The exhibition “Serbian Military Cemetery in Algeria” was officially opened at the Palace of the Golubac Fortress, authored by Marko Jelić, president of the Society of Friends of Algeria
The exhibition was organized by the Society of Friends of Algeria and the Public Enterprise “Golubac Fortress”.
The guests were welcomed by the director of the Public Enterprise “Golubac Town – Fortress” prof. dr Iskra Maksimović, and the author Marko Jelić addressed the numerous visitors and showed them the exhibition materials.
The exhibition was officially opened by the Ambassador of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, His Excellency Mr. Fatah Mahraz.
“The Serbian Military Cemetery in Algeria is a symbol of the heroism and suffering of the Serbian people, who found recovery in North Africa from the Montenegrin bluffs and Albanian Golgotha, via Vid and Corfu. Today, our cemetery is guarded and responsibly cared for by the Algerian Sofian, and every visit to this cemetery causes both admiration and sadness. I am pleased that this exclusive exhibition is exhibited in the unique ambience of the Palace of the Golubac Town Fortress ” stated the author of the exhibition Marko Jelić. He reminded that Algeria and Serbia have been nurturing friendly relations for more than six decades.
“Algeria is the largest country in Africa, the Arab world, and one of the most important foreign policy and trade partners of Serbia in Africa. In the common heritage, a special place is occupied by the Serbian cemetery from the First World War in the city of Algiers, where 324 Serbian soldiers are buried, who laid down their lives for the freedom of all peoples. The rich testimony of the military memorial, the Serbian Military Cemetery in the municipality of Deli Ibrahim in Algeria, documentation and photographs, including several extremely rare depictions of Serbian soldiers with the local population and the Serbian Orthodox Church in the city of Algiers, a list of the buried, and reports of military priests from the archives of the Serbian Orthodox Church, are presented on 40 panels” emphasized the author of the exhibition Marko Jelić.
This exhibition of photographs, documents and other materials, according to H.E. Ambassador Mahraz, aims, first and foremost, to pay tribute to the Serbian soldiers who died for the freedom of their homeland Serbia and whose bodies rest on Algerian soil.
“The exhibition is designed to convey the memory of a historical event that is common to our two peoples, which is the heroic story of 324 Serbian soldiers buried in my country. It is also necessary to emphasize the enormous merits and decisive contribution of the cameraman and photographer Stevan Labudović (December 28, 1926, Berane − November 25, 2017, Belgrade). He was a great friend of Algeria, a man of principle, known for his deep commitment to righteous causes, especially the Algerian people, and played a decisive role in bringing the Serbian military cemetery in Deli Ibrahim, until then little known in Serbia, to light and adding it to the list of commemorative sites where the remains of Serbian heroes who gave their lives for the liberation of their homeland are buried”, said H.E. Ambassador Fatah Mahraz.
Visitors can view the exhibition on weekdays until the end of April this year.