CENTURY OF ARCHIVE OF VOJVODINA - GUARDIAN OF THE PAST AND FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE

BELGRADE, MAY 19 /SRNA/ - The Archive of Vojvodina, which holds 45 million documents, the oldest dating back to the 12th century, is today marking a century of existence, and this is a major event for the entire Serbian people, director Nebojša Kuzmanović told SRNA.

Kuzmanović stressed that it is a significant achievement to mark 100 years of an institution's existence, given that in this region, even states do not last that long, let alone institutions. "The century-long existence of the Archive of Vojvodina is a major event, not only for our institution and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, but also for Serbia and our entire people. The Archive contains the largest number of documents related to Serbian past and history, but also many documents related to other peoples," Kuzmanović said. He recalled that the oldest document in the archive dates back to the 12th century, when the area was part of the Habsburg Monarchy, later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then Yugoslavia, and so on. "The Archive holds 45 million documents. I would especially draw attention to the documents related to the First and Second World Wars, particularly those concerning human suffering. I adhere to the Jewish proverb: `If we save even one name from oblivion, it is as if we have saved all of humanity,`" Kuzmanović said. Kuzmanović noted that the task of the Archive is to preserve documents, but also to discover new ones that bear witness to human suffering, and reminded that the Archive of Vojvodina published a list of victims in Srem a few years ago and identified 5,000 new names that had not previously been included in existing records. He stressed that the Archive is both a guardian of the past and a foundation for the future. Kuzmanović said that the Archive of Vojvodina preserves original photographs and 665 documents from 1941 and 1942 that testify to the suffering of Serbs, Jews, and Roma in the NDH /Independent State of Croatia/. He particularly highlighted the file of Slavko Odić as material of immeasurable significance, containing authentic documentation from German intelligence and police agencies, primarily the Gestapo, from 1941 and 1942. According to him, it provides detailed testimony of mass genocide, crimes, and imprisonment of Serbs and Jews in the NDH.