Page 136 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 136
Memories and Dark Tourism in Istria
Figure 6.16
Brochure for the
Exhibition The w w i in
the Adriatic (Gobbo et al.,
2014)
povijesno društvo – Società Storica Istriana, 2018b; Rimanić, 2018b).⁵⁷
The centennial of wwi’s armistice was marked in Pula by a commemora-
tion at the naval cemetery, wreath laying ceremony, museum exhibition,
memorial art installation and a mass, as well as thematic international
conference (M. V. I., 2018). Although some of the aforementioned studies
have shown that wwi is not an interesting topic in Croatia (see Herman
Kaurić, 2015a; 2015b; Hrstić, 2016, p. 59), including Istria, the milestone
anniversaries show that this military conflict is still alive in some groups
in Istria, and thus presented to visitors interested in the dark past.
As already described in previous chapters, the military conflict in
the 1990s was less intense and bloody in Istria in comparison to other
Balkan battlefields (geographically speaking). Consequently, there are
fewer monuments and memorial parks, as well as dark commemorative
events organised in the trans-border region today. Croatian war veter-
ans from Istria, who were not and are not prosecuted for their role and
acts in the war at all, organise commemorations on national public hol-
idays or on rare other special occasions: National Day in June, Victory
and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Day of Croatian Defenders in Au-
gust, and Independence Day in October. On these occasions, flower- and
⁵⁷ The event was promoted also by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Poreč and Pula (Porečka
i Pulska biskupija, 2018b).
136
Figure 6.16
Brochure for the
Exhibition The w w i in
the Adriatic (Gobbo et al.,
2014)
povijesno društvo – Società Storica Istriana, 2018b; Rimanić, 2018b).⁵⁷
The centennial of wwi’s armistice was marked in Pula by a commemora-
tion at the naval cemetery, wreath laying ceremony, museum exhibition,
memorial art installation and a mass, as well as thematic international
conference (M. V. I., 2018). Although some of the aforementioned studies
have shown that wwi is not an interesting topic in Croatia (see Herman
Kaurić, 2015a; 2015b; Hrstić, 2016, p. 59), including Istria, the milestone
anniversaries show that this military conflict is still alive in some groups
in Istria, and thus presented to visitors interested in the dark past.
As already described in previous chapters, the military conflict in
the 1990s was less intense and bloody in Istria in comparison to other
Balkan battlefields (geographically speaking). Consequently, there are
fewer monuments and memorial parks, as well as dark commemorative
events organised in the trans-border region today. Croatian war veter-
ans from Istria, who were not and are not prosecuted for their role and
acts in the war at all, organise commemorations on national public hol-
idays or on rare other special occasions: National Day in June, Victory
and Homeland Thanksgiving Day and Day of Croatian Defenders in Au-
gust, and Independence Day in October. On these occasions, flower- and
⁵⁷ The event was promoted also by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Poreč and Pula (Porečka
i Pulska biskupija, 2018b).
136
