HRH Crown Prince Alexander and HRH Crown Princess Katherine hosted last night an evening of remembrance with a special programme and opened an exhibition entitled “Roots and Wings”, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Osnabrück Prisoner of War Camp in Germany, authored by Dr. Željko Dragić, a Serbian historian born in Hanover. According to available information, this is the first commemorative ever held in Serbia for the victims of this camp, and the location was carefully chosen due to the Royal Family’s connection with the preservation of the memory of the suffering of our people.
“The reason for our gathering here is important – to pay respect to innocent victims and to remember the devastating story about the tragedy of the Serbian people in World War Two. Remembering the most tragic times in human history and keeping the memory of the terrible destiny of our countrymen from oblivion is an obligation that we all have. As hard as it is for us to even think about it, to try to understand the times when men became beasts, and to listen to the stories, this testimony had to be told.
Wise people have said many times that we should remember history, so that it does not repeat itself. That is why the culture of remembrance is so important, for our people and our country. The story of Serbian prisoners of War in the Osnabrück Camp in Germany during the Second World War is an important reminder. A reminder of soldiers who opposed Nazism and Fascism, faithful to their oath to their Homeland and their King. To all those who fell during their imprisonment, but also to those who were banned from their homeland after the war ended, we owe not to forget“, stated HRH Crown Prince Alexander in his speech.
Immediately after the outbreak of the Second World War and the capitulation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, around 6,500 senior Serbian officers, a smaller number of non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Royal Yugoslav Army, who were overwhelmingly Serbs and who had bravely resisted the superior invaders during the April War, were deported to Osnabrück, in northwestern Germany. Among them were the pre-war elite of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia: ministers, writers, and other intellectuals. They spent five years of captivity in this camp in difficult conditions, including the Allied bombing, especially the one on 6 December 1944, when 116 officers were killed and the same number wounded. Osnabrück was the largest camp of this kind in World War II.
As part of the prepared programme for the evening of remembrance, after the Crown Prince, Archpriest Stavrophor Marinko Rajak, parish priest in Osnabrück addressed those at the gathering,as well as Academician and member of the Crown Council Matija Bećković with a “Speech on Imprisonment”, Mr. Aleksandar Nećak, son and nephew of the Osnabrück prisoners, with memories of his father and uncle, as well as actor Ljubivoje Tadić, who presented the last sermon of the Osnabrück evangelical priest Friedrich Gisendorff.
Matija Bećković concluded his speech, in which he pointed out that the victims of this camp had, for decades in communist Yugoslavia, been characterised as traitors, with the words: “The graveless Royal army has its only resting place in Osnabrück. In Serbia, it has none!”
Along with the appropriate songs, “This is Serbia” performed by Anja Tabak and “My beloved homeland” and “It is worthy” sung by the Belgrade Male Choir, conducted by Archdeacon Vladimir Rumenić, at the end of the evening the author of the exhibition, historian Dr. Željko Dragić, addressed the audience with a review of the research opus on the Osnabrück POW camp and the presented exhibition.
“The exhibition is our voice for those who have been silent for decades. In Osnabrück, Serbs, Jews, Czechs, some Slovenes and Croats, as well as many people from Montenegro and Macedonia who bore different names but the same honour, suffered side by side. The connection with the Karađorđević dynasty gave them strength then, and today their descendants carry it all over the world. Our task is simple and difficult: to restore their place in history and in the hearts of the people. Because a people that forgets its martyrs has forgotten itself,” said Dr. Dragić.
In Osnabrück, there is a church today dedicated to Saint George, built between 1963 and 1966, whose first benefactor was His Majesty King Peter II Karađorđević, who also attended the consecration. Under the church is a crypt where many who were killed in those areas are buried. In addition to the last monarch of our country, the camp was visited by the Holy Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović, as well as HRH Crown Prince Alexander and HRH Crown Princess Katherine. After the war, many former prisoners went to England, America, Australia, New Zealand, or remained in Germany, because they feared for their lives and for communist repression in their native country, if they eventually returned to it.
In addition to the already mentioned members of the Royal Family and program participants, the event was also attended by Mr. Isak Asiel, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community in Serbia, Their Excellencies Ambassadors of Czech Republic, Mr. Jan Bondy, and Germany, Ms. Anke Konrad, and other representatives of the diplomatic corps, Mrs Betty Roumeliotis, the Crown Princess’s sister, members of the Advisory Bodies of the Crown, representatives of state and cultural institutions, as well as many other distinguished guests from the spheres of culture and the public life of Serbia.
The exhibition “Roots and Wings” will be open to visitors on weekdays until 11 December between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm, with prior announcement to HRH Crown Prince Alexander’s Office, by phone +38111306 4000 or via e-mail: [email protected].
We will conclude with Dr. Dragić’s introductory words from the brochure accompanying the exhibition: “What we do, we do out of a sense of duty. A duty to those who went through the camp in Osnabrück, to the Serbian royal officers who, together with their comrades of different faiths and nationalities, preserved their honour, faith, and identity under the harshest conditions. We do this because our history is not just a collection of past events – it is also a responsibility, a vow.
Among the more than 6,500 imprisoned officers, most were of Serbian Orthodox faith, but there were also nearly 500 Jewish officers, as well as Slovenians and others from the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Their solidarity in captivity, their faith in freedom, and their mutual respect are the foundation of this story.
In 2025, we mark 80 years since the liberation of the Oflag VIC camp in Osnabrück. This is more than an anniversary. It is a moment to bow our heads before the bravery of the fallen, but also before the future, which has the right to know. Our work, through exhibitions, books, testimonies, and stories, is an act of collective remembrance, of respect, and of hope.
We owe this to ourselves, too. To all of us living today on the old continent, and to those across the ocean, within the Serbian diaspora. We owe it to our ancestors, and even more so to our children. Because if we forget who we are and where we come from, we will also forget where we are going.
This is not just Serbian history. It is a European and global story, about freedom, identity, and the resilience of the human spirit. And so today, through “Roots and Wings,” we build bridges between the past and the future, between Osnabrück, Belgrade, Nikšić, Novi Sad, Chicago, and all the places where the Serbian heart and memory live on. For them. For us. For those who are yet to come.”
We are grateful to Archpriest Stavrophor Dr. Dragomir Sand and Dr. Željko Dragić for their initiative and support in the realization of this exhibition.
