Spomenik Database | Šušnjar Memorial at Sanski Most

This spomenik at Sanski Most, Bosnia was built not only as a memorial to the thousands of victims of the Axis occupation and oppression in the surrounding region, but also, this is a memorial to the victims of the "Rebellion of the Sana Peasants", in which the local population of Sanski Most area revolted against the oppression by the Ustaše occupying forces in the first weeks of the war.

WWII Sanski

World War II

On May 6th of 1941, just a few weeks after the fall of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to Axis forces and the creation of the Axis-puppet state of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) (in which Sanski Most found itself), there was a revolt by Sana peasants of the Podgrmeč region against the NDH's oppressive occupying militiamen called the Ustaše. These revolts were the first all-out hostility against Axis/Ustaše occupying forces in Bosnia. The community uprising is said to have begun when alleged Muslim Ustaše instigators disturbed ethnic-Serb civilians during their celebration of Saint George's Day (Đurđevdan). During the hostilities (which lasted for three days), Ustaše forces killed dozens of civilians and arrests dozens more. After the rebellion was put down after the arrival of a German unit from Prijedor, the regional Ustaše commissioner Victor Gutić ordered the execution of 27 of the ethnic-Serb male civilians accused of contributing to the unrest. On May 9th, three days after the initial revolt, these 27 men were shot under a railway bridge upstream of town along the Sana River. These dead bodies were then brought to the Sanski Most town center and strung up in trees by their necks to act as a warning to other Serbs and Jews (Photo 1). Furthermore, the grisly task of hanging the dead bodies in trees was forced upon other Serb and Jewish prisoners at gun-point. After three days, their bodies were then taken and buried in a mass grave in a forested clearing on the eastern outskirts of a town called Šušnjar.

Photo 1: Executed bodies strung up in Sanski Most town center, May, 1941

These executions were not only an effort by Ustaše forces to prevent further rebellion and uprisings, but they were also part of the coordinated Ustaše campaign of eliminating the ethnic-Serb and Jewish populations from the Bosanska Krajina region. Roughly two weeks after these executions, on May 28th, Victor Gutić (Photo 2) made the follows statements at large 4,000 person rally in the Sanki Most town center concerning the region's ethnic-Serbs:

"I have published drastic laws for their complete economic destruction, and new ones will follow for their complete extermination. Don't be generous toward any of them. Bear in my mind that they were always our gravediggers and destroy them wherever they may be found, and the blessings of the Poglavnik [Ante Pavelić] and myself will be upon you. Let the Serbs hope for nothing. For their sakes it would be best if they emigrate. Let them disappear from this region of ours, this homeland of ours."

Then, just a few months later, during the celebrations of St. Elijah's Day on the 2nd of August, 1941, mass arrests were made of thousands of ethnic-Serb and Jewish civilians across Sanski Most. These thousands of prisoners were then marched to various killing fields across the town, most notably Šušnjar, where they were brutally executed and tossed into dirt pits. Certain accounts relate that prisoners who chose to convert to Catholicism were spared execution. Exact numbers of those executed during these purges are not precisely known, however, estimates range from 2,000 up to 10,000. Meanwhile, the following year in August of 1942, all remaining Jews who still resided in Sanski Most were arrested and shipped to the death camps at Jasenovac.

The orchestrater of these tragedies, Victor Gutić, fled the Balkans to Venice after the end of the war and the subsequent fall of the Axis-supported Independent State of Croatia. In 1946, Gutić was discovered by war-crimes investigators hiding out in Italy, later being extradited to Yugoslavia. During his trial, he denied all charges which were levied against him. At the end of his trial, Gutić received a guilty sentence and, thereafter, was executed in the city of Banja Luka, his hometown, on February 20th, 1947.

Photo 2: Viktor Gutić

Constr Sanski

Spomenik Construction

Preliminary plans to construct a memorial complex at the Sanski Most execution site for the commemoration of these tragedies was organized in late 1968. At this point, an official selection board was convened to arrange this memorial's construction. This board consisted of municipal officials as well as generals and officials of the SR of Bosnia who were from the Sanski Most region. The chairman of the board was Yugoslav WWII hero Petar Dodik, at this time a lawyer from Sarajevo. Funding for the project was raised by this board largely via public voluntary donations from those in the community. Three specific notable designers were considered by the board to create the monument, all who had varying ideas of what the monument should look like. Belgrade architect Bogdan Bogdanović, wanted to construct a 'Tower of Babel' themed structure, but the design selection committee found this concept unacceptable. Famous Zagreb sculptor Vanja Radauš suggested a bone-shaped memorial, but this was also rejected, as it was felt it might incite feelings of anger and hatred towards Croats in general, especially as the memorial was intended to be a place of healing and reconciliation... not horror.

Present Sanski

The project was eventually awarded to Sarajevo architect Petar Krstić, whose primary composition, completed in 1970 (Photo 3), consisted of an aluminum flame-like obelisk set within an open paved courtyard. The complex's approaching pathways were lined with stone tiles commemorating the victims killed and executed in the uprising. In addition, long crisscrossing concrete tubes are arranged around the monument as seating for visitors and as an outdoor classroom for students. The official commemoration ceremony for the memorial took place on August 2nd, 1971, a date which recognized 30 years since the 1941 St. Elijah's Day killings. During the memorial's construction, there was an alleged incident where when workers were digging in the ground to construct the memorial's crypt, blood started to bubble up from the earth. After an investigation, it was determined to be human blood (presumably left over from the massacres which occurred on the site) which had seeped into the ground and mixed with moist clay, allowing it to remain viscous and suspended. However, I was not able to find definitive corroborating evidence of this event. Also, after the monument's official opening in 1971, a series of annual poetry reading events called the 'Šušnjar Literary Festival' were held at the site every August 2nd during the monument's remembrance ceremonies.

Photo 3: The memorial shortly after construction [Source: Krstić family]

Photo 4: The 1992 Orthodox cross memorial

Present-Day

After the fall of Yugoslavia, the memorial complex fell into more and more disrepair and neglect. However, during the Bosnian War in 1992, a Bosnian Serb veterans group built a large concrete cross within the memorial complex (Photo 4), as Bosnian Serbs were in control of the area until 1995, at which point the Dayton Agreement then granted Sanski Most to the FBiH. As a result of the Dayton Agreement, the vast majority of the town's Bosnian Serb population was expelled. Some members of the Muslim community in Sanski Most still find this monument addition controversial, especially as a memorial plaque bearing the names of Partisan Muslim veterans had been earlier removed from the site. Altogether, about 20-30 of the stone tiles were removed that commemorated Partisan soldiers killed and executed in the rebellion, leaving only tiles that signified Jewish and ethnic-Serb civilians. However, many panels honoring ethnic-Serb victims have also been desecrated at the site. In addition, a large memorial plaque at the entrance was also stolen. Despite being a protected site of national heritage by the Bosnian government, the site is still in poor condition and would require significant preservation and rehabilitation in order to be brought back to a restored state. Meanwhile, the 'Šušnjar Literary Festival' is no longer held at the Šušnjar memorial site, but instead is held in the nearby Republic of Srpska town of Oštra Luka.

Plaques Sanski

Plaques, Engravings and Graffiti:

There are a number of inscribed elements here at the Sanski most memorial complex. Firstly at the front entrance-way, there is one primary interpretive engraved plaque which, translated from Serbian to English, reads:

"During the time of 1941-1945, there was a genocide committed against Serbians andJews by the German and Ustaše occupiers."

"At ten execution sites and in brutal death camps, over 5,500 men women & youth of the Sanski Most area were viciously killed."

"Across these killing fields in August of 1941, Ustaše criminals shot thousands of --- and Jews."

Sanski Most spomenik plaque

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The '---' in the above translation represents the shot-out segment of the plaque in the last sentence. Presumably, it read 'Serbians', or something to that effect. This vandalism may be the result of the ethnic tensions between local ethnic-Serbs and Croats of this region during the waves of nationalism brought about by the Croatian independence in the early 1990s -- a significant number of monuments recognizing atrocities committed against minority ethnic-Serbs in Croatia and western Bosnia were destroyed and defaced during this time.

In pathways throughout the memorial complex, dozens of stone tiles are situated in the ground over the interred remains of the dozens killed and executed in the 1941 rebellion (pictured top right). The tiles are engraved with the names of those interred therein.

While there is a good deal of graffiti both on the obelisk and around the memorial site, I found very little notable or particularly interesting examples anywhere around the site.

Symbol Sanski

Photo 5: A leaping flame

Symbolism:

It has been stated by the creator of this memorial sculpture, Petar Krstić, that its sharply irregular and luminescent form is meant to resemble the shape of a shining leaping flame (Photo 5) and that said form is meant to be symbolic of the light of life and the victorious process of overcoming the threat of fascism which caused such sufferings to the people of the Sanski Most region. Such a universally understood image of the flame representing the 'light of life' was mostly surely chosen by the memorial's selection board with the intention that it would be an inclusive and non-incendiary symbol pleasing all members of the town's ethnically divided population. In addition, Krstić explained that his sculpture was meant to symbolize not only the suffering of people in Sanski Most, but suffering of all people throughout the ages. Such statements reinforce the 'universalist' interpretations of this sculpture. Interestingly, Krstić's original design called for the memorial sculpture to emit sounds and lights from a machine within the structure, which would symbolize the struggle and suffering of the people of Sanski Most -- however, this experimental concept became cost prohibitive and was never integrated into the site.

Status Sanski

Status and Condition:

The current state of this Šušnjar spomenik complex in Sanski Most is quite poor. The grass and vegetation have overtaken much of the monument complex to the point where I found many goats in the area around the monument freely grazing. Meanwhile, many stainless steel panels of the lower section of the monument obelisk itself stolen and ripped off, presumably to claim for scrap, revealing the inner steel skeleton of the structure. In addition, the stainless steel panels that are left are completely covered in graffiti and spray paint. Meanwhile, there is no signage or directional markers in place to lead visitors or tourists to this monument. At the site itself, a significant amount of the engraved panels and informational plaques have been stolen or destroyed, leaving only one or two defaced interpretive plaques still in existence here. In addition, upon my most recent visit, I found no signs of honorific wreaths, flowers or candles left anywhere around this complex or any other signs that the site had been recently utilized by the local community. However, annual commemorative ceremonies are indeed still held here by Bosnian Serbs from nearby Oštra Luka (Serbian Sanski Most) (Photo 6). Yet, there has been controversy and disagreement in the years since the end of the Bosnian War between Oštra Luka and the Sanski Most municipality over holding overt religious remembrance events at the site.

Photo 6: View of 2014 Orthodox ceremony at the Šušnjar site

Records indicate that this spomenik complex is officially protected and maintained by the Bosnian government as a monument of national cultural importance, however, I saw little indication of any active conservation or protection projects upon my most recent visit. A recently released official 'Sanski Most Tourist Guide' [PDF] makes no mention of this monument whatsoever. Yet, as of July 2017, news reports indicate that restoration efforts may soon be underway at the Šušnjar Memorial site. In addition, in 2018, discussions began about the idea of constructing a small Orthodox chapel at the Šušnjar site, however, such proposals have been met with strong opposition.

Additional Sites in the Sanski Most area:

This section will explore various other notable Yugoslav-era historical, cultural and memorial sites in and around the greater Sanski Most area. Among those examples which are examined here are the "Sanjanka" Department Store, as well as the former site of the House of the 2nd Session of ZAVNOBiH.

Directions Sanski

Photo 7: A vintage postcard image showing the original appearance of the "Sanjanka" Department Store in Sanski Most

The "Sanjanka" Department Store:

Built in front of the bridge over the Sana River in the heart of the town of Sanski Most, BiH, right on Freedom Square, was originally located the "Sanjanka" Department Store (Photo 7). Built in the early 1970s by Zagreb architect Gug Marinković, this was the first modern shopping complex for the town of Sanski Most and, as a result, this complex, with its huge windows and modernist architecture, became an instant icon for the town, with it being boasted on the towns promotional materials and postcards. The central tower of the department store is playfully adorned with manufactured decorative panels, while the tower itself is oriented at a off-kilter angle to the gound level, giving the complex a distinct and conspicuous appearance.

The Sanjanka remained a popular complex through the Yugoslav era and even survived the Bosnian War intact. However, in the 2000s the facade of the Sanjanka received a complete overhaul as it was transformed into a new franchise outlet for the "Konzum" supermarket chain. Today the building is completely unrecognizable from its original form. Its exact coordinates are 44°45'54.0"N 16°39'54.2"E.

Sokol House, Site of the 2nd ZAVNOBiH:

On the east side of the Sana River in Sanski Most was originally situated a building known as the "Sokol House" (Photo 8). Built in 1940 in the early modernist style, the complex was primarily used by the Sokol Society, which was a pan-Slavic cultural and gymnastics organization. However, from June 30th to July 2nd, 1944, the building hosted the second session of ZAVNOBIH (National Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The role of ZAVNOBiH was to operate as the primary antifascist government body of BiH during wartime, superseded only by AVNOJ (the Antifascist Council for the People's Liberation of Yugoslavia). The first session of ZAVNOBiH was held in November of 1943 at Mrkonjić Grad [more info here], but at this second session here at Sanski Most, delegates agreed on 11 resolutions that would become integral in laying the groundwork for the future governance of BiH during the Yugoslav era.

Photo 8: A vintage photo showing the Sokol House in Sanski Most, which hosted the 2nd session of ZAVNOBiH in 1944.

As this house was the location where the early politicians of BiH outlined the most basic governing principles of BiH, it was of supreme cultural and historical importance. After the end of WWII, the Sokol House was transformed into a museum and gallery, being thus renamed "The Partisans' Center". Later on in the 1980s, a radio station was hosted in this building as well. However, during the Bosnian War, the building was completely devastated. In 1996, local politicians made the decision to clear the ruined remains of the building. Today, the site exists as nothing but an empty lot that local children sometimes play sports on. Only a small black engraved stone set into the ground in front of the building's former location reminds anyone of its former existence. Interestingly, despite the fact that the building is long gone, it is technically under state protection. Memorial events continue to take place at the former location of the Sokol House, while some news reports indicate that top politicians in the country are even in favor of rebuilding it. However, as of 2021, the site is still empty. The exact coordinates for the former site of the Sokol House are N44°45'56.0", E16°40'12.4".

Monument at ŠIP "Sana" Offices:

On the west side of the Sana River in Sanski Most, within the town's central plaza (known as "Freedom Square" during the Yugoslav-era), there originally existed a wooden totem-pole-esque monument dedicated to those local fighters who perished during WWII (Photo 9). This monument, created in the late 1960s, was the work of local folk artist Đorđe Kreća, who specialized in creating folk art sculptures using traditional woodworking methods. The monument consisted of a collection of Partisan fighters standing atop one other in an ascending fashion, with the whole composition topped off at its apex with a female fighter holding her rifle triumphantly into the air. The sculpture being crafted of wood had a further significance, as it formerly stood right in front of the ŠIP "Sana" business offices, which was one of the largest wood producers in Bosnia and the biggest factory in Sanski Most, with over 4,000 workers.

While this monument stood as one of the most important sites in Sanski Most during the Yugoslav-era, the sculpture was destroyed by vandals in 1995 during the Bosnian War. Its fate is unknown. Today, nothing exists in the location within the square where this monument once stood. The ŠIP "Sana" offices are also gone, with the building now serving as municipal offices. The former location of the work is N44°45'52.1", E16°39'53.1".

Photo 9: A vintage photo of the monument in front of the ŠIP "Sana" offices.

The Workers' House:

On the east side of the Sana River in the center of Sanski Most was originally an open plaza known as "Tito Square" during the Yugoslav-era (today known as "Ljiljana Square"). In the late 1940s, a building was constructed at the top of the square opposite the bridge that operated as the community's "Workers' House". This governmental building served as the town's central apparatus for political affairs, worker gatherings and other party-affiliated functions. Unfortunately, I was not able to establish the identity of the architect of this building, but it was constructed in a form of the early modernist style, crafted with struct geometry and little ornamentation or extraneous flair. As this complex was the center of Communist Party events for Sanski Most, the roof of this building was often adorned with large celebratory signs dedicated to the Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito, such as seen in Photo 10, which reads simply "TITO". Additional photos from the Yugoslav-era show signs atop the Workers' House reading "Long Live Tito".

Photo 10: A vintage photo showing the Workers' House at the center of Sanski Most in what used to be Tito Square.

While this was one of the most iconic structures in Sanski Most during the Yugoslav-era, being depicted on nearly every single postcard from Sanski Most during that time period, the building was completely destroyed during the Bosnian War. My research was not able to establish the events and circumstances surrounding its demise. The spot upon which it formerly stood within the square continues to sit vacant up to the present day. The exact coordinates for this former location of the Workers' House are N44°45'53.6", E16°40'04.4".

Directions:

Finding your way to the Šušnjar Memorial Complex is a relaitvely easy endeavor. Firstly, from the city center of Sanski Most, as you head east, crossing the Sana River on the street Trg Oslobodilaca, take Muse Cazima Catica until you pass a Konzum supermarket on your left, then follow the road Zrtava Fasizma east out of town for about 1km until you see a cemetery complex on your left. The Šušnjar complex is directly across the street from this cemetery. Parking can be made at the gravel parking area in front of the cemetery. Exact coordinates for this parking location are N44°45'46.4", E16°41'01.8", linked here to Google Maps. Use the map diagram on the right for reference.

Historical Sanski

Sanski Most spomenik map location monument

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Historical Images:

Sanski Most Spomenik (1970s)

A postcard view of the Sanski Most Spomenik from the 1970s.

Sanski Most Spomenik (1970s)

A photo of the Sanski Most Spomenik from the 1970s.

Sanski Most Spomenik (1970s)

A postcard view of the Sanski Most Spomenik from the 1970s.

Sanski Most Spomenik (1970s)

A postcard view of the Sanski Most Spomenik from the 1970s.

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Selected Sources and More Information:

-The Bosnian Commission to Preserve National Monuments article: "Šušnjar Memorial Complex, the architectural ensemble"

-English Wiki article: "May 1941 Sanski Most Revolt"

-Bosnian Wiki article "Sanski Most"

-Enver Redžić book: "Bosnia in the Second World War"

-Glas Srpske article: "Strahovlada Viktora Gutića"

-Paul Mojzes book: "Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century"

-Oštra Luka municipality paper: "Šušnjar 1941: Proceedings - papers, testimonies and documents"

-Znaci Archives article: "Sanski Most u oslobodilačkom ratu"

Comments:

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