Unveiling of the Memorial Ossuary in Surdulica in 1924

Abstract

The aim of the research is to reconstruct the events that marked the act of unveiling and consecrating the Memorial Chapel in Surdulica on August 24, 1924. Due to the lack and disappearance of primary historical sources which are the direct consequence of the repeated Bulgarian occupation in the Second World War, the question of building and unveiling of the Memorial Ossuary in Surdulica as a symbol of the suffering of the Serbian south (1915-1918) has not been thoroughly discussed in historiography. By critically analyzing the texts in the Serbian daily newspapers Vreme, Pravda, Politika and the Bulgarian daily newspapers Mir and Praporec we intended to give an insight into historical uncertainties on this topic. The research was conducted on the corpus of the newspapers published from 23-29 August, 1924. The unit of analysis was each individual text which had the unveiling of the Memorial Ossuary as a topic, as well as the testimonies of contemporaries about one of the greatest Bulgarian crimes in World War I. Facts concerning the preparations of the local and state authorities in the Surdulica ceremony have also been presented in the paper. In addition, the text provides information about invitees, the final appearance of the Memorial, the relocation of the remains of the Surdulica victims from the temporary crypt to the newly built Memorial Tomb, while some space is given to the presentation of the national media articles about Bulgarian brutalities.