If you decide to visit the "Bajo Sekulić" Saltworks in Ulcinj, just by its name you will know who the bust at the very entrance of what used to be the only salt factory in the country is dedicated to.
Those who are not familiar with the name that the oldest collective in the city proudly carried for eight decades before its liquidation, will not even know that this is a national hero. Bajo Sekulić - from the marble slab under the collapsed bust, the ravages of time "ate" the Cyrillic inscription...
The bust of Sekulić is the only one of the existing monuments, memorials and busts on the territory of the municipality of Ulcinj, dedicated to outstanding fighters and heroes of the National Liberation War (NOR), which is in a bad condition. This is also written in the conclusion of the Commission for Registering Memorials from January 2019.
Sekulić was born on February 13, 1913 in the village of Sekulići, near Danilovgrad. He finished elementary school in his hometown, and studied high school in Danilovgrad, Podgorica and Cetinje. He went to Belgrade in 1934, enrolled in the Faculty of Law and soon became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. He participated in various student actions - demonstrations, strikes... He was one of the main leaders of student youth at Belgrade University.
After the failed attack on Pljevlja, on December 1, 1941, his detachment moved to Sandžak and there created the conditions for connecting with partisan units, which were retreating from Serbia. During the winter of 1941/42. Sekulić led actions to suppress the Chetniks in the area of Vasojević. At the end of March, he was preparing an attack on the Chetniks and Italians in Kolašin. However, on March 20, 1942, the day before the planned attack, the Chetniks launched a surprise attack on the Partisans. In those battles at Crkvine, near Kolašin, among the dead was Sekulić...
By decree of the Presidency of AVNOJ, on July 11, 1945, he was declared a national hero among the first fighters of the National Liberation Army.
Other memorials, according to the commission's conclusion, are in good or excellent condition - the monument "Sloboda" on Pinješ, the monument to the freedom fighters "Brotherhood and Unity" in Vladimir, the memorial plaque to the partisan detachment "NOV" in Pistula, the memorial a plaque to the fallen soldiers at the watchtower of Saint Đorđe, a memorial plaque to the fallen soldiers in the outlying section of Elementary School "Maršal Tito" in Pistula, a memorial plaque to the fallen soldiers of NOR in Bijela Gora, a bust of Boško Strugar in the grounds of the school of the same name, a memorial plaque to teachers and students I burn those schools in NOR, the bust of Nikola Đakonović at Pristan, the bust of Vid Matanović in front of the Municipality building...
The list of memorials to the heroes of NOR differs from the one established by SUBNOR in 1989. The reason is that some features were on private houses or buildings that were demolished to build new ones. So, for example, on the list of the commission, there is no memorial on the wall of the old administrative building of the Municipality of Ulcinj, dedicated to the prominent fighter Velje Bogojević - a new building was built on that spot. On the SUBNOR list, there is also a memorial plaque dedicated to Marko Nuculović on the eastern ramparts of the Old Town, where, as stated, the Italian occupier shot the first victim of this area. In the list of monuments from three years ago, there is no such feature, which is an obvious omission by the commission because the memorial plaque is still there, where it was placed in 1969. Also, on the list of the commission there is no memorial plaque dedicated to the national hero Voj Lakčević, in the street that today it bears his name. That memorial plaque, installed in 1969, was on a private house. On private property there was also a monument under Bijela Gora, on which the names of 13 soldiers who were shot by the Germans on September 12, 1943 were inscribed.
"Reconstructions and repairs of memorials also include the arrangement of the space around them, their refinement and the construction and arrangement of accompanying buildings and roads", states the conclusions of the republican SUBNOR dated March 4, 1983, which was sent to colleagues in Ulcinj.
The letter points out that certain events and personalities of NOR and the revolution have been unjustifiably neglected and forgotten, while others have several memorials.
"The period of the labor and pre-revolutionary movement was especially neglected. Also, the post-war period was not properly marked. In the construction of memorials, there are tribal and localist tendencies to the detriment of the community," the conclusions state.
It is added that many memorials do not have a suitable location, that they are cut off from communications, surrounded by unorganized space...
"Memorial-signs are not sufficient gathering places and meeting places for youth, working people and citizens. In particular, they are not in the function of the tourist industry", he writes in the letter to the fighters from Ulcinj and points out that the youth are not sufficiently involved in the duration and issues of the memorial.
Some memorials, it says in the act, are threatened by the execution of works and the construction of new buildings because investors and contractors do not respect legal regulations...
The monuments and memorials in Ulcinj, dedicated to prominent revolutionaries of NOR, have long since been left to oblivion. They are not in the tourist offer, nor do young people gather around them... The exception is the Freedom monument, where the Municipality arranged a location for visitors last year.
Pasha's house - a ruin instead of a temple of history
In addition to memorials to NOR fighters, the commission's list includes names and memorial plaques dedicated to religious buildings, fountains, bridges... Under number 47, Pasha's house in the former street "number seven" was also found. Under the item type of memorial, it says - ruin, and there is no description of the condition.
The house, which has weathered all wars and calamities since 1742, when it was built, could not withstand human carelessness and greed. A witness to one of the most significant epochs in the history of the city, today the ruin is forgotten by everyone.
The house was built by the Pasha of Skadar, Yusuf Chaušoli, by order of Sultan Mahmud.
The Sultan ordered the Pasha to build a house in Ulcinj near the mosque and move his men to suppress piracy in the city.
"With its architecture with specific elements such as a wooden carved ceiling, the house stands out as a monument of significant stylistic character. Like most of the cultural heritage of the Municipality of Ulcinj, this monument has been left to decay due to the inadequate attitude of the institution and the lack of function", the curator of the Ulcinj Museum, Gazmend Kovači, told "Vijesta" earlier.
Pasha's house is a cultural asset of local importance, and according to real estate list number 607, it is owned by the Municipality of Ulcinj.
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