Holocaust Memorialization & Memory: Serbia’s Strange Remembrance of the Shoah at Sajmište

Authors

Henry Gilson, Lewis UniversityFollow

Abstract

The changing landscape of Shoah memory in Serbia has largely gone unexamined. Using the Staro Sajmište concentration camp site and its in situ memorial as a focal point, this paper examines how Holocaust remembrance in Serbia has shifted across historical periods, often marked by erasure, marginalization, and historical revisionism. Official narratives frequently redirected attention away from the Jewish victims murdered at Staro Sajmište toward emphasizing Serbian suffering, particularly at the Ustaše-operated Jasenovac camp. Political pressures and the strategic use and placement of commemorative plaques facilitated this narrative shift. Only in response to international scrutiny and scandals has substantial progress been made in confronting the camp’s true historical significance. The case of Staro Sajmište highlights how Holocaust memorialization on the periphery can be hijacked by nationalist rhetoric, leading to the manipulation of historical memory.

First Page

117

Last Page

141

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Gilson, Henry (2025) "Holocaust Memorialization & Memory: Serbia’s Strange Remembrance of the Shoah at Sajmište," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History: Vol. 15: Iss. 2, Article 5.
DOI: 10.20429/aujh.2025.150205
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol15/iss2/5