BETWEEN FACTS AND NARRATIVES: THE CRIME IN SKELA 1941 IN LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEMORY CULTURE
Abstract
The crime in the village of Skela was committed on August 15, 1941 by members of the 64th Reserve Police Battalion. It was an act of reprisal, but at the same time also an act of revenge for the deaths of one officer and three non-commissioned officers of the same battalion, who had been killed in the village the previous day. The reprisal was ordered by the Military Commander of Serbia, General Dankelmann, together with his closest associates, and it was decided that news of the crime should be publicly announced through all available channels of communication. The aim was to intimidate the local population across the entire occupied territory and thereby deter further attacks on German soldiers and police personnel.
Unlike other crimes committed in the autumn of 1941, this crime did not acquire a central place in the national culture of memory, but remained confined exclusively to the local context. The main facts concerning the crime were established during two trials held in 1947; nevertheless, over time a wide range of inaccuracies, and even serious errors emerged in collective memory. In historiography, the basic factual framework of the crime was established more than half a century later, in the late 1990s.
By contrast, the culture of memory assumed various forms, with differing degrees of accuracy. Numerous articles addressing this crime were published in the press; however, they often contained a series of erroneous data, which clearly contributed to the creation of a distorted narrative based on incorrect assumptions. In the village itself, two significant monuments were erected, directly marking and preserving from oblivion both the site of the reprisal and the names and faces of the murdered villagers. In addition, streets in the village were named after the victims, while the main village street was dedicated to all those who perished in the massacre. Finally, oral tradition remains alive to this day, focusing primarily on the general narrative of the burning of the village and the execution of hostages, as well as on individual stories of the victims, preserved from oblivion by their descendants.
References
• АЈ, 297 – I, K – 2, ,,Izveštaj o radu organizacije Saveza boraca NOR-a od III kongresaˮ, 28 I 1958, 1
• AJ, 110-585-182, „Saslušanje dr Georga Kiessela“, 30.7.1946.
• АЈ, 110-477-729 do 987, Selo Skela – masovno ubistvo u grupi i pričinjena šteta na dan 15.8.1941.
• АЈ, 110-477-714 do 987, Skela.
• АЈ, 110-477-716, Skela, 15.8.1941
• АЈ, 110-477-719, 15.8.1941.
• АЈ, 110-477-748, Iskaz Nikodina Dževadžića, 27.4.1945.
• АЈ, 110-828-777 do 797, Presuda Vojnog suda III armije, 9.3.1947.
• AJ, 110, F-828-168, Vojni sud za grad Beograd.
• Asman, Alaida. 2015. ,,Sećanje individualno i kolektivnoˮ U Kolektivno sećanje i politike pamćenja, ur. Michal Sladaček, Jelena Vasiljević, Tamara Petrović-Trifunović, Beograd: Zavod za udžbenike.
• Begović, Sima. 1989. Logor Banjica 1941–1944. I–II. Beograd: Institut za savremenu istoriju. (Begović 1989)
• Božović, Branislav. 1998. Beograd pod komesarskom upravom 1941. Beograd: Istorijski arhiv Beograda. (Božović 1998)
• Bojić, Milosav. 1987. Posavski partizanski odred: Posavina i Tamnava u oružanom ustanku. Beograd: Vojnoizdavački i novinski centar. (Bojić 1987)
• Borba. 1947a. „Danas počinje suđenje Turberu“, februar 27, 8.
• Borba. 1947b. „Optuženi ratni zločinci rukovodili su streljanjem rodoljuba u Skeli, Šapcu i Nišu“, mart 2.
• Borba. 1947v. „Devet nemačkih ratnih zločinaca je osuđeno na smrt, ostala trojica su dobila vremenske kazne“, mart 10.
• Borba. 1947g. „Dankelman nije mislio na međunarodno pravo“, oktobar 23.
• Borba. 1947d. „Pravedna, zaslužena kazna stiže organizatore masovnih pokolja naroda u Srbiji, Banatu i Makedoniji“, novembar 1.
• Borba. 1946. „Spaljenom posavskom selu Skeli treba obezbediti plan za izgradnju“, mart 7.
• Borba. 1951. „U Skeli otkriven spomenik streljanim rodoljubima“, novembar 5.
• Dević, Nemanja. 2022. Za partiju i Tita: Partizanski pokret u Srbiji 1941-1944. Beograd: Službeni glasnik. (Dević 2022)
• Glišić, Venceslav. 1970. Teror i zločini nacističke Nemačke u Srbiji 1941–1944. Beograd: Prosveta. (Glišić 1970)
• Horvatinčić, Sanja; Žerovc, Beti. 2023 „ՙYugoslav Monuments dedicated to the Antifascist Resistance, the Peoples Liberation Struggle, and a Revolution – Introduction. “ In Shaping Revolutionary Memory. The Production of Monuments in Socialist Yugoslavia, eds. Sanja Horvatinčić and Beti Žerovc 13 – 19.
• Ilić, Dragoslav. 1951. Odmazda. Beograd: Prosveta. (Ilić 1951)
• Kadijević, Aleksandar. 2008. „O socrealizmu u beogradskoj arhitekturi i njenim oprečnim tumačenjima“, Nasleđe (IX): 75 – 88.
• Klemp, Stefan. 2001. „50 Kommunisten Aufgehängt, 350 Häuser niedergebrannt“:Der Einsatz des Reserve-Polizei-Bataillons 64 auf dem Balkan 1941–1943“, in: Im Auftrag: Polizei,Verwaltung und Verantwortung, Begleitband zur gleichnamigen Dauerausstellung – Geschicht Villa ten Hampel, (hg. Alfons Kenkmmann, Christoph Spieker), Essen 2001. (Klemp 2001)
• Klemp, Stefan. 2005 „Nicht ermittelt“: Polizeibataillone und die Nachkriegsjustiz: Ein Handbuch, Essen: Klartext. (Klemp 2005)
• Kreso, Muharem. 1979. Njemačka okupaciona uprava u Beogradu. Beograd: Istorijski arhiv Beograda. (Kreso 1979)
• Lajbenšperger, Nenad L. 2019. „Žrtve Drugog svetskog rata u politici jugoslovenske države (1945-1980).“ doktorska disertacija. Univerzitet u Beogradu: Filozofski fakultet. (Lajbenšperger 2019)
• Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen, Abteilung Westfalen (LA NRW, Abt. Westfalen), Münster, Q 234 Nr. 3611, Zentralstelle im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen für die Bearbeitung von nationalsozialistischen Massenverbrechen bei dem Leitenden Oberstaatsanwalt in Dortmund - 45 Js 14/64 – 7.12.1964.
• LA NRW, Abt. Westfalen, Münster, Q 234 Nr. 3616, Zentralstelle im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen für die Bearbeitung von nationalsozialistischen Massenverbrechen bei dem Leitenden Oberstaatsanwalt in Dortmund - 45 Js 15/64, 8.12.1964.
• LA NRW, Abt. Westfalen, Münster, Q 234 Nr. 2071, Zentralstelle im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen für die Bearbeitung von nationalsozialistischen Massenverbrechen bei dem Leitenden Oberstaatsanwalt in Dortmund - 45 Js 50/61, 1.12.1964.
• Manojlović Pintar, Olga. 2014. Arheologija sećanja. Spomenici i identiteti u Srbiji 1918 – 1989. Beograd: Udruženje za društvenu istoriju, Čigoja štampa (Manojlović Pinatar 2014)
• Marjanović, Jovan. 1963. Ustanak i narodnooslobodilački pokret u Srbiji 1941. Beograd: Institut društvenih nauka. (Marjanović 1963)
• Mitrović, Andrej. 1977. „Ergänzungswitschaft: The theory of an integrated economic area of the Third Reich and Southeast Europe, 1933–1941“, u: The Third Reich and Yugoslavia 1933-1945 (ur. Života Anić), Belgrade 1977, 7–45. (Mitrović 1977)
• Narodna biblioteka Srbije (NBS), Zbirka plakata, 184/67, „Selo Skela je spaljivanjem sravnjeno sa zemljom“; „Saopštenje – Selo Skela je spaljivanjem sravnjeno sa zemljom“.
• Novo vreme. 1941 „Saopštenje – Selo Skela je spaljivanjem sravnjeno sa zemljom“, Avgust 16. 1941.
• Obrenovac i okolina. 1963. (ur. Mihailo Maletić), Beograd: Narodna knjiga. (Obrenovac i okolina 1963)
• Ristović, Milan. 2005. Nemački novi poredak i Jugoistočna Evropa 1940/41–1944/45. Beograd: Službeni glasnik. (Ristović 2005).
• Seljačka borba 1945. „U Skeli selu koje je okupator prvo popalio u Srbiji“, oktobar 25. 1945.
• Zavod za zaštitu spomenika kulture Beograda. 2008. Mesta stradanja žrtava fašističkog terora na području grada Beograda.
• Zbornik Narodnooslobodilačkog rata naroda Jugoslavije, I-1. 1964. Beograd: Vojnoizdavački zavod JNA, dok. br. 128, Izveštaj šefa nemačke okupacione uprave u Srbiji, 15.8.1941.
• 4. jul 1968. „Erman je pao“, februar 20.
