Created in 2016 on the occasion of the centenary of the formation of the First Serbian Volunteer Division, 41 panels show its origins and the path that it took during the war years, formed on April 16, 1916, far from its homeland, in Odessa.

Visitors will be able to get to know the schedule and actions of the division, as well as the enemy units, in pictures and text, through military maps and legends. Excerpts from the magazine “Slovenski jug” initiated by Serbian soldiers in Odessa are also shown. The photos show the members of the division and their lists, the war cemeteries where they were buried, the decorations they received and the monuments that were erected as part of the Serbian army.

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– The exhibition through a very thorough and studious approach speaks of the founding and war journey of the First Serbian Volunteer Division. With the blessing and consent of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, it was made up of Serbs residing in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and mobilized as conscripts into the Austrian army, who were sent to the Eastern Front in Galicia. Then there was a mass transition to the Russian army and solidarity out of patriotic motives and love for Orthodox Russia, and soon a division was formed.

As part of the 47th Russian Corps, she was sent to the Dobrudzha Front. The soldiers showed great courage, and the losses at the front were enormous. About 50 percent of the soldiers were thrown out of the line, and 2,000 of them were killed or disappeared – said Miloš Pušara, a historian of the Kikinda National Museum.

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The division also included 1,700 Kikinda citizens, and all of them joined the Serbian army for patriotic reasons and gave their lives for the freedom we enjoy today, said the mayor of Kikinda, Nikola Lukac.

– This exhibition is set up as part of May 9, the Day of Victory over Fascism, when we cherish the memory of all the people of Kikinda and patriots who fought selflessly and gave their lives to live in peace. This is also one of the ways to transmit the spirit of the free Serbian people from generation to generation – said Lukac.

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Thanks to the authors from the Association of War Volunteers 1912-1918, their descendants and admirers, the exhibition in Zrenjanin already had two exhibits.

– Everything that our ancestors did for us is great, and this exhibition confirms that it is not the one who is smart who is dead, but the one who is forgotten – says Hadži Borislav Novaković from the Zrenjanin branch of the Association.

The exhibition “First Serbian Volunteer Division” will be opened at the Kikinda National Museum in the next two weeks.

Photo: VN

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They were already removed from the airport due to the bombing, when they went to Kosovo and Metohija, along the border with Albania, at the beginning of April. At the age of 27, he went on a mission, where they occupied and held a position on the very border with Albania, in Prokletije, in the area of ​​Košar.

– Our tasks were a little different, but we had excellent cooperation with all other units of the Yugoslav Army.

The greatest heroes, the heroes of those fights and battles on the border with Albania, primarily in Košare, were soldiers on regular military service, boys aged 18 to 23.

We in the reserve were a little older and more experienced, but many of those guys also had experience, because there were soldiers from all classes in 1998, who were exposed to constant attacks by Albanian terrorists in the past year.

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I remember these guys only for their good qualities, high morale, good discipline, patriotism. Regardless of the unit in question, whether they were border guards, members of the motorized brigade, there were also elders, reservists, they were all exceptional soldiers, but I was most impressed by these guys on regular military service.

I admired them every day. It is known that back in 1998, they held those lines without any fear, many did not even go on leave during their military service, they refused to go home on their own, although they were followed because they did not want to leave their comrades, their officers. in positions.

Daily battles in the Košar region

There were daily fights in Košare, they held those positions well, they fought well – Ivanović remembers.

He doesn’t say much about the actions of his widely famous 63rd parachute, but in practice they meant that they went to those places for which there is an assessment that the line may eventually break.

– We gave support to all other military units, we also had losses, there were wounded and dead. There were many wounded due to the bombing by NATO aviation in cooperation with ground attacks from Albania, but we quickly returned.

When the VJ withdrew from the Kosara watchtower, we arrived at the reserve position, in order to stabilize that part of the position.

The building of the watchtower itself was in the hands of terrorists at that time, but Košare represents a broader concept and landscape, so that the VJ positions were only 500 meters away, very close.

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Only the facility is occupied and nothing more than that, the line was stabilized in mid-April and was not moved until the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement, it was stable, our task was to help and come to the rescue throughout that position, where there were problems.

My unit was aware of how much force was on the other side of the border and the attack, and we were a combat group of 50 to 60 people. With the regular army, there were no more than 150 to 200 of us in the Košar area – states Ivanović.

The undefeated had to withdraw from Kosovo

The news that the Kumanovo agreement had been signed was announced to his unit by the officers. Their feelings, he says, were mixed.

– We were all sorry and sorry that everything happened like that, because we had to withdraw from the position undefeated. Somewhere in our heads, we were ready for a ground offensive by NATO troops and terrorists.

On the other hand, we were a little happy to see our families after so long. I had a son of less than six months at home, a wife. But the feelings that prevailed were sadness and anger.

During the withdrawal, we were most worried about what would happen to the Serbs who remain without our protection, but we also received information that most of the people, especially from the Metohija part, will withdraw together with us, temporarily, and will return.

We thought that it would not be permanent, that it was an intermediate option, that we might not leave the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, that we might reach Pristina, because it was said that international UN forces would enter, we believed in international forces – Ivanovic added.

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He remembered the words of a monk from Decani

What he brought from Kosovo and Metohija are the words of a monk in Decani. That is what he lives with and what represents his entire value system.

– We were placed next to the Decani monastery, we went to liturgies, we were to pay homage to the relics of our king Stefan of Decani. One sentence during the sermon remained in my memory, and that is that Kosovo is not just a piece of land, Kosovo is a part of heaven.

We were ready to be down in Kosovo and Metohija, as long as our state and people, our command, demand it. As a soldier, I experienced the extradition of Serbian officers to The Hague very hard, it is an injustice, and as a soldier I can only say all the best about my own and other VJ officers who fought in Kosovo and Metohija.

I think that it is only political revenge on the part of certain NATO countries, the Serbian army did its job honorably. They are heroes and real officers for me, and I can say all the best about them, and their only mistake was that they defended and preserved their country, preserved humanity and technology.

In the end, it turned out that we didn’t win, but we didn’t lose that war. NATO troops entered the territory of old Serbia only when we withdrew – Ivanovic thinks.

He experienced the years after the end of the war as a betrayal

The years that followed, after the end of the war, Dejan Ivanović says that he experienced it as a betrayal.

– I was not comfortable, I was not well, I felt betrayed. I hope that better times have come, because whoever does not feed his army, will feed someone else’s, and we know that Serbia has never been without an army.
I would never wish war on anyone, war is not good.

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And then, we did not have hatred in us, we went to defend our country, state, people and religion. Many fighters are left to fend for themselves, without a job, in the depths of my soul it all hurts. Many, when they came out of the war, continued their lives as before, but a lot of people could not cope.

Kosovo is a part of the sky and will always remain in us, even though we are not there in the number we used to be, it feels like it is ours, that it is our country – says Dejan Ivanović.

Impaired vision and dilated veins of memories from the battles on Prokletije

As a memory from the battles on Prokletije, Ivanović has damaged eyesight and varicose veins due to the difficult terrain on which he stayed. He says that the gatherings of the members of his unit are regular because, he notes, the friendships and connections from the 63rd are parachuting for a lifetime.

Ivanovic dedicated his working career to sports. He graduated from the Faculty of Physical Education in Pristina in 1996, and completed his master’s degree in economics in 2011. He is married and has two sons.

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