MONOGRAPH "CULTURE OF THE SERBS IN SARAJEVO 1468-1941" - LEGACY TO YOUNG GENERATIONS

EAST SARAJEVO, MARCH 31 /SRNA/ - The monograph "Culture of the Serbs in Sarajevo 1468-1941" is a legacy to generations of young people about everything that the Serbs were in Sarajevo and about the huge cultural and historical heritage they left in that city, Danijela Mrda, director of the Archives of BiH, said today in East New Sarajevo.

Mrda and the director of the Institute of Historical Sciences of the East Sarajevo University Draga Mastilović promoted this monograph today in East Sarajevo, which is a joint project of the archives of Serbia, BiH and Republika Srpska.

She stated that their three-year scientific research work was capitalized by this monograph, which on 515 pages covered the period from the first Turkish records and notebooks in which the Christian community, i.e. the Serbian Orthodox Church in Sarajevo is mentioned, to the beginning of the Second World War.

Mastilović emphasized the importance of presenting the monograph, which is officially called a catalog on the history and culture of Serbs in Sarajevo from the city's founding to 1941, which is part of an important national project jointly implemented by the State Archives of Serbia and the Archives of BiH.

"The monograph includes a wealth of content, from an overview of the history of the Serbs in Sarajevo, then culture, literacy and spirituality, representing a unique work when it comes to the culture and history of the Serbs in Sarajevo," said Mastilović.

He emphasized that the work is important for understanding the image of Serbs’ presence in these areas and the richness of their culture, as evidenced by the treasury of the Old Sarajevo Church, which contains the cultural and historical treasures of the Serb people, not only in Sarajevo but in the entire area west of the Drina.

"My task in this project was to coordinate the project on behalf of Republika Srpska and BiH and write an overview of the history of Serbs in Sarajevo from the founding of the city to 1941. These studies have undoubtedly proven that the Serb people has been present in these areas since the ninth century," said Mastilović.

He has pointed out that this is a very significant piece of information in today's time, when attempts are being made to challenge the Serbs' right to live in the area west of the Drina.

"This also indicates the importance of this project for building, not only our collective culture of remembrance, but also as an irrefutable testimony that the Serbs have been present in this area from the early Middle Ages to the present day, even though they went through various trials and turbulent centuries of history under many occupiers - centuries of Ottoman occupation, then Austria-Hungary, Great War, World War II and as the tip of the iceberg of the 1990s events," Mastilović pointed out.

According to him, during the last decade of the 20th century, attempts were made to biologically destroy the Serbs west of the Drina, which are plans that continue today.