31.10.2014
Promotion of the books dedicated to the centenary of the Great War
On Friday, at the booth of Odbrana Media Center at the Belgrade Book Fair, promotions were held for the books “Memoires” by General Svetomir Sveta Djukic and “1914-2014 Why Review: by Mile Bjelajac, PhD.Memoires of General and President of the Olympic Committee of Yugoslavia Svetomir Djukic for the most part include his active participation in wars of liberation and unification of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes 1912-1918. The manuscript of the memoires was created on the basis of the diary entries that had been kept during the war, and later added on in 1922 during his service in Zagreb and in his final years of life in emigration 1957-1959. General wrote – I have sworn that, in case of war, I would honestly note the sensations of all senses, feelings – mine and of those around me, whatever I see, hear, believe I saw or heard. And… I have done that, I have been recording every tremble of a warrior’s soul, sincerely and accurately. The book was presented by Mile Bjelajac, PhD, the books reviewer and Prim. Dusan Djukic, PhD, son of well-known General Djukic.
Bjelajac stressed that he was glad he was the “godfather” of General Djukic’s work, “a story told by a true soldier”.
- Aside from biographic data, this book contains General’s view of how a man in the war, when people lose self-confidence, functions in the moments of the inner combat, and how officers manage, or don’t, to restore the unit’s military discipline. There is a hidden dimension in the book that is didactic for any age, including today – Bjelajac said.Prim. Djukic spoke about meetings with his father and how he constantly used to tell him “to write something with the hope that someone might read it”.
- I have brought the manuscripts from Germany, and there had not been much interest for their publishing. I am glad that Odbrana Media
Center has published them, being a military publishing house, because the military has always been fair to my father and has never disappointed me or him. I hope that “Memoires” will be read by many – General Djukic’s son said.The book “1914-2014 Why review” was presented by the author Mile Bjelajac, PhD. Little is known of the nature, depth, primary origins and authors, reasons and intentions of revisionism. Dr. Bjelajac’s book is the first in Serbia to scientifically and in a popular manner discuss the revision trend about the role of Serbia in 1914. It offers answers to the aforementioned questions.
- We are all aware of the tendency of the review of Serbia’s role in 1914, the finding out new culprits for the breakout of the Great War. The fact is - our knowledge about the new revisionism ends right about there. It is hard to say in short terms what the essence of the book is and why it came to be, but, in a way, as a kind of experience, reinterpretation of the causes to the Great War and promotion of the so-called relativization methodology imposed themselves on me – Bjelajac said.Director of Odbrana Media Center Colonel Stevica S Karapandzin said to the visitors that these titles were published in the course of marking the jubilee of the centenary of the beginning of the Great War. During tonight’s promotion, Ljubomir Ljuba Manasijevic sang a song dedicated to all Serbian warriors, and excerpts from “Memoires” were read by Captain Aleksandar Petrovic.
On the second-to-last day of the Belgrade Book Fair, at the booth of Odbrana Media Center, promotions will be held for “The Great War of Serbia” – 32nd edition, a collection of documents whose coordinator was academic Vlado Strugar and Milic Petrovic the editor; “Retreat of the Serbian Army towards the Albanian coast and its evacuation to Corfu 1915-1916” by Aleksandar Nedok, PhD and “Serbian military ambulance in the Great War” by Aleksandar Nedok, PhD and retired Generals Branislav Popovic and Veljko Todorovic.
