Симовић, Ивана Груден Милентијевић, Иван Митић (даље: Група аутора), Жртве Лагер
Ниша (1941–1944), Ниш, 2014.
16
М. Миловановић, н.д., 112; ИаН, Мф. I/510–520.
11
so-called work commands, especially in prisoner of war camps in Bavaria, where
detainees were treated the same as prisoners of war.17

1.3. Resistance in wire

Informed in time that a great revenge is being prepared and that they will
surely be summoned for execution, detainees from room 12, mostly captured
fighters and political leaders of partisan detachments (Branko Bjegovic, Sreten
Vuckovic et al.), organized an escape plan, which happened on the 12th February
1942. During the breakthrough, 48 detainees were killed (42 were died on a wire
or in a camp circle). One German guard was also killed, while 105 prisoners
escaped from the camp that evening, but six others were killed in pursuit or died
of wounds and general exhaustion.18

It was the first major escape from a Nazi prisoner concentration camp
throughout Europe.

The second escape was organized and carried out on December 2, 1942,
which six camp inmates took part in, while only three managed to escape. In
retaliation for the escape, the Germans shot ten detainees at Bubanj on December
15, 1942.19
After the first escape, the Germans decide to raise the level of security in
the camp. They are tearing down the house that was on the appeal plot and with
that material they are making sheds in the shape of the Cyrillic letter "P" in which
they locate guard house, kitchen, bathroom and dining room and other objects
necessary for everyday life. In addition to these buildings, two concrete towers
and three meters high concrete wall were erected so that the possibility of escape
is minimized. The concrete wall had openings that served as loopholes. The camp
kept this appearance, except for the minor interventions, until today.20

17
И. Груден Милентијевић, Интернирци нишког логора у Маутхаузену, Ниш, 2016, 7, 15–18; Н.
Озимић, Логор на Црвеном крсту, 29; М. Миловановић, н.д, 184, 250, 257, 297–303, 311.
18
НмН,фотокопија докумената DOC. NR. NORKW-1098-Auscuege; ВА, к. 41-б, ф.1, док. бр. 15/680; НмН,
МК12Ф, књ. III, изјава Милутина Самарџића, 17; изјава Бранислава Ћурчића, 14; изјава Сретена
Вучковића, 63. изјава Славка Радосављевића, 10-11; И. Митић, Бекства из логора на Црвеном крсту, Ниш,
12; Н. Озимић, Логор на Црвеном крсту, 23; М. Миловановић, Немачки концентрациони логор на Црвеном
крсту, 137–138.
19
М. Миловановић, н.д., 216.
20
ИаН, фонд Окружно повереништво за утврђивање злочина окупатора и њихових помагача 1944–1947
(даље: КОЗАРА), кут.1, ф. 67.
12
1.4. Camp disbandment

Before the camp was disbanded and the Gestapo left the city, the
penultimate group of camp inmates was shot on the site of large craters excavated
by an airplane bomb on the north side of the camp circle. It was September 14,
1944, when the camp was officially closed and also when the Gestapo left the city.21
Traces of crimes on Bubanj were also removed. At the beginning, the
excavations and the burning of corpses were carried out by detainees from
Banjica who were killed afterwards and then Nis detainees with a number of
Italian prisoners. It was the same group that unearthed unexploded bombs around
the city. It was a "detachment of death" better known in the camp as the" heavenly
detachment", under the authority of German Special Command 1005
(Sonderkommando) for execution of special tasks.22

1.5. A concentration camp that survived the war

According to the report of the War Damage Commission, over 30,000

people passed through the concentration camp in Nis during the war, and the
exact number of people shot, either from the camp or the prison and the
Penitentiary, has not yet been determined by name. The Nis concentration camp
was not as large as Banjica, Jasenovac and other well-known camps, but in the
treatment of the inmates, in the cruelty of the regime, it was not different from
them. Among the many camps throughout Europe, it has its place in the Nazi
system of destruction.
After the war, the city commission of the People's Liberation
Committee performed excavations and exhumed a total of 36 corpses shot in the
camp on September 14, 1944. According to the report of the city commission, out
of 36 excavated corpses, 10 were women and 26 were men. Out of this number,
the name and surname of 25 of them were identified; among them was an Italian
of Romani origin. 11 of them remained unidentified, two women and nine men.23

21
Н. Озимић, Последњи дани логора на Црвеном крсту, Зборник Народног музеја, број 28/29, Ниш,
2020, 87.
22
Исто, 85.
23
Народни лист, 26. октобар 1944. године. О последњим данима логора детаљније у Н. Озимић,
Последњи дани логора на Црвеном крсту, Зборник Народног музеја, број 28/29, Ниш, 2020, 83–94.
13
 The news on exhumation,
Narodni list, 26th October, 1944.

14
Fig. 1. A detail from the exhumation of the last group shot on 20.10.1944.
(NmN, MK12)

Fig. 2-4. Burial place of those executed

on September 14, 1944.
(NmN, MK12F, study collection)

15
 Immediately after the liberation of Nis, Soviet airmen who had their planes
at Nis airport came to the camp, while the neighboring cavalry barracks were
occupied by fighters of the 10th Serbian Brigade of the People's Liberation Army
Yugoslavia (NOVJ). In the event of November 7, 1944, better known as the Nis
incident, when a conflict arose between the Soviet and American planes, two
Soviet pilots were killed and buried a hundred meters from the main entrance to
the camp, next to the wire fence that divided the entrance camp path and the
adjacent equestrian barracks.24 They were buried in the same place with the
remains of exhumed detainees, shot on September 14, 1944, on the day of the
disbandment of the camp.25 On the grave site of the fallen Soviets a suitable
monument in the form of a pyramidal plaque was placed, with the names of the
victims. They remained in the same place until 1961, when the remains were
exhumed and transferred to Svetozarevo (today Jagodina) in the newly formed
Memorial complex of buried members of the Red Army.26

Fig. 5-7. Photos from the funeral of the

dead pilots
(NmN, MK12F, study collection).

24
Детаљније о Нишком инциденту видети у: Александар Динчић, Бојана Симовић, Нишки инцидент,
Ниш, 2015; Н. Озимић, Ослобођење Ниша и први месеци нове власти, Ниш, 2019.
25
У тим гробницама после рата су сахрањени од улице „12. фебруар” према улазу у сам логор: Трајко
Садиковић (неексхумиран), совјетски пилоти у двогробу, непозната жена, између совјетских пилота и
жене сахрањен је Абедин Демировић (неексхумиран), четврти гроб – Урош Станковић, Влајко
Стојановић, Радивоје Танасковић, Даринка Спасић, Александар Стокић, Надежда Калезић, Олга
Богдановић, Миља Калановић и Мила Ђорђевић, (НмН, МК12Ф, студијска збирка)
26
А. Динчић, Б. Симовић, н.д., 19–23
16
 A month after the Soviet units left the camp area, the complex was owned
by the Yugoslav Army, and later by the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Therefore,
the camp was closed to visitors for the next fifteen years and the army adapted it
to their needs. The exception was February 12, 1949, when, in the presence of the
descendants of the killed camp inmates and survivors of the camp and senior
officials of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ) of the time, a memorial plaque
was unveiled at the place where one group, shot on September 14, 1944, was buried
as well as on the wall on the east side, where on February 12, 1942, bare-handed
detainees managed to tear down a wire fence and paved the way to freedom.27
When the JNA handed over the camp to the civilian authorities, SUBNOR
Nis bought this space and donated it to the National Museum (then the Museum
of the National Liberation War) with the obligation to put on an exhibition in the
camp that will testify to the anti-fascist struggle in World War II and the innocent
victims who died in the camp. As the idea of forming a museum exhibition in the
camp comes on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the uprising in
Serbia, it is undrestandable that the the space in front of the camp complex is to
be arranged. On that occasion, the remains of the inmates who were buried
outside the camp circle, right next to the fence with barracks, were taken away
by parents or relatives immediately after the exhumation of the Soviets in 1961.
In this way, the memorial plateau for commemorating the innocent victims
is placed inside the future Memorial Complex “12th February”, where the
reconstruction works are in progress. Since 1963, every February 12, the
commemoration of the fallen detainees has been held next to the wall on the north
side of the complex. In this place, in a special fenced area, there were marked
mounds of buried camp inmates who were excavated immediately after liberation
of Nis. When their bodies were later exhumed, the space was flattened and paved.
The names of the victims were inscribed on smaller square marble slabs. This
whole area has been turned into a memorial plateau that exists even today..

27
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал
17
Fig. 8-9. Commemoration of the fallen detainees before (above) and after the
building of memorial plateau, after the removal of the pyramidal monuments
(below) Photo: N. Mladenović (NmN, MK12, study collection).

18
1.6. Camp after World War II

The city Commission for determining war damage worked in the camp from
February 6th to 8th, 1945. That is when the first official data on what the camp
looked like during the occupation came about. According to the commission's
records, the entrance to the camp was located on the west side of the main road
Nis-Belgrade and went through the big double doors (outer gate). At the very
entrance to the camp, at the second inner gate, on the left and right, there was a
German guard house.
The camp space itself occupied about 16,000 m2 and was fenced with thick
stone wall, 3 meters high. All along the wall, there were openings in the form of a
cube for machine guns and rifles (loopholes). The commission also noted the
concrete watchtowers (observatories) on north and east sides as well as a
multitude of rifle or machine gun holes made by bullets on the wall on the north
side.
In the yard, there were sheds in the shape of the Cyrillic letter "P", which
served as a guardspot, kitchen, bathroom and dining room. The camp building had
an entrance through a double door and a small hallway leading to the stairs. On
the ground floor, the commission noted 4 large rooms and two smaller ones,
which were intended for the camp commander and the camp doctor. Upstairs on
the left and right, there were rooms numbered 3 and 4. On the left side of the
corridor there were four rooms, and at the bottom of the corridor one more,
which were used by the Germans for their own needs. In the right wing of the
upstairs hallway there was one big room straight ahead, and on the right in the
hallway there was the smaller one that was marked with the number 6. All rooms
were with a concrete floor covered with straw and they served for the
accommodation of detainees.
In the attic (loft), there were 18 solitary confinements - 10 in left and 8 in
the right wing. Two were very specific because there was no vent, nor the bars on
the door through which light would enter. Those solitary confinements were
called "blind" because of the high chances of damaging or losing sight when
coming from the darkness into the light. The prisoners instantly had trouble with
sight, and in severe cases they were blinded. In one "blind" solitary confinement
they found an inscription of the prisoners from April 1941, which means that the
prisoners from the short April War were also put in here. At that time, there were
no solitary confinements; they were built from the middle to the end of 1942. Each
solitary confinement had iron bars, and also four shutters which closed the
openings. That way the light in the solitary confinement, except for the “blind”
19
ones, came only through the opening in the ceiling - the ventilation opening. On
the ceilings, walls and doors a large number of legible and poorly legible
inscriptions and messages from camp inmates was recorded. In two solitary
confinements the existence of barbed wires on the floor was recorded.
This is what the former Nazi camp mostly looked like, although minor
adaptations were made during the stay of Soviet soldiers after liberation of Nis in
October 1944.28 Accurate and precise appearance of the camp could never be
determined exactly due to the lack of photo material.29

Fig. 10. The view of the camp wall to the right of the gate, the roof of the camp building is
visible, right observation post and on the left side, the top of the left one. The photo was
taken in September 1944. (NmN, MK12, inv. No)

28
А. Динчић, Б. Симовић, н.д., 37.
29
ИАН, КОЗАРА, кут. 1, фас. 67.
20
PART TWO

21
2. MEMORIAL COMPLEX - MUSEUM “12th FEBRUARY” (1967–1990)

2.1. Preparatory works for the formation of the Memorial Complex

„12. February ”

State commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the

Second World War and the uprising of the people of the former Yugoslavia
resulted in organized forming of memorial parks as central places for developing
culture of memories. There was no more suitable place in the whole of
southeastern Serbia for education of primary and secondary school students than
the area of the former Nazi camp in Nis. At the same time, when a competition
was announced for architectural solution of the memorial park Bubanj, a decision
was made to turn the area of the former camp into a kind of museum. Thanks to
the care and understanding of the People's Committee of the Municipality of Nis,
the Committee for the Establishment and Arrangement of the Memorial Museum
was formed in the concentration camp at the Red Cross on January 26, 1961. A week
later, on February 2nd the same year, the first meeting of the Board of 18 founding
members was held. It was attended by representatives of all socio-political
organizations, the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Republic of
Serbia and workers of the National Museum.

Fig. 11. The condition in which the camp was found in October 1944.
(NmN, MK12, stud.mat.)

22
 Fig. 12. The condition in which the camp was found in October 1944.
(NmN, MK12, stud.mat.)

After the establishment, The People's Committee of the Municipality of Nis

undertook necessary measures for the purchase of the camp building, and for the
amount of 12,000,000 dinars of that time bought the entire camp complex from
the military authorities. The complex was handed over to the National Museum in
Nis on November 15, 1961, so that it manages it, organizes the work on the
arrangement of the future Memorial complex, as well as to collect archival and
memoir material of the survivor detainees of the camp for the next exibition.30
The future Memorial Complex, according to the original idea and proposal
of the Minister Veljko Vlahović, should have crossed the local framework so that
its primary activity becomes collecting and exhibiting the materials of all or most
of the camps in Yugoslavia. The realization of this idea faced insurmountable
obstacles due to the fact that it takes several years of serious and the studious
work of a group of experts to collect the documentation material. On the other
hand, professional institutions in the former Yugoslavia, which had historical
material at their disposal, could not cede it. That is how it was decided to choose
the most acceptable solution, which was the most adequate at that time
considering the opportunities and conditions. In the future Memorial Complex -
in the building itself, in addition to the material related to the camp, material from

30
Живорад Петровић, Народни музеј у Нишу 1933–2003, 133; Александар Динчић, Ивана Груден
Милентијевић, Иван Митић, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар” и његових
збирки од 1967. до 2014. године, Лесковачки зборник, број LV, Лесковац, 2015, 372.
23
the workers' movement and the People's Liberation Struggle (NOB) was also to be
displayed. That is, a continuous account of the development of the revolutionary
movements of this part of Serbia was conceived, starting from the pre-war period,
through struggle of partisan detachments, until liberation.31
Republic funds for Cultural Activities, Municipal Assembly of Nis, City and
Republic SUBNOR, the fund for tourism of the Municipality of Nis and the Institute
for Communal arranging financed the future works on the Memorial Complex.
The construction working group with many skilled workers of the National
Museum had a large share in the future work.32
Since the board was formed and the camp building was bought, the first
more serious step was the preparation of a study for conservation and restoration
of the camp complex. In May 1962, the National Museum as the authorized
institution for works in the camp, concluded a contract with a design company in
Nis, for the preparation of a detailed study for the conservation and restoration
of this object.33

Fig. 13. Conceptual design of the external arrangement of the

Memorial Complex ''12th February'' (NmN, MK12, stud.mat.)

Following the chronology of events, during its existence the camp passed
through two phases, the first until the escape of the inmates on February 12, 1942,

31
Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар”, 372–373.
32
Ж.Петровић, н.д., 134.
33
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Elaborat za konzervaciju logora na Crvenom Krstu u Nišu, Preduzeće
za projektovanje – Niš, 1962, 1-7.
24
and the second after the escape. The authors of the study followed these
chronologies and it consisted of two parts:
1. The first part was the plan of the works from the first phase of
the existence of the camp, covering mostly all works, with priority of
arrangement of the camp area with outbuildings;
2. The second part was the plan of the final works related to the
interior of the main camp building, artistic design of the existing tombs
of camp inmates in the camp circle, design of the paths, etc.34

During the preparation of the study, the designer strictly adhered to the
program of conservation and arrangement of the camp, which was adopted by the
Establishment Committee for founding and arranging the concentration camp as
a Memorial Museum (complex). The basic position of the Committee in the
program was to keep the appearance of the camp as it was in October 1944 with
an emphasis on the event that separates this camp from the others - the well-
known escape of the detainees on February 12, 1942, with necessary restoration
interventions to remove alterations from post-war period.35
Based on the study on conservation and restoration works relating to the
first phase of works in the camp submitted by the design company, the National
Museum in Nis applied for funds in 1962 with the Federal Fund and found full
understanding and support. Adhering the Elaborate, thanks to the above funds,
the National Museum undertook the measures to start work within the former
complex of the Nazi camp the same year.36 As the need for arranging the electrical
installation arose during those activities, the process of the connections to the
city electricity network started. In this way works on the delicate facilities of the
camp planned for 1962, were completed, and that is how it prevented their further
decay. The following year, based on suggestions of the designer and the
supervisory body, the replacement of the broken glass on whole object was done,
as well as the construction of guard houses and observation posts and installation
of wire fences around the entire building.37

34
НМН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Извештај о добијеним и утрошеним средствима за конзерваторске
радове у логору на Црвеном крсту за 1962. годину и план предвиђених радова за 1963. годину (даље:
Извештај за конзерваторске радове у логору на Црвеном крсту (1962–1963), 1
35
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Извештај за конзерваторске радове у логору на Црвеном крсту
(1962-1963), 1-2.
36
Исто.
37
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Извештај за конзерваторске радове у логору на Црвеном крсту
(1962-1963), 3.
25
 In order to be able to carry out the entire reconstruction for the needs of
the new Memorial Complex, surviving detainees from period of enemy occupation
(1941-1944) were invited for interviews. Their statements about the detention and
the appearance of the camp were recorded, and rich photographic material is also
made.38 Thanks to the collected data, the exterior was reconstructed in a short
time. Thus we learnt that:

1. The camp circle-yard was covered with slag and there was a
concrete sidewalk around the building and partly around the guard
building and the bathroom. The access to the main gate to the left and
right of the path had one row of "hedgehogs". The wire fence on the oak
poles went in two rows, with an axial lock of 1.50 m.
2. Due to the bombing, the camp was left without wooden
observation towers which were built by the first prisoners in August
1941. Also, the original two-row wire fence was demolished after the
construction of a new stone (on the east side) and concrete fence.39
3. Until the escape of the camp inmates on February 12, 1942, in
the middle of the yard space there was a small house that was used
before the war as workshop for making horse harnesses. The Germans
used it for a while as a kitchen. It was destroyed and not far from this
place, outbuildings in the shape of the Cyrillic letter "P" were created.40
4. In the Allied bombing of Nis, the premises that the Germans
used as a dining room and bathroom were destroyed.
5. At the main entrance there was a small wooden barrack which
was, according to the survivors of the camp, a German guardhouse. It
was also demolished after the end of the war because it was a surplus.

38
Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар”, 374.
39
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Изјава Јулке Јанковић Пашић.
40
Исто.
26
Fig. 14. A surviving detainee shows where the morning, noon and evening
roll call took place (NmN, photo by N. Mladenovic)

During the installation of the new wire fence, they found buried German
handcuffs with which prisoners were tied.

Fig. 15. Handcuffs (NmN, MK12, inv. No. 1)

27
 During this period, the collection of items of survivors and dead detainees
of the German camp began. At the same time, new statements from detainees
were collected. This work was performed by an associate of the National Museum
in Nis, Branko Nozica, who will later, together with the curator, pedagogue Vera
Blagojevic, be a lecturer to numerous visitors from the interior of the country. In
a relatively short time, he managed to collect large historical and museum
material, weapons and military equipment, especially about the first escape of the
camp inmates on February 12, 1942.41 A number of statements were collected in
apartments and houses while some interlocutors sent letters or came to the
premises of the Museum of the People's Liberation Struggle of that time. The
study material was systematized in 21 books of statements of detainees of the Nis
concentration camp or prison, bound and later used during the writing of the first
book about the camp as well as in further research. In this way, a collection of
objects of the detainees of the camp was formed for the future museum in the
Red Cross camp.
Simultaneously with the beginning of the collection of museum and
historical material for the future Memorial Complex, work began on the
monograph of Nis in World War II. Working title of the group of authors that was
determined to write the war history of the city was "Nis in the whirlwind of the
liberation war (1941-1945)''.42 The book was published very late for that time and
the overall development of our war historiography. It was created by the urgent
order of the city committee of the League of Communists of Serbia (SKS) and
SUBNOR who engaged a mobile group of political and social workers. These
workers had the task of going from one party member to another or to their
associates, to visit socio-political organizations, take in testimonies from the war,
recording them on tapes. Then a transcript of the most interesting parts was
made for the needs of the future book.43

41
НмН, МК12Ф, студијска збирка, изјаве преживелих логораша књ. I–VII
42
Драгољуб Дејановић, Драгослав Живковић, Мирослав Миловановић, Ђорђе Стаменковић, Ниш у вихору
ослободилачког рата, Нови Сад, 1968.
43
Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар”..., 374.
28
 Fig. 16. The cover page of the book Nis
in the whirlwind of the liberation war

Initiation of the formation of the Memorial Complex ''12th February '' and
the first historiographical works that would unite the available knowledge, caused
the launching of a broader action to collect data on casualties, survivors and
interned camp detainees. In order to obtain additional data and the first list of
detainees, SUBNOR from Nis starts a survey on their stay in the camp and
internment during the war.44

Fig. 17. Branko Nozica and Vera

Blagojević (reading the text) with
visitors in the women's room next to a
large photograph of Jelisaveta Aneta
Andrejevic (photo: N. Mladenovic)

44
Исто, 375.
29
2.2. Opening of the "Memorial Complex" on February 12, 1967

At a joint meeting of social organizations and socio-political workers, on

May 26, 196545, it was decided that the museum camp becomes open to the public.
A year later, it was also decided to close the exhibition of the Museum of the
National Liberation War in the city center and transfer all the material to the camp
and expose it to the visitors.46 In that way, the preconditions were created to start
the works on a permanent exhibition, which will, over time, through thematic
exhibitions, be fully completed. So rooms 11, 12 were used for the escape setting,
and a year later rooms 13 and 14 were filled, together with small rooms.
The first exhibition was formed in the period 1965-1967. Symbolically, on 12.
February 1967, in the presence of about 2000 citizens, guests and survivors
detainees, a ceremony was held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the
escape of detainees and on that occasion, the Memorial Complex "12th February"
was officially open. The president of the Association of Fighters of NOR Nis laid
wreaths on the graves of the executed camp inmates and occasional speeches of
war participants were held.47

Fig. 18. Opening of the exhibition "Nis and its surroundings in the national
liberation war '' on October 28, 1967, which completed the ground floor of the
permanent exhibition (Photo: N. Mladenovic)

45
Ж.Петровић, н.д., 134.
46
Ж. Петровић, н.д., 134.
47
Борба, 13. фебруар 1967. године; Народне новине, 17. фебруар 1967. године.
30
 At that time, a march of 825 scouts was organized, entitled: "On the trail of
escaped prisoners." The trace followed the same paths of the prisoners who
managed to escape on that historic February 12: Nis-Hum-Cerje-Kamenica-Nis.
Apart from the scouts, the survivors of the camp also took part in the march. On
the same day a special program, with the participation of members of the theater
of poetry, was performed in the hall of the Tobacco Factory.48
During the opening of the Memorial Complex, according to the concept of
historian curator Zoran Milentijevic, the premises on ground floor were equipped.
Besides him, Nikola Antov worked at the exhibition, as well the art director and
Nenad Mladenović, as a photographer, leaving for history numerous first-class
photographs.49

Fig. 19. Citizens of

Nis during the
opening of the
Memorial Complex
"12th February "
(Narodne novine)

48
Народне новине, 11. фебруар 1967. године; 18. фебруар 1967. године.
49
Исто.
31
 Fig. 20. View of the arranged Memorial Complex „12th February” from the
entrance (photo: N. Mladenovic, 1967)

Fig. 21. View of the arranged Memorial Complex „12th February” from the east
side (photo: N. Mladenovic, 1967)

32
Fig. 22. Nikola Antov (right) next to the stone wall on the east side of the camp
complex where copper plates with the names of the participants of
breakthrough on February 12, 1942 are placed in the central part
(photo: N. Mladenović, 1967)

33
Fig. 23. The appearance of the setting in the ground floor of the camp building is
the work of the curator historians Zoran Milentijević and Nikola Antov, an artist
employed in National Museum (photo: N. Mladenovic)

34
Fig. 24. The appearance of the setting in the ground floor of the camp building is
the work of the curator historians Zoran Milentijević and Nikola Antov, an artist
employed in National Museum (photo: N. Mladenovic)

35
Fig. 25. The appearance of the setting in the ground floor of the camp building is
the work of the curator historians Zoran Milentijević and Nikola Antov, an artist
employed in National Museum (photo: N. Mladenovic)

36
Fig. 26. The appearance of the setting in the ground floor of the camp building is
the work of the curator historians Zoran Milentijevic and Nikola Antov, an artist
employed in National Museum (photo: N. Mladenovic)

37
 Branko Nozica also helped wholeheartedly in collecting the historical
material of the future museum. At that time, he was an external associate of the
National Museum and for his work he received an award from the Celebration
Committee in 1972 at the thirtieth anniversary of the uprising of the people of
Yugoslavia of the Municipal Assembly of Nis.50
In the camp dispensary and prison rooms 11 and 12 some objects and
historical material related to the camp, life and camp activity and crimes are
exhibited. Room 11 is dedicated to the escape of the detainees on February 12, 1942,
as well as the second-unsuccessful escape, in which on 2. December of the same
year, Nada Tomic, Milka Protic, Vladimir Jovanovic and some other detainees took
part.51 In the same room, a clearly visible, large-sized relief in wood is presented.
On it the sculptor from the Museum in Nis, Nikola Antov shows the preparations
and escape of the inmates. Fully arranged rooms exhibit a large amount of
significant material, models and written documents, while newly discovered
inscriptions of camp inmates on pillars and the walls of room number 12 are
specially protected.52
In the small room-former ambulance, in front of room number 11, three
items were presented in the display cases: a military metal spoon-cult, German
helmet drilled from bullets and shrapnel and metal handcuffs. The mentioned
items were found in the circle of the camp during the setting up of a wire fence.53

50
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Преглед рада Народног музеја и галерије савремене уметности
(1945–1973),12.
51
Иван Митић, Бекства из логора на Црвеном крсту, Ниш, 2015.
52
Народне новине, 4. фебруара 1967. године; Ж. Петровић, н.д.,135–136.
53
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Попис предмета који се налазе у витринама у логору на Црвеном
крсту.
38
 Fig. 27-28. View of the restored guardhouse (Wache) and the camp kitchen
(Lagerküche) which were made according to the testimonies of the survivors of
the camp (photo: N. Mladenovic, 1967)

39
Fig. 29-30. View of the restored room - bathroom (Waschraum) (above).
View to the renovated dining room (Essraum) (below)
(photo: N. Mladenovic, 1967)

40
 Room number 11 was dedicated to the first and second escape from the
camp and 39 items were presented here, mostly paper documents.54 During the
breakthrough and a day later 48 camp inmates got killed. The museum at first
possessed 25 photographs of them and they were exhibited on the walls. The
special place was given to: Branko Bjegovic, Borko Kocic, Rudolf Dolinar, Dragomir
Lekic, Mihajlo Simic, Vule Vukasinovic and some other participants in the
breakthrough.55
The following year, the concept of one part of the museum permanent
exhibition was made with the theme "Nis and its surroundings in the national
liberation war ”, and objects and photographs were exhibited in the ground floor
rooms 13 and 14. The author of this exhibition was also Zoran Milentijević, while
the exhibition was open on October 28, 1968.56 The special attention was given to
the photographs that depicted the most important dates, events and personalities
from the period of the Second World War in Yugoslavia (first and second session
of AVNOJ, creation of the First proletarian brigades, the Fourth and Fifth Enemy
Offensives - the Neretva and the Sutjeska, prominent revolutionaries in
southeastern Serbia, etc.). As for the items exhibited, the most prominent are
weapons used during the war (rifles, machine guns and submachine guns). The
machine gun system "Maxim", which was used in the First World War was also
exhibited. This rare example was captured from Bulgarian soldiers on Mount
Chemernik in December 1943, together with some machine guns, taken on
Ostrozub. This way, by forming thematic exhibitions in the camp building, ground
floor was completed and the conditions were created for the formation of the
upper floor permanent exhibition in the future.57

54
Исто.
55
Исто.
56
Исто.
57
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Попис предмета који се налазе у витринама у Логору на Црвеном
крсту.
41
 Fig. 31. Maxim machine gun
(Photo: N.Mladenovic)

Two years later - in 1969, both the first floor and the attic were opened.
Seven rooms upstairs were fully equipped:

- Room 3 – The last shootings in the camp

- Room 4 – European camps
- Room 5 – Hostage Room - Father's Room
- Room 6 – How I experienced the camp later, interns in Norway
- Room 7 – Room of the detainees - women's room
- Room 8 – Room of the second escape from the camp
- Room 9 – Jewish room

In the attic of the camp building, 20 cells which preserved authentic

appearance were opened. Next to some solitary confinement, the inscriptions of
the detainees which were found on walls, beams and doors are also exhibited.
There are two mosaics on the staircase (Breakthrough and Suffering) with
motifs from camps and relief maps of fascist camps in Europe, the work of
academic sculptor and conservator Nikola Antov, who finished them in 1968, i.e.
in 1969.58

58
Александар Динчић, Нова стална изложбена поставка у Меморијалном музеју „12. фебруар” у Нишу,
Шумадијски записи VII (Зборник радова Народног музеја у Аранђеловцу), Аранђеловац, 2013, 254–255.
42
Fig. 32. Nikola Antov (far right) with associates in the mezzanine floor of the building on
making a mosaic "Escape" (N. Mladenovic)

A large number of items that once belonged to the Jews was obtained in
1971, as a gift from a former detainee of the camp in Nis, Blanka Milanovic, born
Hajon, who worked in "Neimar" in Belgrade at that time. She was one of the few
Jewish detainees who survived the war since she was married to Bogdan
Milanovic, a Serbian official in Veles and then in Nis. The Jewish prayer book, the
Bible and cutlery, which was later used in the camp at Sajmište, stand out in
particular. Among the donors of the objects who belonged to the Jews, there is
also Pesa Gedalja, the President of the Jewish Community in Nis for decades.59
In the first years of the existence of the Memorial Complex, the students
visited it, both from the city and from the entire area of southeastern Serbia and
Yugoslavia. A large number of visitors were high school students and soldiers on
military service in Nis, survivors of the camp as well as the breakthrough
60
participants. In the same year, the writer Ivo Andric, the Nobel Prize winner,
visited Nis. During his stay in the city, he also visited Memorial complex.61

59
НмН, инвентарна књига Меморијални комплекс „12.фебруар”
60
НмН, одељење документације. Књиге утисака посетилаца логора на Црвеном крсту (1969–1971).
61
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал, преглед рада Народног музеја и галерије савремене уметности
(1945–1973), 7, 8; Предлог организације прославе и изложбене концепције у Логору на Црвеном крсту
поводом прославе 30-годишњице бекства логораша 12. фебруара 1972. године.
43
Fig. 33. Ivo Andric during a visit to the Memorial Complex in the company of the
director of the National Museum in Nis. To the right of Andric stands the
historian curator Zoran Milentijevic. (photo: N. Mladenovic)

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the breakthrough of the Red

Cross camp, a complete change of the existing permanent setting was carried out.
On the ground floor, room 12 remained authentic, without any changes and
additions, while the next room number 11 underwent changes. The contents of
this room changed fundamentally. This was done in order to create a unique
image of the breakthrough of the camp, its course and participants. Material that
did not belong to the escape on February 12 was transferred to floor room no. 5,
showcases with bows and suits from Mauthausen were removed, as well as
personal items of Aneta Andrejevic, skulls, photos of the shooting at Bubanj,
photos of another escape and exhumation.
New setting was organized into four counter showcases in which material
and objects of the participants in the breakthrough of the camp were exhibited.
The thirtieth anniversary of the breakthrough (1972) was marked in an
arranged Memorial Complex in front of 8,000 visitors, 33 detainees participating
in the breakthrough and 38 families of fallen participants in the breakthrough.
With the support of SUBNOR, the exhibition "People's Liberation Struggle 1941-
1944" was set up, by author Zoran Milentijevic and with the cooperation of Nikola
Antov and Vera Blagojevic, who in the same year received the "Teacher Tasa"
Award for her work on spreading culture and the Army Award for work with the
JNA. 62

62
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Преглед рада Народног музеја и галерије савремене уметности
(1945–1973), 12.
44
 The opening of the exhibition was attended by Petar Stambolic, a member
of the Federation of SFRY and the President of SUBNOR of Serbia, who greeted
the citizens with a speech, paid tribute to the detainees, called on the people to
be loyal to the revolution and work successes.63
Two rooms on the first floor were prepared for the exhibition, while the
room number 6 was left empty. In order to compensate for this shortcoming,
cooperation was made between the National Museum in Nis, the Inter-Municipal
Community of Education, Associations of war veterans and teachers of art
education for primary schools in the city. As a result of the cooperation, a
competition for students’ works was announced on the topic How I experienced
the camp and since then the best art works on the theme of the camp, which were
also awarded, were exhibited in room number 6. Somewhat later, the material will
be transferred from room number 5 as well as photographs related to detainees
in Norwegian camps. That's how, after a long time, the Norwegian room was
equipped and formed while the students’ works, from then until the removal of
the permanent exhibition in 2013, were exhibited in the corridor.64 With the
opening of the memorial complex, the tradition was introduced that the soldiers
take an oath in the circle of the camp.

Fig. 34. From taking the oath (first from the left Branko Nozica)
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

63
Ж. Петровић, н.д., 136.
64
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал, предлог организације прославе и изложбене концепције у логору
на Црвеном крсту поводом прославе 30-годишњице бекства логораша 12. фебруара 1972. године.
45
 In the following period, the complex was managed by Branko Nozica, the
curator at the time and later historian Zoran Milentijevic. When the first
permanent exhibition was formed, it had close to 300 detainees' personal
belongings on display.65 The permanent exhibition did not change from 1972 to
1984, while the new collection of museum material dedicated to the camp began
after publishing of the first book about the Nis concentration camp in 1983. A large
number of readers contacted the National Museum in Nis and provided new
information, additions, changes; new items were collected, etc.
Memorial complex “12th February” was declared a cultural good of
exceptional importance and placed under state protection on the basis of the
decision of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments Nis, dated 13
May 1977. Two years later it was listed in the register of cultural goods of
exceptional importance.66

65
А. Динчић, Нова стална изложбена поставка у Меморијалном музеју „12. фебруа” у Нишу, 254.
66
„Службени гласник СР Србије”, бр. 14/79.
46
Fig. 35. Decision on the proclamation of the Memorial Complex "12th February" for
immovable cultural property (ZZSN documentation)

47
 Since 1967, every February 12, the day of the breakthrough of the camp has
been commemorated with rich program. Scouts and soldiers perform the march
On the traces of the escaped camp inmates every year and a running competition
is organized.67 Since 1963, Scout Alliance Nis has traditionally participated in the
organization of the program on February 12, thus giving their contribution to the
celebration of this great date.

Fig. 36. Scouts in the camp before leaving for the march On the traces of the
escaped camp inmates (photo: N. Mladenovic)

67
Ж. Петровић, н.д., 136.
48
Fig. 37-38. Scouts in the camp before leaving for the march On the traces of the
escaped camp inmates (photo: N. Mladenovic)

Fig. 39. Items from the Norwegian room in an exhibition from 1975
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

49
 Jean-Pierre Zeiss, son of Elizabeth Pijade, married Zeiss, a daughter of Dr.
Velizar Pijade, enriched the collections and knowledge of the curator of the
National Museum with facts and family photographs. He spent several days in Nis
talking to with Branko Nozica and Vera Blagojevic.

Fig. 40. In the picture from left to right: Branko Nožica, Jean-Pierre Zeiss
and Vera Blagojevic (photo: N. Mladenovic)

Fig. 41. Objects from the Jewish room in an exhibition from 1975
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

50
Fig. 42. Appearance of father's room in 1975 (photo: N. Mladenovic)

Fig. 43. Appearance of the room of the last shooting in 1975

(photo: N. Mladenovic)

51
 The need for educational use of the space of the Memorial complex "12th
February" caused the rearrangement of the former space of the camp kitchen in
the place where primary and secondary school students had socializing with camp
survivors or listening to thematic lectures of the historian of the National
Museum.68 Although in this area films could not be released for technical reasons,
it served extraordinarily for education of school youth. In a short period,
educational work in this area was interrupted to be continued in 2013 with the
arrangement of this space and by putting it in the previous function, which will be
discussed more elsewhere.

Back in 1980, the city board of the League of Communists of Serbia passed
the decision to begin collecting material for writing representative and
scientifically based books about the Red Cross camp in Nis. An editorial board was
formed first. Zoran Milentijevic and Branko Nozica from the National Museum in
Nis were in the board. That year Nozica handed over the role of managing of the
camp to the young historian Milentijevic. In 1980, the National Museum awarded
him with a ceremonial plaque for his long-term work.
The decision was made that the teacher from Nis, Bozidar Milovanovic,
should write a manuscript on the history of the camp.69 The following year, the
editorial office was changed - Branko Nozica died and Bozidar Milovanovic had to
give up on writing the manuscript due to his illness and leave the task of writing
the manuscript to Miroslav Milovanovic, the principal of the elementary school
"Ucitelj Tasa" and a survivor of the camp. Somewhat earlier, he received the
October Award of the City of Nis for a monograph on development education in
the Nis district.70

68
НмН, одељење документације, Извештај о раду 1977–1983
69
ИАН, фонд VARIA, Народноослободилачки покрет у Нишу за време Другог светског рата –
необјављени рукопис.
70
ИАН, фонд VARIA, Народноослободилачки покрет у Нишу за време Другог светског рата –
необјављени рукопис.

52
 Fig. 44. Teacher Bozidar Milovanovic with his students in the Red Cross camp
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

Fig. 45. The last shot of Branko Nozica with the students from Nis in front of the
camp building on The Red Cross in 1980. (photo: N. Mladenovic)

53
 After its completion, the manuscript about the camp in Nis went through a
critical processing and censorship. Thus, together with Nis SUBNOR, the
publisher was the Institute of Contemporary History in Belgrade, where the
original manuscript is kept now. The monograph on the camp was eventually
published, but in the opinion of a special commission, which existed under the
Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia of that time, it was
not satisfactory and was not promoted to the extent the other books dealing with
the issue of war and socialist revolution were promoted. The decision was made
to write another monograph in the foreseeable future, but this time it should be
done by a researcher from the Institute, which never happened.71
The condition of the items in the camp collection was relatively good
and satisfactory. According to the annual plan for 1985, the most sensitive objects
were set aside for conservation in Belgrade, in co-operation with conservation
services of the National Museum in Nis. The same year, permanent exhibition in
the camp "Nis and its surroundings in the national liberation war" had to undergo
a complete professional, artistic and technical change after a long time. As the
showcases in the camp were already dilapidated and dismantled and as they
provided poor security of the material exposed in them, renovation of all existing
showcases in the camp museum (30) started.72
On the occasion of commemorating the 45th anniversary of the
breakthrough at the Red Cross camp (1987), an exhibition of art works of primary
school students was organized. At that time, over 300 works were exhibited, nine
students were awarded and also that many teachers. The works were exhibited in
the camp and they were a part of the permanent settings. Partial adaptation of
the existing permanent exhibition in the camp museum was carried out in 1990. A
large number of permanent inscriptions were replaced by new ones.73
In the same year, 1987, Zeni Lebl, a writer and historian of Jewish origin,
visited the Memorial Complex "February 12". She brought the Charter of The
righteous among the nations with which Israel posthumously paid homage to
Jelena Glavaski, a nursery-governess from Aleksinac who hid Ana Lebl and her
daughter Zeni in her house during the war.74

71
Архив Србије (даље: АС), Фонд Комисија за историју у периоду (1982–1990), Ђ-2, ф. 461, 1982–1986.
72
НМН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Извештај о раду Одсека за логор Црвени крст и Бубањ у периоду
198–-1986, 1.
73
НМН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Извештај о раду Одсека за логор Црвени крст и Бубањ за 1990.
годину, 1–3.
74
Жртве лагера Ниш, 135–136; M. Fogel, M. Ristović, M. Koljanin, Pravednici među narodima – Srbija,
Zemun, 2010, 56–60. Праведни међу народима је почасни израз који користи држава Израел да опише
54
 Fig. 46. Charter of the Righteous Among the Nations Jelena Glavaski
(NmN, MK12, inv. No. 336)

нејевреје који су ризиковали свој живот током Холокауста, да би спасили Jевреје од истребљења од
стране нациста.
55
Fig. 47. Zeni Lebl with a photograph of Jelena Glavaski in 1987.
Memorial complex "12th February" (photo: N. Miladinovic)

56
 The memorial complex and the Bubanj Memorial Park are presented in
publications of Zoran Milentijevic that give plenty of data: Camp on Red Cross in
Nis (1941-1944), Bubanj, Jews - detainees of the camp on The Red Cross and The
Interns in Norway. The publication about women in the camp was planned, but it
was not realized.75

Fig. 48. Miroslav M. Milovanovic, a detainee of the Nis camp at the Red Cross, the
writer of the books about the camp, the director of the primary school "Ucitelj
Tasa" in Nis and the winner of the October Award of the city (NmN, MK12,352)

75
Ж. Петровић, н.д., 138; Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар”...,
377.
57
Fig. 49. The view of the second escape room in 1975.
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

58
Fig. 50. The view of the women's room in 1975
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

59
PART THREE

60
3. MEMORIAL COMPLEX „12th FEBRUARY“ IN YEARS OF SOCIO-
ECONOMIC CRISIS AND NEW REVITALIZATIONS (1990-2020)

3.1. Memorial complex in the years of socio-economic crisis in Yugoslavia

In the years of the general socio-economic crisis in the SFRY, the

disintegration of the country and civil war in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina, the work on the collection was for a reason of somewhat smaller
scope than in previous years. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of
breakthrough at the camp (1992) a traditional exhibition of children's works at that
topic was organized.76
The war years stopped further enrichment and arrangement of the camp
collection while the visits of the Memorial Complex were completely reduced due
to poor relations in the Yugoslav republics, which began to be largely separated.
In this and in the following period, the National Museum encountered numerous
problems, especially at the time of sanctions, major economic crises and general
hyperinflation in the country. In that period it was only important that the existing
objects were preserved and protected in their current condition.77
Despite the war years and the economic crisis, the National Museum and
the city of Nis did not stop commemorating the most important day in the history
of the camp -12th February. Every year the tribute to the fallen victims of the
breakthrough was paid in the courtyard of the camp complex, while the novelty
was the introduction of the orthodox liturgy. Any occasion to gather survivors of
the camp was valuable both to the curator in charge and to those interested
researchers who used such opportunities to gain new knowledge about the camp
and the fates of individual inmates. In the same period, the recording of
statements of the survivors of the camp continued and a small brochure was
issued to remind people of the hard life of the inmates.78

76
Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар” и његових збирки од 1967.
до 2014. године, 378.
77
Исто.
78
Исто.
61
3.2. Damaging and revitalization of the Memorial Complex

After several weeks of threats and announcements, from March 24 to June

9, 1999, the NATO pact bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the bombing
Nis was one of the largest and most common targets of NATO aviation. Apart from
other buildings, rocket missiles hit the central building with the military
ambulance of the barracks "Stevan Sindjelic”. The bombing of these barracks
caused considerable damage to all economic, social and residential buildings in
the immediate vicinity. The Memorial Complex “12th February “was damaged
then. The wall on the west side of the camp complex was damaged, the roof tiles
on the main building and on the outbuildings, the windows on the ground floor,
on the first floor and on the outbuildings cracked.79 Right after the end of the
NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia, the items from Complex were returned and
commission assessed their damage, and then the damaged roof and broken glass
were repaired. 80

Fig. 51-53. Footage of the facade of

the camp building and accessory
buildings (Photo documentation
ZZSN)

79
Љубиша Соколовић, „Стравични дани и ноћи Нишлија”, Нишки весник, бр. 68, март 2011. године, 8;
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Projekat izrade za rekonstrukciju, revitalizaciju i prezentaciju
Memorijalnog kompleksa „12. februar” u Nišu.
Више о страдању Меморијалног комплекса видети у: Бојана Нешић, Бомбардовање Ниша 1999. године с
посебним освртом на страдање Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар”, Зборник Народног музеја у
Нишу, број 27/28, Ниш, 2019, 95–145.
80
Б.Нешић, н.д., 125–130
62
 Fig. 54-55. Photos from room number 4 (right) and 11 (left)
(Photo: Nenad Mladenovic)

Fig. 56-57. Hallway on the first floor - broken reliefs (photo: N. Mladenovic) and
attic, space in front of the cells (photo documentation ZZSN)

63
 In the following year, 2000, after 32 years of being in charge of the
detainees' collection of objects from the Red Cross camp, the curator Zoran
Milentijevic retired and his collection and care of the Memorial Complex was
taken over by Marina Vlaisavljevic, a curator historian of the NationalMuseum.81
In 2001, she was in the state delegation which visited the Mauthausen camp
(Austria) and paid homage to the innocent victims. Soon after that, in 2002, on the
occasion of the 60th anniversary of the breakthrough of the camp, she wrote and
published a bilingual publication "Red Cross Camp-Memorial Museum "12th
February”.82 In this period she, as a competent curator, was engaged in issuing
certificates of detention in the camp for the purpose of exercising the right to war
reparations..
In the following period, under her leadership and with her assistance, an
important step towards further organization of the Memorial Complex was done.
Nis architect Sima Gusic prepared a study for the conservation and restoration of
the entire camp complex. Until the beginning of work on its exterior arrangement,
the Memorial Complex left the impression of the absence of investment
maintenance, with still visible damage caused by NATO bombing. This was
primarily reflected in completely ruined wire and wall fences of the Complex
itself, observatories, gate, memorial plateau and all other elements of the camp
building. The setting itself, with an abundance of documentation has not been
redesigned for a long time.83 The project of Sima Gusic presented in its content a
modernized view of the exhibition and a significant step forward in the
presentation of this important museum complex. One year later, the documentary
film "Red Cross Concentration Camp – Nis (memories)” was made by Milutin
Zdravkovic (2008).84 In March 2009, researchers from the Holocaust Museum in
Washington visited the National Museum in Nis to collect data on victims from
the Nis camp.
In addition to taking care of the Complex, as much as opportunities
allowed, the competent curator devoted much more time to the main event that
was coming closer and had been prepared for many years - the jubilee of the two
hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Cegar. She organized a representative
exhibition, which through valuable museum exhibits and testimonies, showed

81
НмН, одељење документације. Извештај о раду Народног музеја у Нишу за 1999. годину, 3.
82
Бојана Нешић, „Бомбардовање Ниша 1999. године с посебним освртом на страдање Меморијалног
комплекса „12. фебруар”, 134
83
А. Динчић, Нова стална изложбена поставка у Меморијалном музеју „12. фебруар” у Нишу, 256.
84
НмН, МК12Ф. Документарни филм „Концентрациони логор Црвени крст – Ниш (сећања)”.
64
both the uprising Serbia of that time and the battle on Cegar itself. For this
exhibition, entitled "The first Serbian uprising and the battle on Cegar ", Marina
Vlaisavljevic was awarded by the Museum Society of Serbia with the prestigious
award "Mihailo Valtrovic”(2010).
In the following year, 2010, Nebojsa Ozimic came to the National Museum,
after passing his professional exam, to be in charge of the collection and the
Memorial Complex.85 Just before the start of work on the new permanent
exhibition, young historian Ivana Gruden joined him, which continued the
practice that more than one person manages the Complex.

Fig. 58. Commencement of works on reparation of the wall on the south

(entrance) side of the camp complex, which was less damaged
during the NATO bombing in 1999. (photo: Z. Cajic, 2010)

85
С. Крстић, Награда „11. јануар”, 1995–2010, Ниш, 2011, 87.
65
Fig. 59. View of the observation post and memorial frieze before the start of
revitalization works in 2009. (photo: Z. Cajic, 2009)

Fig. 60. View of the open concrete

watchtower from the left side of the
Complex before start of works on the
revitalization of the entire Complex in
2009 (photo: Z. Cajic, 2009)

66
 Fig. 61. The last line-up of Nis scouts in front of the camp building with the old
façade and the roof during the commemoration of the breakthrough of the camp
on February 12, 2009 (photo: Z. Cajic, 2009)

3.3. Exhibition activity

In the first phase of works, the facade of the central building got a new look,
the concrete observation towers were refreshed as well as the part of the wall
towards the neighboring barracks "Stevan Sindjelic”. It was an imperative of new
time to update the new exhibition setting with visual approach that will satisfy the
modern requirements of a museum setting, but at the same time, to bring the
situation in this camp in the times of its existence closer to the uninformed visitor.
Therefore, the National Museum in Nis first prepared a study for arranging a
permanent exhibition in the Red Cross camp.86 On the occasion of the 70th
anniversary of breakthrough of the camp the museum applied at the Ministry of
Culture and Information in November 2011. for financing the project
"Arrangement of a permanent exhibition at the camp on the Red Cross in Nis" and

86
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Народни музеј Ниш – Управи за културу, омладину и спорт у Нишу,
бр. 112/1-12. од 29.11.2012. године.
67
received partially provided funds in March 2012, after which the partial equipping
of the ground floor of the camp building began.87 It was necessary to start works
as soon as possible so that the new setting gets completed by the time of
commemoration of the seventieth anniversary of the breakthrough of the camp.88

3.4. Educational activity

As the new setting also required multilingual multimedia presentations, the

National Museum in Nis applied for funding at the Ministry of Culture and
Information in November 2011, in order to equip the Projection Hall and won it in
March 2012. The idea was to equip a modern projection hall so that the primary
school children get to know better the time of the Camp through archival
recordings as well as the atmosphere in it in an adapted form appropriate to the
21st century. It will later turn out that this project will contribute to a much
stronger connection of schools on the territory of the municipality of Nis and the
National Museum. Through children's workshops and appropriate lectures
provided for a certain school age, primary and secondary school students
acquired the most basic knowledge about what one of the two survived Nazi
camps from the time of World War II means for one city and its local history in
general.89 Thus, the educational work in this area was renewed: exhibitions of art
photographs inspired by the camp (Milan Vujicic, Milos Bjelica), by the history of
the city (Vladimir Jovanovic, Davorin Dinic); expert meetings were held by
historians of the history department of the National Museum and appropriate
workshops for different ages of school youth.

In 2012, the rich program activities in Memorial complex continued. Thus,

in 2010, an artist from Nis and the winner of the award City ''11th January '' Perica
Donkov, MA, with the help of the conductor Zoran Stanisavljevic, had a
performance called Fugue in the ground floor room number 12. In the same room,

87
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Уговор између Народног музеја у Нишу и Министарства културе и
информисања закључен 15.3.2012. године.
88
Исто.
89
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал. Уговор између Народног музеја у Нишу и Министарства културе и
информисања, број 451-04-2633/2011-02 од 21. 5. 2012. године
68
Gabriela Nikolic had a similar performance entitled One Day, accompanied by
music of Maurice Ravel in October 2015. The performance was dedicated to the
suffering of the Jewish woman Clarissa Beraha from the Germans in Nis.90

Fig. 62-63. New appearance of the facade and roof of the camp building after
revitalization - summer ambience (above) and winter (below)
(photo: A. Dincic, 2013)

In the same year, publications were published, which was supposed to give
the most elementary knowledge of both the camp and individual detainees to the
visitors and readers, while a new permanent exhibition was being prepared. In a

90
НмН, одељење документације. Извештај о раду Народног музеја у Нишу за 2012. и 2015. годину, 3; С.
Крстић, Награда „11. јануар”, 1995–2010, 119.
69
short time three publications were published: The Red Cross Camp (2012) which
was supposed to correspond to the new exhibition in the camp,91 Dobrivoje
Marinkovic, highlander in the camp wires of the group of authors and Dr. Velizar
Pijade, Hero of the camp at the Red Cross, by author Nebojsa Ozimic.92 This edition,
which continues the work of earlier edition of the National Museum with the
theme of the camp, was published on the occasion of marking the 70th year of the
breakthrough of the Red Cross camp. 93

Fig. 64. Suzana Zivkovic, Valentina Milovanovic and Aleksandra Cajic -

preparators of the National Museum of Nis during the withdrawal of objects
from the old exhibition in the Jewish Room, 2013 (photo: B. Nesic, 2013)

Extensive works began under the supervision of the Institute for the
Protection of Monuments in Nis on repairing the damaged wall that separates the
camp from the neighboring barracks on the west side. That is why the Memorial
Complex was closed to visitors in the period from November 2012 until the
opening of the new exhibition in April 2013.

91
Н. Озимић, Логор на Црвеном крсту, Ниш, 2012.
92
Марина Влаисављевић, Издања Народног музеја Ниш 2011–2013, Зборник Народног музеја Ниш, број
22, Ниш, 2013, 233; НмН, одељење документације. Извештај о раду Народног музеја у Нишу за 2012, 3.
93
Исто.
70
3.5. New permanent redesigned setting on the ground floor and
accompanying publishing activityт

In the year when the National Museum in Nis celebrated 80 years of

existence, for the first time after more than four and a half decades, in a symbolic
way – on 12. April 2013 at 12 o’clock, a new permanent exhibition was opened in
the Memorial Complex "12. February ". The Museum was again open to visitors.
The authors of the exhibition were historians and curators of the National
Museum Nebojsa Ozimic and Ivana Gruden, while the design and video design of
the exhibition were done by Nenad Petrovic.94
The new exhibition setting was more modern and contemporary for
visitors. It is intended to give a clear picture of the times when the camp served
its most horrid purpose. Audio-visual effects were a novelty and something that
would later attract younger visitors, evoking the horrors that people went
through. The sound of sirens, barking dogs and bursts of fire were striking.95

94
А. Динчић, Нова стална изложбена поставка у Меморијалном музеју „12. фебруар” у Нишу, 257.
95
Исто. Опремање поставке аудио-ефектима помогла је Архимедиа група са Електонског факултета под
руководством проф. др Радомира Станковића
71
Fig. 65. Impressions of the President of the City Assembly, Prof. Dr. Mile Ilic at
the opening of the exhibition on the ground floor 12.4. 2014.

72
Fig. 66. View of the revitalized setting in room number 11 (machine gun nest) and
breakthrough room (number 12) (photo: N. Petrovic)

Following the example of the first installation from 1967, only one part on
the ground floor is now equipped, adapted thematically and dedicated to the
establishment of the camp and escapes from it. Chronological in turn, the story
was told from March 27, through the founding of the camp, to the great escape
February 12, including the second escape in December 1942. The story followed
ten thematic units, which with the help of audio-visual display, documents,
photographs and objects provided a complete picture for the visitors. The setting
has been made so that it is closer to people who are not from the Serbian-speaking
area. It is done in comparative bilingual texts in Serbian and English.96
In the first room, German war documents on the arrest and shooting of the
members of both resistance movements are displayed. The original phone from
the war period in combination with the authentic look of the table and the Nazi
flag on the mast - depicts the office of the of the camp commander Werner Schulz

96
Исто.
73
and gives much clearer and a complete picture of the place where people were
interrogated, beaten and killed during the existence of the camp.97
The first room was divided into four thematic units: the camp on Red Cross,
the establishment of the camp, the first arrests of prominent people from Nis and
occupation. 33 personal items and documents of the participants in the
breakthrough on 12 February 1942 were presented to the visitors in rooms 11 and
12. Damnjan Miletic's wallet, which remained in his pocket during the
breakthrough of the camp, stands out in particular. He kept it with him for a long
time. He handed it to the National Museum of Nis during a celebration in 1981.98
Room no. 11 was realized through five thematic units: participants in the
breakthrough of the camp, from hell to wires, February 12 - a day to remember,
the breakthrough of the camp on December 2, 1942 and forever changed lives. The
goal was to reconstruct a historical event - the first big escape of detainees from
a Nazi camp in Europe. The second escape from the camp on 2. December 1942,
was shown in the previous permanent exhibition upstairs in room no. 8. Although
smaller in scope than the first, but in organizational terms very complex, this
escape deserves special mention. By moving this event to room 11, both escapes
from the camp were presented in the same room.
Former 12, the room from where the historical escape was prepared and
finally performed, which is why the Nis camp is most remembered today, is the
least redesigned. Its historical authenticity has been fully preserved since 1942.
Bare and collapsed walls, frosted glass on the windows, straw, space around
supporting pillars, a wooden bench and a table, as well as handwritten inscriptions
of camp inmates on the walls, still make an authentic depiction of time, like the
preserved rooms in Dachau, Mauthausen, Buchenwald and other camps that have
been turned into memorial museums.99
In the period from 2011 to 2013, the work on collecting documentation and
materials on the suffering of detainees in Nis concentration camp was renewed
and intensified. During the war, the occupiers undertook numerous military
attacs and police actions and brought to the camp a large number of followers
and helpers of the members of military formations.

97
Исто, 259.
98
Исто, 259–260.
99
Исто, 258–262.
74
 Also, the collecting of materials about foreign subjects in the camp
began, which gave it a specific and international character.100
As the number of domestic and foreign visitors grew every year, there was
a need for a publication that would provide additional information about the
origin and operation of the camp for the people who were interested in it. The
National Museum in Nis decided to prepare one publication. In September 2014,
a publication about the Nis camp was published in English. The Jewish suffering
in the Nis concentration camp is symbolically commemorated by a publication.
Mosa Soamovic, a famous painter, was given a special place in it.101
On the occasion of marking the 73rd anniversary of the escape of detainees
from the Red Cross camp, an exhibition of Milos Bjelica 's art photographs called
"Behind the wire" was opened in the projection hall. The photographs testify to
the severe suffering of the detainees from an artistic angle.
The director from Nis, Marija Krstic, made a documentary about the camp
in Nis called "In the Camp Wire Nis” based on the script by Aleksandar Dincic and
Nebojsa Ozimic (2013). In the coming years, the Memorial Complex will be
interesting for visual artists, so stories from the camp will increasingly be found
as a motif of photographs, paintings or documentaries. The students of the high
schools "Bora Stankovic" and "Stevan Sremac” presented their two documentaries
"Nis Camp" and "The Story of the Mandil Family" on the occasion of remembering
the victims of the Holocaust, on April 22, 2015”.102
The number of visitors to the Memorial Museum "12th February” during
Museum Night, grows every year, not only because of the new setting but also
because of the cooperation with other organizations. In 2012, in cooperation with
a non-governmental organization, an exhibition of photographs about the Bubanj
monument was set up in the Complex, while in 2014 poetry reading was organized
in cooperation with the high school "Stevan Sremac", as well as conducting a
survey with the aim of obtaining information on visitors' knowledge about Nis and
other camps in Europe. Also, a lecture by curators and historians on the topic of
World War II was organized in the projection hall.103
As a result of many years of work on collecting statements,
documents and photographs, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the

100
Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар” и његових збирки од 1967.
до 2014. године, 379.
101
Исто, 380.
102
Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар” и његових збирки од 1967.
до 2014. године, 380–381;
103
Група аутора, Рад на презентацији Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар” и његових збирки од 1967.
до 2014. године, 381.
75
liberation of Nis in the Second World War, a monograph "Victims of Camp Nis
(1941-1944)" was published. This register of victims of the Red Cross camp includes
the names, surnames and the name of one parent (if it is in the documents), the
date, manner and circumstances of the arrest, as well as the date and place of the
death of the detainee.104 The promotion of this book was held on October 14, 2014
in the Projection Hall of the Memorial Complex “12th February“. The guest of the
promotion was Dr. Ivan Milentijevic, son of Zoran Milentijevic, to whom the
monograph was dedicated.
As a part of the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Nis
in the Second World War, the anniversary of the event known as the Nis incident
was also marked. The conflict between Soviet and American pilots on November
7, 1944 was to be marked by building a monument. This was the idea of historians
who are in charge of the Memorial Complex. They came across the archival
material about the original burial places where Soviet pilots were buried, after
arranging the documentation on concentration camp at Red Cross in Nis.105 In
order to inform the general public in more detail about this event, a lecture was
held on the Nis incident in Projection hall. On that occasion, the representatives
of the Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Nis, for the first time saw photos
from the funeral of the fallen Red Army soldiers in front of the concentration
camp. The Russian Humanitarian Center in Nis together with Russian veteran
militant organizations expressed a desire to erect a monument on the same place
where the names of the dead will be written. The fighter associations from Nis
also joined the initiative.106
Thus, on October 14, 2014, the cornerstone for a monument dedicated to
the soldiers killed in the Nis incident was laid in front of the Memorial Complex
"12th February". Its completion is planned for the 70th anniversary of liberation
from fascism and Nazism in Europe. The monument was unveiled by retired
Colonel General Miodrag Trickovic on 9. May, 2015 in the presence of the highest
representatives of the City.107 At the end of the same year, just like the camp, the
monument was visited by the Supreme Commander of the Russian Army
Federation Colonel General Vladimir Chirkin.108

104
Исто.
105
А. Динчић, Б. Симовић, н.д,, 40–41.
106
Исто.
107
Исто, 41; НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал, Извештај о раду историјског одељења Народног музеја
у Нишу за 2014. годину, 3.
108
Исто.
76
 Fig. 67. Monument dedicated to the "Nis incident" 100 m from the
entrance to the Complex (photo: N. Petrovic)

The projection hall had a great number of visitors on Museum Night in 2015.
They could see an exhibition of photographs by Davorin Dinić entitled "Shadows
of old Nis", which was a great success outside the city and the country. On the

77
same night, there was also a large attendance at the monument dedicated to the
Nis incident, which was unveiled two weeks earlier.109
The following year, with the help of the army of the Republic of Serbia, two
guards’ houses were obtained, which were set up in the same place where they
had been since the formation of the museums until their demise.
Nebojsa Ozimic and Aleksandar Dincic prepared a small exhibition of
objects of detainees of the Red Cross camp on the mezzanine floor for the citizens
on the eve of the new museum night, which was scheduled for May 21, 2016. After
a long time, the attic with authentic solitary confinements was open to visitors.
Items made of paper, leather and metal are on display - among them there
are items that were in the meantime given to the National Museum Nis by the
descendants of the killed camp inmates. The mini setting in the mezzanine space
is designed for visitors who are unable to see the rooms upstairs. They are shown
the objects that were related to the second unsuccessful escape, shots at Bubanj,
the interned in Norway, Austrian and German camps, the released from the camp,
as well as the skulls of five unidentified detainees.
The objects of the participants of the second-unsuccessful breakthrough
are exhibited in the display case. The personal belongings of the main organizer
of the breakthrough, Nadezda Nada Tomic, a technical student from Nis,
dominate. In addition to the family album and school and student booklets, her
pocket dictionary of the French language is also on display.

109
НмН, МК12Ф, студијски материјал, Извештај о раду историјског одељења Народног музеја у Нишу
за 2015. годину, 3.
78
Fig. 68. Mini display on the mezzanine floor on Museum Night
(photo: I. Petrovic)

Fig. 69. Mini display on the mezzanine floor on Museum Night

(photo: I. Petrovic)

79
 In the third display case, German original documents related to the camp
are on display. Dismissals from the camp signed by commanders Vineka, Schulz
or their assistants dominate occupy the central position. One discharge letter
stands out, on which the text is first typed on a typewriter and then erased. The
translation of the deleted text states that if the released from the camp found
themselves at the place of a fight or where a diversion had taken place, they would
be shot on the spot. Thus, the released detainees were set free only on temporary
release.110
After a long time, the visitors in the Complex were given the opportunity to
see the skulls of five unidentified detainees, who were shot on the occasion of
disbandment of the Red Cross camp on September 14, 1944, and exhumed when
the war was completed. The identity of the executed has never been established
and their skulls were at one point handed over to the National Museum of Nis for
the purpose of being exhibited in the first permanent settings in 1967. The
research related to these unidentified detainees still continues and it is assumed
that these are Italian prisoners of war who were given the task of destroying
traces of crimes in the camp, and excavatin and burning corpses on Bubanj and
who were eventually shot because of that knowledge.111

Fig. 70. Visitors on Museum Night view the exhibition of photographs "Zlatvez" in
the Projection Hall (photo: V. Jovanovic)

110
НмН, студијски материјал, Извештај за 2016.
111
Н. Озимић, Ослобођење ниша у Другом светском рату,7.
80
 In the last display case, the items of the detainees who survived internment
in Germany, Norway, Austria and France are on display. The most dominant is the
newspaper "Free Dawn" that Yugoslav internees in Norway made themselves,
writing about the most significant events related to their captivity and to
Yugoslavia. Soviet money with the image of Lenin was given to Yugoslav interns
after the liberation of the infamous Nazi concentration camp Mauthausen near
the city Linz in Austria. When this camp was liberated by American and Soviet
troops, the inmates could choose which allied side to go to, since the territory of
Austria at that time was divided into Soviet and American military zones. Nis
detainees, who chose the Soviet zone received money from their soldiers with
which they could buy basic necessities and food.
On the museum night, the exhibition called "Zlatvez" prepared by historian
Vladimir Jovanović from the Tourist Board organization of Nis, attracted a special
attention of numerous visitors. The same could be said for the documentary "The
Story of freedom ", author Vladimir Djordjevic, produced by Media and Reform
Center Nis. In a very dynamic way, it reflects the suffering of the camp inmates
on Bubanj, and especially the material and research by Dr. Aleksandra Miric from
the Institute for the Protection of Monuments in Niš.
For the first time after the liberation of Nis, on September 14, 2016, there
was an appropriate commemoration in the Complex - the 75th anniversary of the
formation of the Red Cross camp and the day when it was disbanded. This
celebration, apart from a large number of citizens, was attended by high city
officials. The women's choir of the Student Cultural Center with conductor Ivana
Mirovic, who in a magnificent way sang the psalm "Praise the name of the Lord"
and the Jewish song "Bashana haba ah" contributed to the festive atmosphere. At
the end of the manifestation, the delegation also laid wreaths on the memorial
plateau on the north side of the camp complex.
An exhibition of art paintings by students of the High School Students'
Home in Nis, which depicted the ambient part of the concentration camp, was
also shown.

81
Fig. 71. Women's Choir of the Student Cultural Center with conductor
Ivana Mirovic (photo: N. Petrovic)

Fig. 72. Exhibition of art and artistic works of students of the

High School Students’ Home in Nis (photo: Z.Cajic)

82
 In the following 2017, preparation for the exhibition on the upper floor
began. As in 2013, the authors were Nebojsa Ozimic and Ivana Gruden Milentijevic
while the architect Olivera Nikolic was in charge of design. In rooms 4 (Solution
of the Jewish Question), 5 (Society of Red Cross and camp doctors) and 6
(Everyday life in the camp) 248 items were exhibited in new and more practical
showcases. The reviewers of the exhibition were Radoje Kostic, MA and museum
advisor Marina Vlaisavljevic.112 At the invitation of the author, the exhibition was
opened on February 12, 2018, by Dejan Radman, son of Darko Radman, the last
camp doctor who was shot in the last group of detainees on September 14, 1944.

Fig. 73. Opening of the exhibition '' Red Cross Society and Nis
Concentration camp during the Second World War '' From left to right: Olivera
Nikolic, Nebojsa Ozimic, Ivana Gruden Milentijevic, Zeljko Andjelkovic, Dejan
Radman, Nenad Spasic and Jelena Mitrovski (Photo: Z. Cajic)

112
Сарадници на реализацији изложбе били су кустоси Народног музеја Ниш Јелена Богдановић,
Александар Обрадовић, Жељко Анђелковић.
83
 Fig. 74. Dejan Radman opens the exhibition (Photo: Z.Cajic)

Fig. 75. From left to right: Olivera Nikolic, Nebojsa Ozimic, Ivana Gruden
Milentijevic, Zeljko Andjelkovic, Jelena Mitrovski and Nenad Spasic at the
opening of the exhibition Internees of Nis concentration camp in Nazi camps in
Europe (Photo: Z. Cajic)

84
 On the occasion of the day of the liberation of Nis on October 14, 2018, the
National Museum of Nis together with the International Center for the
Preservation and Research of Cultural and Historical Heritage of Eastern Europe
"Memorial" organized a screening of the Russian feature film "Sobibor". The film
talks about the escape of Russian and other detainees from the Nazi camp Sobibor
in Poland at the end of World War II. On this occasion, wreaths were laid at the
monument of the Red Army soldiers killed in the Nis incident and the victims of
the Nis concentration camp.
The same author team that realized one part of the permanent exhibition
in February, continued to prepare the material to complete the floor layout.
Works in the buildings began in November 2018. Room No. 3 was converted into
a Memorial Room with the names of the victims of the Red Cross camp, while
room number 7 is thematically related to Internees from the Nis camp to the
camps of Western Europe. This exhibition was opened on December 2, 2018, and
thus marked the anniversary of the Second Escape from the camp. Twenty
standing classic showcases were placed in four rooms, one of larger dimensions
in the room of everyday life, two standing and twenty more built-in showcases
represent the novelty of this exhibition. In the hallway, between the Memorial and
the Room dedicated to internees, there is an improvised wagon, as a symbol of
internment.

Fig. 76. Details from the room of everyday life in the camp
(photo: Z.Cajic)

85
 Fig. 77. Details from the room of everyday life in the camp
(photo: Z.Cajic)

Fig. 78. Details from the room of the Society of the Red Cross and
camp doctors (photo: Z.Cajic)

86
 Fig. 79. Details from the room of the Society of the Red Cross and
camp doctors (photo: Z.Cajic)

Fig. 80. Details from the room of Solution of the Jewish question (photo Z.Cajic)

87
Fig. 81. Details from the room of Solution of the Jewish question (photo Z.Cajic)

Fig. 82. Details from the room of Solution of the Jewish question (photo Z.Cajic)

88
Fig. 83. Details from the room of Solution of the Jewish question (photo Z.Cajic)

Both exhibitions were accompanied by the books "Nis Jews in the Sajmiste
Camp" and "Society of The Red Cross and the Nis concentration camp during the
Second World War" by the author Ivana Gruden Milentijevic and Nebojsa Ozimic
with a comparative translation into French Language.

Fig. 84. Attendance statistics of the Memorial Complex "12th February"

in the period of new permanent settings

89
 In 2019, the Memorial Complex "12th February" records the highest
attendance of almost 25,000 visitors. In September, the camp was visited by a high
delegation of the Ministry of Defense of Israel. The following year, the camp was
visited by the ambassador of the Russian Federation in Serbia, Aleksandar Bocan
Kharchenko and his associates and in 2021 British Ambassador in Serbia Shan
McLeod accompanied by Colonel Niko Ilic and associates.

3.6. Arrangement of the space in front of the Memorial Complex

"12th February"”

By erecting a monument to the fallen Red Army soldiers in front of the

Memorial Complex "12th February", this space regained its memorial character. In
order to complete the arrangement of this space, on the initiative of the Russian
House and in cooperation with the city authorities, a Park of Remembrance was
formed. The Institute for Urbanism of the City of Nis was in charge of the
architectural arrangement. The park was opened on June 22, 2021, on the occasion
of the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. His
Excellency the Ambassador of the Russian Federation Alexander Bocan-
Kharchenko addressed the present visitors and pointed out in the appropriate
speech that Russian and Serbian share mutual memories and he thanked the
leadership of Serbia and the whole of Serbia, where, as he pointed out, culture of
keeping memories is truly alive. After him, a short speech was given by the
Minister of Innovation and Technological Development and the president of the
"Immortal Regiment" Foundation, Nenad Popovic. The representatives of the city
authorities with the guests planted a birch in the newly opened Park of memories
and opened an exhibition of Federal State Cultural institution "Museum of Victory"
called "We will defeat the enemy. The victory will be ours“ at the Memorial Complex
"12th February".
On this occasion, the director of the Russian House, Yevgeny Baranova,
handed out letters of thanks to representatives of local self-government. On the
behalf of the National Museum of Nis, the acting director Vesna Crnoglavac and
the senior curator, historian Nebojsa Ozimic received this recognition.

90
Fig. 85. Spatial solution of the space in front of the Memorial Complex with the
monument and Memorial Park, opened on June 22, 2021 (Institute for Urbanism)

91
3.7. Visits of Famous People

During the decades of existence of the Memorial Complex "12th February",

numerous people from public life visited it, paying homage to the innocent
victims of the Second world war. Immediately after the establishment of the
complex, during his visit to Nis, the famous writer and Nobel laureate Ivo Andric
visited it. A frequent visitor is also a Yugoslav film director Zelimir Zilnik, whose
birth is related to the former Nazi camp.
From the world of political and social life Memorial complex ''12th February
'' was visited by the Ambassadors of Slovenia Iztok Jarc (2019), Russian Federation
Alexander Bocan Kharchenko (2020 and 2021) and Great Britain Shan McLeod
(2021) as well as a high delegation of the Ministry of Defense of Israel (2019) and
the same year US National Guard.

Fig. 86. Ivo Andric visits the newly opened Memorial Complex "12th February”
(photo: N. Mladenovic)

92
Fig. 87-88. Ambassador of Slovenia to Serbia Iztok Jarc writes
his impressions (photo by I. Gruden Milentijevic)

93
Fig. 89. Zelimir Zilnik with members of the society "France Preseren" and the
curator in charge at the Memorial Complex "12th February" (photo: Z. Cajic)

Fig. 90. Record of Zelimir

Zilnik’s comment in the book
of impressions
(photo: N. Ozimic)

94
Fig. 91-94. Ambassador of the United Kingdom Shan McLeod (standing in the
middle) with associates and the curator Nebojsa Ozimic (photo: N. Ozimic)

95
Fig. 95. Members of the US National Guard accompanied by the host officer and
the curator Nebojsa Ozimic (photo: S. Milenkovic)

Fig. 96. The Honorary Consul of Serbia in Israel, Aleksandar Nikolić, lays a
wreath in memory of the innocent victims (photo: N. Ozimic)

96
Fig. 97. Honorary Consul of Serbia in Israel Aleksandar Nikolić and
Nebojsa Ozimic in front of the camp buildings (photo: A. Milicevic)

97
PART FOUR

98
4. CAMP AS INSPIRATION

4.1. Filmography

The memorial complex was an inexhaustible inspiration for film authors. It

is a place where, in part or in full, numerous feature films and documentaries have
been made. Here is the list of some of them:

Feature films

- ''Combat for the Southern Railway '' Zdravko Velimirović (1978)

- '' Lager Nis '' Miomir Stamenkovic (1987)
- "Robbery of the Third Reich" Zdravko Sotra (2004)
- '' Escape '' Miodrag Ignjatovic (2017)

Documentary movies

- "This life was given to me" Djokica Jovanovic (2007)

- "Red Cross Concentration Camp - Nis (memories)" Milutin Zdravkovic
(2008)
- "The Last Zilnik" Dmitry Anakiev (2009)
- ''In the wires of the Nis camp'' Marija Krstić (2013)
- "Niš Camp" Djordje Sunjevaric (2015)
- "Stories about the Mandil family" Aleksandar Radivojevic / Monika
Stankovic (2015)
- ''The story of freedom'' Vladimir Djordjevic (2016)
- "Righteous Among the Nations" Sonja Urosevic (2019)
- "Radman family before and after the camp" Sonja Urosevic (2019)
- "Do you know who Hranislav Savkovic was?" Sonja Urosevic (2019)
- ''Dr Velizar Pijade '' Sonja Urosevic (2019)
- ''Pillars of Memory '' Dragan Milic (2021)

99
 The shooting of the film Lager Nis started on October 11, 1986, with the idea
to have its premiere on February 12, 1987, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary
of the breakthrough of the camp. For that purpose 102 million dinars were
approved for the costs of shooting the film and its promotion. The shooting lasted
37 days, 34 of which in Nis and 3 in Belgrade. At the same time this was the most
demanding film project dealing with the Nis camp.

Memories remained alive even after thirty years of shooting the film when
the author of this text talked to one of the actors who had the main role in the
film Lager Nis, Desimir Desko Stanojevic. Then, at our request, he wrote down his
memory of shooting the film:

Even now, 30 years after the premiere of the film "Lager Nis", which I shot
in my native Nis in the camp itself, I feel cold in my heart and bones, not
because of the weather during the time when it was being filmed (from
October 11, 1986 to January 1987), but because of the events that happened
in those war years. We actors, entering a project, prepare for the work by
reading materials and researching the period, the time of the action, and
we especially do that if the topic is based on a true event. I didn’t need this
preparation because I grew up with the story about the suffering in the
camp, the shooting at Bubanj. There was not a single child in schools in Nis
who did not visit the camp dozens of times or go to Bubanj to lay flowers
for the executed detainees. In the play "Breakthrough" at the National
Theater in Nis, I played the role of Branko Bjegovic, so the texts from the
play resounded in my head during the filming. I felt the suffering of the
camp inmates during the filming because we spent up to 18 hours a day in
the camp. Not even hot tea warmed us up enough. Sometimes we dozed
off on that straw from exhaustion. I also crossed the path of the inmates
after the escape and, as many students from Nis, on the days dedicated to
the detainees, from the camp through the village of Hum and Kamenica to
Nis, in an organized march every February 12. This movie will stay in my
memory forever because I survived a part of what camp inmates survived.

Desimir Stanojevic, actor

100
 The people of Nis generally warmly accepted the film crew led by Miomir
Miki Stamenkovic, who made the following statement:

"I haven't seen such enthusiasm of the team for a long time, but also the great
desire of the citizens, the companies and individuals to help, to sacrifice themselves
in this coldness. That makes us even more so obliged to make a good film. For now,
everything is going according to the plan, and the shooting itself will start
tomorrow”.113

Photos from the filming

(private collection of D. Stanojevic)

113
Народне новине, 14. октобар 1986.
101
 Photos from the filming
(private collection of D. Stanojevic)

Photos from the filming

(private collection of D. Stanojevic)

102
 During his stay at the Film Festival 2021, actor Svetislav Goncic visited the
Memorial complex "12th February" and recalled the atmosphere from the shooting
of the film:

"We filmed in the original place and that was a strong motivation, the
knowledge that we were on the place where our loved ones suffered. I hope it will be
the same incentive for some young people who will have the opportunity to see the
film which was (on Film Festival in Nis, N.O.) well received ''

Svetislav Goncic, actor

Svetislav Goncic accompanied by curator Zeljko Andjelkovic (photo: Z. Cajic)

103
4.2. М Memorial complex „12th February”in the researchers' records
(Dr. Milena Zikic)

Memorial Museum "12th February ” was opened on February 12, 1967, to

commemorate the anniversary of the escape of the detainees from the
Concentration Camp at Red Cross in Nis. By applying the relevant methods and
norms, the bibliography research made of several analytical phases was
conducted: analyzing the issue of the research, defining the subject and
determining the goal of the research, as well as methodologies in making
bibliography, forming a list of bibliographic sources and literature, collecting and
processing of material, classification and numbering of records and introductory
notes.
In the phase of collecting sources and literature, printed and electronic
sources, reference literature and library collections in Novi Sad and Belgrade were
used.
The collected bibliographic material was processed using International
standards for bibliographic description of monographic publications ISBD (M) and
serial ISBD (S) publication. One part of the publications was processed with
material from books and some bibliographic records were taken from the
electronic database COBISS SR. Collected bibliographic records are consolidated,
classified and numbered. Bibliography contains 57 records according to the
system of continuous numbering. The schedule of bibliographic units was made
according to the year of publication of the material, and within the same year in
alphabetical order of the alphabet in which they were published.

1. БЛАГОЈЕВИЋ, Вера
Бубањ / Вера Благојевић ; [фотографије Н. [Ненад] Младеновић]. -
Ниш : Народни музеј, [196?] (Ниш : Просвета). - [13] стр. : илустр., факс. ; 22
cm
"Публикација се издаје поводом 50-годишњице СКЈ и 25-годишњице
ослобођења Ниша" --> полеђина насл. листа.

104
 2. ГЛИШИЋ, Венцеслав
Терор и злочини нацистичке Немачке у Србији : 1941-1944. /
Венцеслав Глишић, Београд : Рад, 1970 (Београд : Просвета). - 289 стр. ; 24 cm

3. ГРУДЕН МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Ивана

Интернирци нишког логора у Маутхаузену / Ивана Груден-
Милентијевић. - Ниш : Народни музеј, 2016 (Ниш : Графика Галеб). - 23 стр. ;
21 cm ISBN 978-86-83019-36-6 (брош.)
Тираж 500. - Напомене и библиографске референце уз текст. -
Библиографија: стр. [25-26].

4. ГРУДЕН МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Ивана

Друштво Црвеног крста и нишки концентрациони логор у
периоду Другог светског рата / Ивана Груден Милентијевић, Небојша
Озимић ; [превод на француски Саша Миљковић] = La Societe de la Croix-
rouge et le Camp de concentration de Niš dans la periode de la Deuxieme guerre
mondiale / Ivana Gruden Milentijević, Nebojša Ozimić ; [traduction par Saša
Miljković]. - Ниш : Народни музеј = Musee National de Nis, 2017 (Ниш : Свен). -
69 стр. : илустр. ; 25 cm
ISBN 978-86-83019-51-9 (брош.)
Тираж 500. - Упоредни наслов La Societe de la Croix-rouge et le Camp
de concentration de Niš dans la periode de la Deuxieme guerre mondiale. -
Упоредо срп. текст и франц. Превод. - Напомене и библиографске
референце уз текст. - Библиографија: стр. 35-36.

5. ГРУДЕН МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Ивана

Нишки Јевреји у логору Сајмиштe / Ивана Груден Милентијевић,
Небојша Озимић ; [превод на француски Саша Миљковић] = Les Juifs nichois
dans le camp de concentration de Sajmište / Ivana Gruden Milentijević, Nebojša
Ozimić ; [traduction par Saša Miljković]. - Ниш : Народни музеј = Musee
National de Nis, 2017 (Ниш : Свен). - 49 стр. : илустр. ; 25 cm
Тираж 500. - Упоредни наслов Les Juifs nichois dans le camp de
concentration de Sajmište. - Упоредо срп. текст и франц. Превод. - Напомене
и библиографске референце уз текст. - Библиографија: стр. 23-25.
ISBN 978-86-83019-50-2 (брош.)
105
 6. ГРУДЕН, Ивана
Stradanje Slovenaca u Nišu tokom Drugog svetskog rata : (1941-1945) /
Ivana Gruden ; [prevod na slovenački Vera Popović], Niš : SKS "France Prešern" :
Medivest : Narodni muzej, [2014] (Niš : Medivest). - 130 str. : ilustr. ; 24 cm
Tiraž 500. - [Nasl. str. prištampanog sloven. prevoda: Trpljenje Slovencev
v Nišu med Drugo svetovno vojno : (1941-1944) / Ivana Gruden]. - Str. 3: Prva
knjiga o Slovencima u Nišu / Nebojša Ozimić. - Bibliografija: str. [132-135]
ISBN 978-86-88415-56-9 (Medivest; broš.)

7. ДИНЧИЋ, Александар
Припадници Југословенске војске у отаџбини у нацистичком
концентрационом логору на Црвеном Крсту у Нишу : (1941-1944) /
Александар Динчић, Небојша Озимић, Београд : Народни музеј, 2014 (Ниш :
Атлантис). - 78 str. : ilustr. ; 20 cm
Tiraž 1000. - Bibliografija: str. 63-78.
ISBN 978-86-83019-31-1 (broš.)

8. ДИНЧИЋ, Александар
Савезници и страни поданици у логору на Црвеном крсту у Нишу
/ Александар Динчић ; [превод на француски Славиша Миљковић] = Les
alliés et sujets étrangers dans le camp Croix-Rouge à Niš / Aleksandar Dinčić ;
[traduction par Slaviša Miljković], Ниш ; = Niš : Народни музеј = Musee
National, 2016 (Ниш : Свен). - 112 стр. : илустр. ; 24 cm
Тираж 500. - Срп. текст и франц. превод. - Напомене и библиографске
референце уз текст. - Библиографија: стр. 47-48
ISBN 978-86-83019-37-3 (брош.)

9. ЗЛАТИЋ, Јован
Страдалаштво српског народа у нишком ратном округу : (1941-
1944). I, Злочиначка активност немачке фелдкомандантуре 809-Ниш и првог
краљевског (бугарског) окупационог корпуса / Јован Златић. - Ниш :
Просвета, 1994 (Ниш : Просвета). - 243 стр. : илустр. ; 24 cm
Тираж 2.000.
ISBN 86-7455-178-5 (брош.)

106
 10. ЗЛАТИЋ, Јован
Страдалаштво српског народа у нишком ратном округу : (1941-1944). 2,
Оружана сила српске владе генерала Милана Недића : (1941-1944) / Јован
Златић. - Ниш : Просвета, 1995 (Ниш : Просвета). - 384 стр. : илустр. ; 24 cm
Тираж 1.000.
ISBN 86-7455-197-1 (брош.)

11. ЗЛАТИЋ, Јован

Страдалаштво српског народа у нишком ратном округу : (1941-1944).
Књ. 3, Четници војводе Косте Миловановића Пећанца / Јован М. Златић. -
Ниш : Просвета, 1995 (Ниш : [Просвета]) - 312 стр. : илустр. ; 24 цм
Тираж 1.000.
ISBN 86-7455-247-1(брош.)

12. ЗЛАТИЋ, Јован

Страдалаштво српског народа у нишком ратном округу : (1941-1944).
Књ. 4, Равногорски покрет и Југословенска војска у отаџбини пуковника
(ђенерала) Драже Михаиловића / Јован М. Златић ; [писац предговора
Драгољуб Ж. Мирчетић]. - Ниш : Просвета, 1998 (Ниш : Просвета) - 531 стр. :
илустр. ; 24 цм
Тираж 1.000.
ISBN 86-7455-377-X (брош.)

13. МАНОЈЛОВИЋ, Милутин

Бројеви не умиру : (сећања преживелих логораша из Маутхаузена,
Аушвица, Бухенвалда и концентрационих лигора [и. е. логора] у Норвешкој)
/ [приредио] Милутин Манојловић. - Лесковац : писац, 1998 (Лесковац :
Графо-Ш). - 615 стр., [25] листова с таблама : илустр. ; 21 cm
О делу и ходу по мукама Милутина Манојловића / Добросав Туровић:
стр. 5-13. - О рукопису Милутина Манојловића / Николај Тимченко: стр. 13-
14.

107
 14. МАНОШЕК, Валтер
Holokaust u Srbiji : vojna okupaciona politika i uništavanje Jevreja :
1941-1942 / Valter Manošek ; [prevodioci Agnes Eremija ... et al.], Beograd :
Službeni list SRJ : Draslar partner, 2007 (Beograd : Draslar partner). - 218 str. ; 25
cm
Tiraž 500. - Prevod dela: Serbien ist Judenfrei / Walter Manoschek. -
Dokumentovana studija Valtera Manošeka / Čedomir Popov: Str. 5-7. -
Predgovor nemačkog izdavača / Ginter Rot: Str. 11. - Napomene čitaocu /
Prevodioci: Str. 13-14. - Pristupna razmatranja / Manfred Meseršmit: Str. 15-17. -
Napomene i bibliografske reference uz tekst. - Bibliografija: str. 207-215. -
Registar.
ISBN 978-86-355-0742-8

15. МАНЧИЋ, Станимир Б.

Бранко Бјеговић : херој логора на Црвеном крсту : биографија
/ Станимир Б. Манчић. - Ниш : Градина : СУБНОР, 1982. - 92 стр. :
фотографије ; 21 cm.

16. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Логор Црвени крст / Зоран Милентијевић, Ниш : Народни музеј,
1968 (Ниш : Просвета). - 24 стр. : илустр. ; 23 cm.
Тираж 10.000

17. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Логор Црвени крст / Зоран Милентијевић, Ниш : Народни музеј, 1977
(Ниш : Просвета). - 24 стр. : илустр. ; 23 cm.
Тираж 10.000

18. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Интернирци југоисточне Србије у Норвешкој / Зоран
Милентијевић, Ниш : Народни музеј, [1977] ([б. м.] : Просвета). - 38 стр. :
илустр. ; 22 cm
["Поводом прославе тридесетогодишњице АСНОС-а и ослобођења
града, Народни музеј у Нишу припремио је изложбу 'Интернирци
југоисточне Србије у Норвешкој.'" --> предговор]
108
 Тираж 1.000

19. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Јевреји заточеници логора Црвени крст / [изложбу и текст
припремио] Зоран Милентијевић. - Ниш : Народни музеј, 1978 (Ниш : "Вук
Караџић"). - 36 стр : илустр. ; 22 cm
Тираж 2.000

20. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Логор Црвени крст / Зоран Милентијевић, Ниш : Народни музеј,
1980 (Ниш : Просвета). - 24 стр. : илустр. ; 23 cm.
Тираж 10.000

21. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Логор Црвени крст / Зоран Милентијевић, Ниш : Народни музеј,
1986 (Ниш : Просвета). - 24 стр. : илустр. ; 23 cm.
Тираж 10.000

22. МИЛИЋ, Миодраг

Jugosloveni u koncentracionom logoru Mauthauzen / Miodrag
Milić, Beograd : Institut za savremenu istoriju, 1992 (Beograd : Kultura). - 565 str.
: fotogr. ; 22 cm
Pregled činova u organizaciji SS: str. 317. - Ex libris: Легат породице
Петровић, поклонио др Владимир Петровић, виши научни сарадник
Института за савремену историју: ИСИ: DC VP 191/9. - Izvori i literatura: str.
307-316. - Spisak zatočenika Mauthauzena: str. 319-564.
ISBN 86-7403-052-1 (tvrdi povez sa omotom)

23. МИЛОВАНОВИЋ, Мирослав М.

Немачки концентрациони логор на Црвеном крсту у Нишу и
стрељања на Бубњу / Мирослав М. Миловановић. - Београд : Институт за
савремену историју : Народна књига ; Ниш : Општински одбор СУБНОР, 1983
(Београд : "Слободан Јовић"). - 345 стр. : илустр. ; 25 cm
Тираж 5.000. - Омотни наслов Логор на Црвеном крсту у Нишу. -
Напомене и библиографске референце уз текст. - Регистри.

109
 24. МИТИЋ, Иван
Бекства из концентрационог логора на Црвеном крсту / Иван
Митић, Ниш : Народни музеј, 2015 (Београд : Гласник). - 50 str. : илустр. ; 21
cm
Тираж 500. - Библиографија: str. 49-50.
ISBN 978-86-83019-41-0 (broš.)

25. НОЖИЦА, Бранко

Бубањ / документарни материјал прикупио Бранко Ножица ;
обрадила Вера Благојевић ; [фотографије Ненад Младеновић]. - Ниш :
Народни музеј, 1980 ([б.м.] : Стил-Подвис). - 20 стр. : илустр. ; 22 цм

26. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Др Велизар Пијаде : херој логора на Црвеном крсту / Небојша
Озимић ; [превод на енглески Ивана Филиповић]. - Ниш : Народни музеј,
2011 (Ниш : Медивест). - 35 стр. : илустр. ; 21 cm
Тираж 1.000. - Упоредо срп. и енгл. Текст. - Текст ћир. и лат. -
Напомене и библиографске референце уз текст. - Библиографија: стр. 33.
ISBN 978-86-83019-19-9 (брош.)

27. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Логор на Црвеном крсту / Небојша Озимић, Ниш : Народни музеј,
2012 (Ниш : Медивест). - 47 стр. : илустр. ; 21 cm
Тираж 1.000. - Библиографија: стр. 43-46.
ISBN 978-86-83018-21-2

28. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Јевреји Ниша у логору на Црвеном крсту : Незавршена прича о
Моши Шаомовићу / Небојша Озимић, Мара Макарић. - Ниш : Народни музеј,
2014 (Ниш : Медивест). - 33 стр. : илустр. ; 21 cm.
Тираж 1.000.

110
 29. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша
Жртве лагера Ниш : (1941-1944) / Небојша Озимић, Александар
Динчић, Бојана Симовић, Ивана Груден Милентијевић, Иван Митић. - Ниш :
Нишки културни центар : Народни музеј : Медивест КТ, 2014 (Ниш :
Медивест КТ). - 582 стр. : илустр. ; 29 cm
Тираж 300. - Напомене и библиографске референце уз текст. -
Библиографија: стр. 572-581.
ISBN 978-86-6101-103-0 (НКЦ; картон)

30. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Concentration Camp at Red Cross / Nebojša Ozimić, Aleksandar
Dinčić. - Niš : Narodni muzej, 2014 (Niš : Medivest). - 46 str. : ilustr. ; 20 cm
Tiraž 1.000. - Bibliografija: str. 43-45.
ISBN 978-86-83019-33-5 (broš.)

31. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Camp de concentration Croix-rouge : (1941-1944) / Nebojša Ozimić,
Aleksandar Dinčić ; [prevod Slaviša Miljković]. – Niš : Narodni muzej, 2015
(Beograd : Glasnik). - 48 str. : ilustr. ; 21 cm
Tiraž 500. - Bibliografija: str. 45-48.
ISBN 978-86-83019-42-7

32. СТАМЕНКОВИЋ, Ђорђе

Бубањ / Ђорђе Стаменковић, Ниш : Народни музеј, 1963 (Ниш :
Просвета). - 46 стр. : фотогр. ; 21 cm

33. СТАНКОВИЋ, Душан

Неписана правила - један живот / Душан Станковић. - Ниш :
Универзитет, Универзитетска библиотека "Никола Тесла", 2020 (Ниш :
Пунта). - 231 стр. : илустр. ; 21 cm
Тираж 250. - Напомене уз текст. - О аутору: стр. 231.
ISBN 978-86-7500-022-8 (картон)

111
 34. CVETKOVIĆ, Emilija
Mapiranje Holokausta : mesta sećanja u Srbiji : logor Topovske šupe,
logor na Banjici, logor na Starom sajmištu, Novi Bečej, Zrenjanin, Subotica,
Šabac, logor na Crvenom Krstu / Emilija Cvetković. - Beograd : Centar za
primenjenu istoriju, 2020 (Beograd : Colorgrafx). - 31 str. : ilustr. ; 20 x 19 cm
Tiraž 500. - Str. 5: Uvod / Milovan Pisarri. - Bibliografija uz svako
poglavlje.
ISBN 978-86-81386-01-9

35. АРСИЋ, Никола

Преглед ратних меморијала на територији града Ниша / Никола
Арсић, Ђорђе Стошић
У: Пешчаник. - ISSN 1451-6373. - Год. 17, бр. 17/18 (2019), стр. 107-117

36. ВЛАИСАВЉЕВИЋ, Марина

Издања Народног музеја Ниш 2011-2013. /Марина Влаисављевић
У: Зборник Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 22 (2013), стр.
229-233.

37. ВОЈИНОВИЋ, Александар

Куда нас воде / Александар Војиновић
У: Нишки зборник : публикација за друштвено-историјска и културна
питања Ниша и региона. - ISSN - 0350-3550. - Бр. 7/8 (1979), стр. 175-179.

38. ДИНЧИЋ, Александар

Друштво Црвеног крста и концентрациони логор у Нишу (1941-
1944) / Александра Динчић
У: Зборник- Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 18/19 (2010),
стр. 123-141.

39. ДИНЧИЋ, Александар

Нишки војни (ратни) заробљеници у Другом светском рату (1941—
1945)/ Александар Динчић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 21 (2012), стр.
93-121.
112
 40. ДИНЧИЋ, Александар
Нова стална изложбена поставка у Меморијалном музеју „12.
фебруар“ у Нишу,
У: Шумадијски записи. – ISSN 1451-639X. – Бр. 7 (2013), стр. 254-263.

41. ДИНЧИЋ, Александар

Рад на презентацији меморијалног комплекса "12. фебруар" и
његових збирки од 1967. до 2014. године / Александра Динчић, Ивана Груден
Милентијевић, Иван Митић
У: Лесковачки зборник. ISSN 0459-1070. - Бр. 55 (2015), стр. 373-386
ПРОВЕРИТИ

42. ЖИВКОВИЋ, Драгољуб

Судбина нишких Јевреја за време фашистичке окупације /
Драгољуб Живковић
У: Градина. - ISSN 0436-2616. - Год. 2 бр. 2 (1967)

43. ЗЛАТИЋ, Јован

Страдања Јевреја и цигана у Нишу 1941-1943
У: Нишки зборник. - ISSN 0350-3550. - Год. 19, бр. 1/2 (1990), стр. 87-94

44. ЈАНКОВИЋ, Бобан

Записи из самица – поруке за будућност : седам деценија пробоја
логора на Црвеном крсту у Нишу / Бобан Јанковић

У: Пешчаник. - ISSN 1451-6373. - Год. 10, бр. 10 (2012), стр. 103-111.

45. МИЛЕНТИЈЕВИЋ, Зоран

Пробој логора на Црвеном крсту / Зоран Милентијевић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 1 (1985), стр.
109-116.

113
 46. МИЛОВАНОВИЋ, Мирослав М.
Друштво Црвеног крста и немачки концентрациони логор у
Нишу / Мирослав М. Миловановић
У: Нишки зборник : публикација за друштвено-историјска и културна
питања Ниша и региона. - ISSN - 0350-3550. - Бр. 7/8 (1979), стр. 65-78.

47. МИЛТОЈЕВИЋ, Бранислав

Уникатни документи нишког сниматеља и фотографа Ђорђа
Васиљевића / Бранислав Милтојевић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 20 (2011), стр.
265-272.

48. МИРЧЕТИЋ, Драгољуб

Нишки концентрациони логор и стрељања на Бубњу / Драгољуб
Мирчетић
У: Лесковачки зборник. ISSN 0459-1070. - Бр. 12 (1972), стр. 105-116.

49. НЕШИЋ, Бојана

Бомбардовање Ниша 1999. године с посебним освртом на
страдање Меморијалног комплекса „12. фебруар”
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 27/28 (2019),
стр. 95-145.

50. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Сећање Видосава Стевановића на дане проведене у логору на
Црвном крсту у пролеће 1942. / Небојша Озимић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 20 (2012), стр.
87-92.

51. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Јевреји у логору на Црвеном крсту / Небојша Озимић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 21, (2012), стр.
253-262.

114
 52. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша
Хапшење угледних Нишлија октобра 1941. године / Небојша
Озимић
У: Пешчаник . - ISSN 1451-6373. - Год. 10, бр. 10 (2012), стр. 112-120.

53. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Драгиша Цветковић и нишки Јевреји у Другом светском рату /
Небојша Озимић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 23 (2014), стр.
131-142.

54. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Лесковачки дани др Велизара Пијаде / Небојша Озимић
У: Лесковачки зборник. - ISSN 0459-1070. - Год. 54, бр. 54 (2014), стр.
293-302.

55. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Белешка Хранислава Савковића o догађају на Светог Саву 1942. /
Небојша Озимић
У: Топлички зборник : часопис за друштвено-хуманистичке науке.
ISSN 2466-5371. - Год. 3, бр. 3 (2018), стр. 139-145.

56. ОЗИМИЋ, Небојша

Последњи дани логора на Црвеном крсту / Небојша Озимић
У: Зборник - Народни музеј Ниш. - ISSN 0352-8979. - Бр. 27/28 (2019),
стр. 83-93.

57. RISTOVIĆ, Milan

Jugoslavija i jevrejske izbeglice 1938-1941. / Milan Ristović
У: Istorija 20. veka : časopis Instituta za savremenu istoriju. - ISSN 0352-
3160. - God. 14, sv. 1 (1996), str. 21-43.

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PART FIVE

116
CHRONOLOGY OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS RELATED TO
THE MEMORIAL COMPLEX ''12 FEBRUARY” (1967-2021)

1961 - A committee is formed for the establishment and arrangement of the

museum of the Red Cross camp. The National Board of Nis buys the camp building
from the JNA and assigns it to the care of National Museum in Nis

1962 - Study for conservation and restoration of the camp complex

1963 -The National Museum received a memorial park "Bubanj"

1962-1966 - Works on the arrangement of the exterior and interior in the

future museum camp

1965 - A decision is made to open a camp museum for the public

1966 - A decision is made to close the exhibition of the Museum of the

National Liberation War in the city center and the entire city material transferred
to the camp and exhibited

1967 - Memorial complex "12th February ” and rooms 11, 12 and camp
ambulance set up - author of the exhibition Zoran Milentijevic. The charge of the
camp complex was taken over by Branko Nozica with the cooperation of Vera
Blagojevic and Zoran Milentijevic. The marking of the manifestation -march of Nis
scouts called "In the Footsteps of Detainees" began.

1968 - The museum permanent exhibition "Nis and its surroundings in

People's Liberation War" in rooms 13 and 14 - the author of the installation Zoran
Milentijevic. Mosaics "Breakthrough" and "Suffering" by Nikola Antov completed.
Nobel Prize winner, Ivo Andrić visited Nis and the Memorial Complex. In the yard
of the camp complex the first oath of military recruits from the "Stevan Sindjelic"
barracks was taken, which started the tradition of taking the oath in the camp
area, which will last for a long time.

1969 - The first floor with a permanent exhibition and the attic of the camp
building are opened

1971 - The exhibition "Niš in the People's Liberation War" was opened as a
permanent exhibition setting of the NOB department – the author of the
exhibition Zoran Milentijevic. In 1972, the National Museum received the October
City Award for the exhibition "Nis in the People's Liberation War". A complete
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change to an existing permanent setting was made. Marking of the days of camp
breakthrough began. The exhibition of the best student art works on the topic of
the camp began. Exhibition "People's Liberation Struggle 1941-1944" opened. Petar
Stambolic visited Nis and the Memorial Complex.

1973 - Rapid footballers from Bucharest visited the Memorial Complex.

1974 - The publication "Interns of Southeast Serbia in Norway" by the

author Zoran Milentijevic was published.

1975 - The memorial complex is visited by Karel Milde, who helped Nis
interns in Norway when she was a little girl.

1976 - The exhibition "Women in the Red Cross Camp" opened by Zoran
Milentijevic

1977 - Memorial Museum “12th February” declared a cultural asset of

exceptional importance and placed under state protection. A feature film was
made in the Camp Complex - "Combat for the Southern Railway".

1978 - The publication "Jewish detainees of the Red Cross camp" was
published by the author Zoran Milentijevic

1979 - Branko Nozica received a silver plaque from the National Museum
and the city for the contribution to management of the Memorial Complex “12th
February”

1980 - The SCS City Committee decides to start writing unique

monographs on the Red Cross camp and hired a teacher Bozidar Milovanovic for
that. Zoran Milentijevic took over the management of the Complex.

1981 - Branko Nozica died tragically. An editorial board was formed to

provide help with writing a monograph on the camp.

1982 - Opening of the exhibition "Suffering and heroism of women in the

Red camp cross” by Zoran Milentijevic

1983 - The exhibition "Escape from the Red Cross Camp" opened by Zoran
Milentijevic. The book "German Concentration Camp at the Red Cross in Nis and
the shooting at Bubanj1941-1944" was published by Miroslav Milovanovic.

1985 - A complete change of the permanent exhibition "Nis and its

surroundings in the People's Liberation War ". Zoran Milentijevic's "Camp on The
Red Cross" published.

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 1986 - The permanent exhibition of Mosa Soamovis's drawings was
removed.

1987 - The exhibition "Interns of Southeast Serbia in Norway" by the author

opened by Zoran Milentijevic. Serbian writer and historian of Jewish origin, Zeni
Lebl brought the Charter of the Righteous to the Memorial Complex "12th
February”. Thanks to her testimony, the state of Israel posthumously awarded
Jelena Glavaski. This Charter has been an integral part of the settings in the camp
ever since.

1988 - The exhibition "Suffering of Detainees" was opened by Zoran

Milentijevic.

1988-1989 - Feature film "Lager Nis" by Miodrag Miki Stamenkovic was shot
in the camp complex.

1990 - A partial adaptation of the existing permanent exhibition settings

was made.

1991 - The publication "Camp at the Red Cross" was published by Zoran
Milentijevic.

1993 - The National Museum stops managing the Memorial Park “Bubanj"

1996 – Permanent exhibition "Nis in the People's Liberation War" closed

1999 - The permanent exhibition of aquarelles by Milos Milinkovic, created

in captivity in Germany, cancelled. During the NATO bombing, the Memorial
complex was damaged. Zoran Milentijevic stopped managing the camp complex.

2000 - Marina Vlaisavljevic takes over the management of the Memorial

Complex

2001 - As a member of the state delegation, Marina Vlaisavljević visited

Mauthausen camp and paid homage to the innocent victims of Nazism

2002 – As a part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the

breakthrough of the camp, the National Museum published a bilingual, Serbian-
English publication "Red Cross Camp - Memorial Museum "12th February" by the
curator Marina Vlaisavljevic. On the marking of this event, on February 12, 2002,
the President of SUBNOR Ljubomir Zecevic gave a speech. During that period,
certificates of detention were issued in the camp for the purpose of exercising
the right to war reparations.

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 2004 - The feature film "Robbery of the Third Reich" directed by Zdravka
Sotra was shot in the camp complex.

2007 –The project for conservation and restoration of the entire camp
complex developed. The author of the study is architect Sima Gusic.

2008 - Documentary film "Red Cross Concentration Camp –Nis (memories)

”.

2009- The documentary film "The Last Zilnik" was made about the suffering
of Slovenian family Zilnik in the Red Cross camp – directed by Dimitrij Anakiev. In
March this year Researchers at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington,
D.C. collected data on the victims of the Nis camp.

2010- Nebojsa Ozimic manages the memorial complex

2011-The publication of Nebojsa Ozimic "Dr. Velizar Pijade, the hero of the
camp on Red Cross”

2012 - Care of the Memorial Complex was taken over by Nebojsa Ozimic.
Publications "Camp at the Red Cross" by Nebojsa Ozimic and "Dobrivoje
Marinkovic, the highlander, in the camp wires” by a group of authors were
published.

2013 - Reconstruction of the Memorial Complex (buildings, facades, roof

and fences). Work on the formation of the Peace Park in front of the entrance to
the camp began as well as formation of new permanent settings and furnishing of
ground floor rooms. Permanent exhibition in camp clinic and rooms 11 and 12
opened by authors Nebojsa Ozimic and Ivana Gruden. Equipping of a modern
projection hall completed. The documentary film "In the wire of Camp Nis” made
by Marija Krstic. The memorial complex was visited by a Russian military choir of
the Armed Forces "Alexandrov" during their stay in Nis as a part of the
commemoration of 1300 year since the signing of the Edict of Milan.

2014 - Published books "Victims of Camp Nis (1941-1944)” by a group of

authors, "Jews in camp at the Red Cross" by Nebojsa Ozimic,"Unfinished story
about Mosa Soamovic" by Mara Makaric,"Members of the Yugoslav Army in the
homeland in the Nazi concentration camp at the Red Cross” by Aleksandar Dincic
and Nebojsa Ozimic as well as the publication "Concentration camp at Red Cross"
by the same authors. A memorial plaque to the fallen Soviets was unveiled in front
of the entrance to the Memorial Complex.

2015- The publication "Escapes from the concentration camp at the Red
Cross" was published by the author Ivan Mitic and "Camp de concentration Croix-
120
Rouge" by Nebojsa Ozimic and Aleksandar Dincic. In the presence of a large
number of citizens, the army and politicians, a monument to the fallen Soviets was
revealed in front of the entrance to the Memorial Complex. It was later visited by
the commander of the land army of the Russian Federation, Colonel General
Vladimir Chirkin. The Army of the Republic of Serbia donated new guard houses
to the museum and they were placed where they used to be in 1967. Gabrijela
Nikolic put on a perormance "One Day" dedicated to the suffering of the Jewish
woman Clarissa Berahe.

2016- The exhibition of the personal belongings of camp inmates on the

mezzanine floor - authors Aleksandar Dincic and Nebojsa Ozimic. Loft area with
an authentic look of solitary confinements presented. The monograph "Allies and
foreign subjects in the Red Cross camp in Nis" was published / Les Allies et sujets
etrangers dans le Camp Croix-Rouge a Nis“ by Aleksandra Dincic. The publication
"Interns of the Nis camp in Mauthausen" by Ivana Gruden Milentijevic, was
published. The 75th anniversary of the camp was solemnly marked at the Red
Cross in the presence of a large number of citizens and politicians from Nis. The
military choir "Aleksandrov" of the Russian Armed Forces visited the Memorial
Complex for the second time during their stay in Nis as a part of the celebration
of the 1300th anniversary of signing the Edict of Milan.

2017- As a part of the manifestation "Museum Night", the documentary

feature film "Escape", shot in the Memorial Complex "12th February", was
premiered.

2018 - Author team of curator historians Nebojsa Ozimic and Ivana Gruden
Milentijevic finished the realization of the first floor of the exhibition with
thematic exhibitions " Jews of Nis in the Sajmište camp "," The Red Cross Society
and the Nazis concentration camp in Nis 1941-1944'' and “Interns of the Nis
concentration camp in Nazi concentration camps in Europe ’. The exhibition "Red
Cross Society and Nazi concentration camp in Nis 1941-1944" was opened by Dejan
Radman, son of Darko Radman, one of the camp doctors. The US National Guard
visited Memorial complex "12th February" and paid tribute to the victims of the
Second World War.

2019 - Representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Israel visited the

Memorial Complex. As a part of the project on preserving the memory of prisoners
of concentration camps and organization of the prisoner uprising on October 14
in the Polish camp Sobobor, the National Museum of Nis in cooperation with the
International Memorial Center premiered the feature film "Sobibor" by Konstantin
Habenski. The curator Nebojsa Ozimic gave a lecture on the History of Uprisings

121
in Camps, Keeping Memories. Zelimir Zilnik, a well-known Yugoslav director, who
was born in the camp, visited the Memorial Complex "12th February".

2020 - The Memorial Complex was visited by Alexander Bocan-

Kharchenko, the ambassador of Russia Federation in Serbia.

2021 - Due to the decay of the material, caused by the long exposure to
different weather conditions, a wire fence and two wooden observation posts
were removed and planned to be replaced by new ones. As a part of the week of
marking the International Holocaust Day, the Memorial Complex was visited by
the Ambassador of Great Britain Shan McLeod, accompanied by Colonel Nik Ilic
and an associate.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the German attack on the Soviet
Union, a park was opened on June 22, 2021. with the participation of the
Ambassador of Russia to Serbia Alexander Bocan-Kharchenko, Minister of
innovation and technological development, Nenad Popovic, head of the Federal
Agency "Rossotrudnichestvo" Yevgeny Primakov, director of the Russian House,
Yevgeny Baranov, leadership of local authorities of Nis, Pirot, Aleksinac,
representatives of the Serbian Army, Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center in Nis,
Serbian-Russian Friendship Societies and Russian compatriots - participants in
the car caravan "I remember and respect!" On that occasion, the exhibition of the
Federal State Cultural Institution "Victory Museum", "We will beat the enemies.
The victory will be ours" was opened at the memorial complex "12th February". In
September, the Memorial Complex was visited by Aleksandar Nikolic, an honorary
Consul of Serbia in Israel and he laid flowers in memory of the innocent victims.
The 80th anniversary of the founding of the camp was marked.

122
PART SIX

123
SOURCES AND LITERATURE

Необјављени грађа

Архив Србије (АС)

Фонд Комисија за историју у периоду (1982-1990), Ђ-2, ф. 461, 1982-1986.

Војни архив (ВА)

Фонд Недићева архива (Нда): кут, 27 А, ф, 3, док. бр. 1

Фонд Немачка архива (даље:НА), к. 1, ф. 6, док. бр. 59-1; к. 9, ф. 8. док. бр. 2

Историјски архив Београд (ИАБ), фонд немачких полицијских докумената

службе безбедности (Befehlshaber und des SD) (BdS), досије B-1405

Историјски архив Ниш (ИаН),

фонд Главни одбор Црвеног крста-окружни одбор Ниш (1878-1947) ДЦКН, кут.
15 дел. бр. 3110-3111 од 12.6.1941; док. од 24.4.1941; док. од 15.6.1941.
фонд Окружно повереништво за утврђивање злочина окупатора и њихових
помагача 1944-1947 (КОЗАРА), кут.1, ф. 67.
ИаН, микрофилм,Мф. I/510-520.
фонд VARIA, Народноослободилачки покрет у Нишу за време Другог светског
рата – необјављени рукопис.

Народни музеј Ниш (НмН)

Збирка Меморијални комплекс '’12.фебруар'' (МК12ф)

- изјаве преживелих логораша књ. III, XII – XIV, XXI;
-студијски материјал, преглед рада Народног музеја и галерије савремене
уметности (1945-1973)
-студијски материјал, Projekat izrade za rekonstrukciju, revitalizaciju i
prezentaciju Memorijalnog kompleksa „12. februar“ u Nišu.
-студијски материјал, Извештај о раду Одсека за логор Црвени крст и Бубањ
у периоду 1985-1990
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Nišu , Preduzeće za projektovanje – Niš, 1962, 1-7.
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конзерваторске радове у логору на Црвеном крсту за 1962. годину и план
предвиђених радова за 1963. годину (даље: Извештај за конзерваторске радове
у логору на Црвеном крсту (1962- 1963)
- одељење документације. Књиге утисака посетилаца логора на Црвеном
крсту (1969-1971).
124
-одељење документације. Извештај о раду Народног музеја у Нишу за 1999.
годину,
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Чланци

Борба, 13. фебруар 1967. године

Народни лист, 26 октобар 1944. године.
Народне новине, 4. фебруара 1967. године;11. фебруар 1967. године; 17. фебруар
1967. године; 18. фебруара 1967. године.

Објављени извори

Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu jugoslovenskih

naroda, tom I, knjiga 1 (Borbe u Srbiji 1941, dokumenti nemačkih i kvislinških
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