Guard brotherhood and unity like the apple of your eye, he said Josip Broz Tito,, president for life of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ).
Tito has been gone for a long time, Yugoslavia fell apart in blood, there is no brotherhood and unity, the sounds of the anthem "Hey Slavs" have died down, but communists and southern nostalgics from Montenegro and the region are trying to preserve the memory of the country that is no longer there, as well as the holidays which were once celebrated.
This is how they continue to organize the celebration of May 25, Youth Day, and in 2012, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of Tito's birth, the youth relay was renewed. After a two-year break caused by the coronavirus pandemic, tomorrow the relay will start again from Freedom Square in Nikšić, which will be laid a day later in the House of Flowers in Belgrade.
Day "25. May is the youth holiday - that's how we've celebrated it so far, and that's how we'll celebrate it in the future, as long as the communists can," said the president of the Nikšić Municipal Committee of the PUC of Montenegro. Dragoje Strunjaš.
The very idea of carrying the baton originated in 1945 from the youth of Kragujevac, whose Department for Sports and Physical Education and teacher of physical education Josif Prohaska, designed mass youth relay races throughout Yugoslavia. The first relay was carried by 12.500 young people, and that number, at one point, exceeded one million. As a rule, the baton was handed over to Tito by the best young men and women, and since 1957, May 25, at his suggestion, has been celebrated as Youth Day. That year, he handed over the baton to Titu Mika Tripalo, then president of the Central Committee of the People's Youth of Yugoslavia, and from then until 1980 the famous landing at the JNA stadium in Belgrade was organized, where the marshal of Yugoslavia was handed the baton...
"With the relay team, in accordance with our capabilities, since our financial situation is difficult, we visited certain cities in Montenegro. We were not able to be in every city in Montenegro, but we will visit certain areas on the way to Belgrade", said Strunjaš.
According to the words Radislav Stanišić, president of the Central Committee of the JKPCG, and this year's relay symbolizes "six former equal republics in the common SFRY, which are now separated".
"There was supposed to be a red flame at the top, but its flame was extinguished in the XNUMXs, when there was a war in this region and when the country that could have been the center of Europe today was extinguished in blood. There is a dove of peace on the relay because we want peace, love, harmony, inter-ethnic and inter-religious tolerance in the Balkans, to respect each other, that our youth do not go abroad to look for a crust of bread", said Stanišić.
He reminded that in 2012, the League of Anti-Fascists of Southeastern Europe renewed the youth relay, that year there were two relays that toured Yugoslavia, and that from the following year, relays from all former republics went. It will be the same this year.
Tomislav Bulajić, the president of the veterans' organization Nikšić, the Yugoslav option, said that this year, for the first time, together with the communists, they are going to Belgrade to carry the baton of youth.
The baton was designed differently every year, usually made of wood and metal. After Tito's death in 1980, the baton was received by the presidents of the then Socialist Youth Union of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) until 1987, when it was abolished.
Raymond Broshai from Gnjilan in 1987 handed over the last baton, which had been carried for the last seven years under the slogan - "And after Tito, Tito". Hashim Redzepi, to the then president of SSOJ...
"Socialist society does not cancel nationalities, their historical origins and achievements in the past, but in socialism various national disagreements must disappear. No one prevents anyone from saying that they are a Croat, Slovene, Macedonian, Serb, Montenegrin or a member of another nation. That's why on this occasion I have to say that I was surprised when I heard that a survey was being conducted among the youth in Belgrade about which nationality they prefer. Isn't just asking such a question encouraging what is negative and reviving something that is unreal? In my opinion, it is nonsense to say the least, unless there is some other intention behind it," said Tito in 1966.
More than half a century later, we have not moved away from the "counting" of national blood cells.
Red scarves and titovka in Kumrovac
In Kumrovac, in Zagorje, Croatia, on the weekend, on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Josip Broz Tito and the celebration of Youth Day, the event "Day of Youth - Joy" was organized, which brought together thousands of admirers of Tito's image and works and Yugoslav nostalgics from the former Yugoslavia. This year's gathering was organized by the Association of Societies "Josip Broz Tito" of Croatia, the Krapina-Zagorje County and the Municipality of Kumrovec.
Those gathered, among whom was the former president of Croatia Stjepan Mesić, wore red scarves and Titovka caps, T-shirts with the image of Josip Broz, as well as flags with the symbols of the former republics and the SFRY.
This year in Belgrade they expect thousands of visitors to visit the House of Flowers. According to the records of the Museum of the History of Yugoslavia, of which the House of Flowers is an integral part, about 20 million people have visited Tito's grave so far.
The Nazi poster and drops of blood hinted at bloody years
The last Relay of Youth dates back to 1987, and a story is connected to it that somewhat foreshadowed future events. That year, the design of the relay and the idea of the poster for Youth Day was entrusted to the Ljubljana design studio Novi Kolektivizam.
"Even the baton itself, in the form of a building on four pillars that was impossible to carry, hinted at a different approach, but a scandal arose when it was discovered that the poster was actually a slightly modified version of a Nazi poster from the 1987s. For the needs of the Youth Day celebration in XNUMX, a new relay was subsequently made, so that it meets all the standards of the event. However, in her appearance (eight red drops of blood), many recognize hints of the events that will follow in these areas in the nineties", the catalog of the Museum of Yugoslavia states.
Bonus video:
