"Today, when I become a pioneer, I give my honorable pioneer word that I will study and work diligently, respect my parents and elders, and be a loyal and honest friend...", with these very words, pioneers throughout the former Yugoslavia celebrated Republic Day, one of the most important holidays during the SFRY era, until the end of the 80s.
But this was not just another day on the calendar, or a holiday that meant a day off, Republic Day since the mid-40s carried a special weight. All first-year students wore a pioneer scarf on this very day, tied it around their necks and took the oath. Although they did not fully understand everything from the text at the time, they considered this day special and important. That piece of cloth in the eyes of a child symbolized “growing up”.
Those who had the opportunity to be Tito's pioneers certainly remember this day, and for the family Bukovica This was a special day.
"Republic Day was in a way a cult holiday for my generation, as well as for many others. Apart from that one time of taking the pioneer oath, I remember it more for the day off and the family gathering. And of course for one of the partisan films that was rerun for what seems like the thousandth time," says the Bosnian-Herzegovinian musician. Emir Bukovica, and the manager of the KIC pop choir remembers this day well Snezana Burzan-Vuksanovic.
"I remember Republic Day from my earliest childhood, when I took the pioneer oath and was accepted into the Pioneers' Union. As I grew up, I remember that great holiday from the festive events in schools, participation in art academies on the stages of Titograd, I also remember it from the richer lunches with my family, and visits to family. In later periods of my life, I remember November 29th from the great parties in the student dormitory in Belgrade, and then in the bars in my city," recalls Burzan-Vuksanović, who still celebrates this holiday with her choir today.
“For the last eight years, I have been singing with the KIC pop choir to celebrate November 29th in my hometown of Podgorica, as well as in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Zagreb, Skopje, Subotica, Prijepolje, Vrbas, in Jajce 2023, and several times in Tjentište. This year, we will celebrate in 'Desetka' at the Technical Festivals. We will also offer the audience a part of the fashion project Seke Martinovic "'Comrade Broz, a tribute to a woman and a time', and the models will be worn by members of the KIC pop choir," said Burzan-Vuksanović.
For the director of the Fashion Chamber and the Fashion Week event Srdja Lubarda Taking the pioneer oath was an extremely big and significant date.
"It was a day full of mystery, enchantment and magic. I felt like I was approaching some solemn obligation that represented a higher rank, something special and sublime. That moment awakened a special happiness in me, that childlike, sincere joy with which I experienced everything around me at that time," claims Lubarda.
Professor of chamber music at the Academy of Music and member of the trio "Ardor", flautist Žana Lekić belongs to the last generations to take the oath.
"Despite the fact that I was little when we lost the country in which we were born, I carry very deep emotions towards the entire ex-YU space," she claims.
Director Zoran Marković Mrs Even today, it is emotionally linked to December 29th, the former Republic Day.
"For us children, Republic Day was primarily a holiday when we had a break from school, but somehow we intuitively felt that it was something big and significant for our country. As I loved that date then, I still love it today. Because of that date, I still love and feel all parts of Yugoslavia as mine," he claims, admitting that he didn't really like wearing a headscarf.
"It was kind of a feminine style for me. I felt pretty silly with it on. The hat was another story, and I've always been fascinated by the pentagram as a symbol. Of course, that doesn't mean I'd go swimming with a pentagram, but certainly not under a cross. It sounds strange, but I thought about it as a child - what symbol could be on my grave? That's when I came up with the idea of the Sun," Zonjo admits.
For Lubarda, the red scarf on his chest that he wore that day was not just a fashion detail.
"It's a symbol that we perceived as extremely significant and important. It seems to me that it was precisely the moment of taking the oath that shaped us to feel in our childish minds that we were someone and something, that we belonged to something bigger," believes Lubarda, while Bukovica, as a pioneer who took the oath a long time ago, can hardly remember what the headscarf meant to him.
"I remember more that in my hometown of Goražde there were two elementary schools at the time, mine was called 'Nikola Tesla', and the other 'Maksim Gorki'. For some reason, we had white pioneer caps with red scarves, while in this other school the caps were blue. To this day I still don't understand why we had different colored caps," Bukovica recalls.
Lekić is certain that the love that was instilled in them at the oath-taking ceremony, the sense of community and belonging, sustains her today.
"I think at the time we were not aware of the obligation that the red scarf brings us, but rather we nurtured pride and a sense of deep gratitude for being here, among the chosen ones," Lekić is certain, while Burzan-Vuksanović still keeps her pioneer scarf.
"I have both an old and a few new pioneer scarves. I love this symbol of my childhood, a symbol of freedom, carefreeness, honesty, perseverance, responsibility, camaraderie, solidarity, togetherness... I wore it with joy and I still wear it today! The meanings and values have remained the same," claims Burzan-Vuksanović.
Many people were nervous because of the text that everyone had to know, because it was still important to know the entire oath from beginning to end.
"I remember as if through a fog repeating the words of the oath, with a nervousness that came from a kind of awe for my teacher." Azri"The respect and esteem that students had for their teachers back then should be urgently restored to today's schools," advises Bukovica, while Zonjo remembered the test in some other details:
"I was a little nervous beforehand because I thought I had to know the oath by heart. When I saw that it was a collective session, it didn't really affect me much, and I also felt like peeing a lot," said Zonjo.
Lekić admits that her primary feeling when taking the oath was excitement, while Lubarda remembers taking the oath well.
"As a child, you feel especially important, happy and proud to be part of something that the community has created. All your friends are around you, you sing beautiful songs together that you know by heart. All of this creates moments of happiness that people remember for the rest of their lives," said Lubarda, who had no stage fright.
For Burzan-Vuksanović, taking the pioneer oath was a big day; she felt proud, more grown-up, more mature after taking the oath.
"Those were different times, with more respect for both children and adults, the elderly... It seems to me that everyone knew their place in society and behaved accordingly. My family, my extended family, and my neighbors congratulated me on taking the pioneer oath. It was a joyful day," claims Burzan-Vuksanović.
It was through the oath that the pioneers took that they learned to be better people by preserving nature, community, respecting parents, elders, friends....
"I didn't need any oath to protect nature and animals, to be a loyal friend and to love my homeland. Back then it was Yugoslavia, now it's Montenegro. Back then there was a fierce attitude towards those who didn't respect their country, now there is none. That's why November 29th had power," says Zonjo, while for Žana Lekić, home upbringing and education are important for respecting the oath.
"Somewhere it was most important to follow that code of conduct, which certainly included the provisions of the pioneer oath," adds Lekić.
In preparation for this topic, Bukovica, as he says, repeated his oath.
"I was just reminded of that pioneer oath and somehow I was overcome by a sense of satisfaction and a nice feeling, because it seems to me that I have not broken all the promises made at that time. I have more or less tried to adhere to all the human postulates from that oath," claims Bukovica, while Burzan-Vuksanović did not need a reminder because he claims that he still remembers the oath today.
"I will remind readers of the messages sent by the word - pioneer: honest, sincere, loyal, progressive, persistent, hardworking! That's what we pioneers, and then pioneer instructors, educators in children's resorts in Sutomore and Veruša, but also throughout the SFRY at that time, were. Such values are deeply ingrained in me and I have been guided by them my entire life, even today," Burzan-Vuksanović is honest.
For Lubarda, taking the oath and keeping all the facts from it is an important act.
"In the life of every child, at the moment when their formation, shaping and recognition of social norms, values and behavior begins - respect for elders, abiding by rules and everything that the community offers - we all had to learn. A lot of work was done on this back then and great attention was paid to it, but despite everything, the most important upbringing still came from the family. When these two sources come together, a quality, stable and good personality is inevitably formed," believes Lubarda.
However, the interviewees tried to answer how much children today would recognize the symbolism of the headscarf and whether they would see it as a fashion detail:
"It is very possible that the existence of such an event today would be understood and treated completely differently. I am happy and grateful that I belonged to that previous reality," Lekić points out with pride, while Lubarda believes that today's children have no perception of the pioneer scarf, nor can they understand how much value and significance it once had.
"Times change and everyone brings something of their own. That was nice while it lasted, but now we live in a different time that carries different values. It is important that we try to shape each new time in accordance with what it carries, and that as a community we strive to adapt each period to the true values of man and society: solidarity, empathy and mutual respect. The material part should be the least important, not the basis for assessing someone's worth. Spiritual and human qualities should be put in the foreground," believes Lubarda.
Although she doesn't like to prove to new generations that "it used to be better," Bukovica says that many things used to be more natural, normal, and honest.
"I don't know if today's children can understand anything that's not related to the internet, so I feel a little sorry for them," says Bukovica.
As someone who still respects the tradition of togetherness through the concerts that the KIC pop choir holds throughout the region on this date, Burzan-Vuksanović says that she is happy when she sees the whole family in the audience, especially when the youngest family members come to the concerts of the project "Without a Dilemma - Antifascism" with a pioneer scarf or cap, a white shirt...
"Everything starts from the family. If we talk to children, sing, play, if children are brought to our concerts, and they know all the songs and sing with us together, including the anthems of Montenegro and Yugoslavia, as well as 'Bela Æao', 'Računajte na nas', and 'Konjuh planinom', 'Oj đevojko drugarice' and others, then parents, grandmothers, grandfathers have really done a great job. The school system is also, as I see in the media, trying to convey to the youngest lessons about the glorious battles for freedom of our ancestors, which we really should inherit as the brightest examples of heroism and love for the homeland. That is why, among other things, the KIC pop choir project 'Bez dileme - antifašizam' is regionally and, God forbid, planetaryly popular, and some recordings have millions of views on social networks," Burzan-Vuksanović boasted.
“He is sorry that even kids don't play partisan anymore, today everyone knows that there is only one head, today everyone knows who to kneel before,” says Zabranjeno pušenje in their big hit Dan republika. It is these lyrics that best illustrate how the rituals and games of the past had their meaning and weight, while today most children only know that world through stories and old photographs.
"As pioneers, we stood proudly and thought about how we would accomplish great things when we grew up. Today, children are taken to churches to kneel and fear God. They are taken there by those who have betrayed the pioneer oath and the red scarf," concludes Zonjo.
Bonus video:
