Davor STIPIĆ

Institute for Recent History of Serbia, Belgrade

davorstipic89@gmail.com

The Yugoslav Planting Campaign in Martyrs’ Forest 1952–1955: Symbolism, Rituals and Meaning

Abstract:

This article will try to examine the phenomenon of memorial forests and its role in the creation of Holocaust mem- ory of the Jewish community in Yugoslavia. Our intention is to present the Yugoslav Jewish tradition of planting memorial for- ests and analyze its symbolical background. The Martyrs’ For- est in Israel will be used as an example of newly-founded place of remembrance, and considering that, the main aim of the arti- cle is to show, in comparison with other examples, what kind of symbolical rituals were used to provide a historical context and legitimacy for new memorials.

Key words: Israel, Yugoslavia, Holocaust, Jews, monuments, memory, World War II

Summary

Memorial Forests are unique kinds of memorials in Israel with multiple memorial roles: on the practical level, they were planted to provide the protection against erosion and spreading of the desert and to improve the quality of the soil. On the other hand, memorial forests seemed like a suitable way to preserve the memory of certain people or historical events and to celebrate the return of the Jews to the land of their ancestors. The Martyrs’ Forest (Yaar Hakedoshim) was a memorial forest dedicated to all victims of the Holocaust. According to the plan, The Martyrs’ Forest was to be divided into sectors, and each of them should represent a European country and the number of trees in each was to be equal to the number of Jewish victims in that country. All together the Forest should contain 6,000,000 trees, and 60,000 were to be planted in Yugoslav sector. The campaign for the planting of Yugoslav sector in The Martyrs’ Forest started in 1952. and was coordinated by The Federation of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia. By autumn of 1955 The Federation raised 15,541,206 dinars which was enough to plant the required number of trees. In the context of social history, the campaign showed a huge level of empathy and solidarity of Yugoslav citizens and political and social organizations with the Jewish community. Using this campaign as a key study, our aim is also to analyze relations among Yugoslav Jews and their compatriots who emigrated to Israel and USA, with a special emphasis on the cooperation with Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael.