The Second World War and the background for the friendship
In March 1942 the German authorities decided to deport a number of prisoners from Yugoslavia to Norway for forced labour, mainly in a defense and transport project along the Norwegian coast. Altogether 4268 prisoners were deported from 1942 to 1945 from a large number of camps in Yugoslavia to more than thirty Norwegian camps, most of which were in northern Norway.
These camps, where the prisoners were forced to do hard physical labour under extreme conditions, were often located in or near Norwegian villages, which meant that the Yugoslav prisoners soon came in contact with the local Norwegian population.
The Norwegians reacted with horror and disbelief to the inhuman treatment in the camps, and very soon secret channels were set up to help the prisoners as much as was possible under the circumstances. In small places like Rognan, Korge, Brekstad, Øysand and Hovde, almost the whole local population participated in the secret assistance efforts. Food, clothing and vital information were smuggled in and many of the prisoners who escaped from the camps were helped across the border into Sweden.
This help, however, could not do much to mitigate the harsh conditions and cruel treatment that the majority of the Yugoslav prisoners were exposed to. Of the 4268 prisoners that arrived in Norway, only 1917 returned. The rest of them, around 55 per cent, died in prison or while escaping from it.
Establishment of national friendship associations
After more than twenty years of activity at the local level, primarily in Trøndelag, a Norwegian-Yugoslav Friendship Association for the whole country was established in 1966, with its seat in Trondheim. This inspired former Yugoslav prisoners of war in Norway to establish a corresponding association in Yugoslavia. On 9 February 1969 a meeting was held in the city of Niš with more than 800 participants, the majority of whom were former prisoners of war and relatives of prisoners who had died in Norway. A board and a chairman were elected and it was decided that the association’s activities would take place on two levels: that of the mother association and in local branches situated in towns and small places all over Yugoslavia. The association grew rapidly and at its peak had around thirty thousand members divided between 25 local branches.
Activities and a Norwegian lectureship
The establishment of the two friendship associations marked the start of a long series of activities aimed at strengthening the bonds between the two countries. Among the most important activities were friendship visits between the two countries. Within a few months of the establishment of the Yugoslav association the first group of Yugoslavs travelled to Norway and visits like this were arranged almost every year to at least one of the countries. Support was granted to both Norwegian and Yugoslav artists who wished to visit the other country, exhibitions and artists’ colonies were arranged, books were published on relevant subjects, primarily the events during the war, and films were made.
The film Bloodline (The Road of Blood), the publications Dicta far Norse (Poems from Norway) by Desanka Maksimovic and Brev fra Norge (Letters from Norway) by Isidora Sekulic, and the graphics and water-colours of Anne Brevik are the most well-known works to come out of this activity. Active youth cooperation was also developed through visits by groups of artists and performers, and by students from music and other schools, often in connection with memorial celebrations or concert tours.
This was further strengthened when a Norwegian department with a lecturer from Norway was established in 1977 at the University of Belgrade. Students from Yugoslavia were finally able to study Norwegian at university level. In addition, the Friendship Association arranged courses at the institute for foreign languages in Belgrade for others who wished to learn Norwegian. Much of the interest in Norwegian language and culture was inspired by the annual scholarships awarded by the Friendship Associations. Between three and four hundred recipients have over the years received funds, primarily from the Norwegian Friendship Association’s ”Bergesensfondet”, so that they can become more familiar with the Norwegian language and culture.
Joy of Europe
One of the most longstanding and positive arrangements the Yugoslav Friendship Association has taken part in is ”Joy of Europe”, an arrangement for children and young people from the whole world that takes place every year in Belgrade. Children from different countries and cultures gather together year after year and participate in cultural activities such as folk songs, dance and theatre. Ever since the event was established the Yugoslav Friendship Association has helped the Norwegian children participating in it, by finding host families, arranging visits to chocolate factories and publishing houses, introducing them to Yugoslav children and school classes, and so on. Altogether more than 600 Norwegian children from 20 Norwegian towns have participated in this arrangement over the years.
Friendship House and a new university department
Perhaps the foremost symbol of the cooperation is the Friendship House in Gornji Milanovac, which was built in 1987 on the initiative of both countries. There were 320 guests from Norway at the opening of the house and more than 15 000 visitors during the next few days. The house itself is a rectangle with two storeys and three levels; on one side it rises up like bows of a Viking ship, like a house within a house, symbolizing that the two countries are different but closely linked. There is an assembly hall with 120 seats, a museum, library, conference rooms and a stage for dramatic performances.
The house is intended to give a broad presentation of the Norwegian and Serbia-Montenegrin peoples’ past, present, and plans for the future. It also presents typical features of the natural landscape and economic life of the two countries, and of their social and cultural development. The Friendship House is focuses particularly on the events of the Second World War and thus show some of the background for the deep friendship between the two countries. Since the opening a number of programmes have been run there, and there is also a permanent exhibition which is constantly being further developed.
It was only a year after the opening of the Friendship House that the Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature was established at the University of Belgrade. This offers a four-year basic course with the possibility of a graduate programme. Twenty-five students were enrolled in the first year, seven of whom had Norwegian as their main foreign language. A position for a Norwegian peripatetic lecturer was established, which ensured the continuity and further development of the department.
Decline and recovery
The disintegration of former Yugoslavia, the subsequent fighting and the introduction of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro also had a great influence on relations between Norway and Yugoslavia. By 1991 it was clear that all established, smoothly functioning arrangements between the two countries needed to be reorganized, and that the plans for further development of the cooperation were not feasible.
The meetings that did take place were usually at the personal or local level, and had few results. The Friendship Association had to be reorganized after several of the former republics left the Federation, it lost its funds (which in 1991 amounted to about NOK 2 million) and many of its older members, the former prisoners of war, had difficulty in accepting the official Norwegian policy of condemnation of the regime and support for the republics that had left the Federation.
It was also a difficult period for the Scandinavian Languages and Literature Department. In autumn 1991 the Norwegian language lecturer was recalled to Norway, leaving the department to be run by its only professor. This he did, first on his own and from 1993 in cooperation with only one assistant. During that period, filled as it was with external and internal conflicts, the main concern was to survive, and all other plans and ideas had to be put aside to await better times.
It was only at the end of the decade, after NATO’s bombing, the people’s uprising, the overthrow of the regime in October 2000 and the appointment of the new, democratically elected government, that a new basis for cooperation between the two countries could be established.
Norwegian diplomacy and the Norwegian embassy played a very important role in this process. Through its direct and indirect support for opposition groups, independent organizations, the media, students and others, Norway made some very important contributions to the political changes in Yugoslavia.
This revitalized the relations between the two countries and opened up fresh possibilities for cooperation. The word “Norway” regained the positive ring it had had for the past 50 years, and was frequently to be seen in headlines. Numerous projects were also started, and are continuing, in the health sector, electricity, water and sewage, in agri-culture and in rebuilding industry in order to help Yugoslavia quickly overcome its present difficult economic and social situation. The Norwegian Government in 2001 and 2002 donated approximately Euro 36 million to Yugoslavia. Supplies of heating oil, asphalt for democracy, one thousand five hundred scholarships for the country’s best students, art exhibitions and performances of Ibsen’s plays were just a few of the many successful projects.
The Scandinavian Department at the university followed up with activities of its own. It established ties with institutions like the Nansen School and Oslo University College, published translated works by well-known Norwegian writers such as Kjel Askildsen, Lars Saabye Christiansen and Dag Solstad, and assisted in the staging of contemporary dramas by Bjørg Vik and Jon Fosse. All this resulted in larger numbers of students.
While in the first half of the 1990s no more than 10 students a year were applying, this figure has risen to about 35 in the past couple of years.
The road ahead
The high level of activity in the past couple of years is a clear indication that long-term friendly relations between Norway and Serbia and Montenegro can be developed further on the basis of the old and the new cooperation.
The Friendship Association is interested in more contact between the two countries both at the mother association level and at the local level. The centre of the Association’s activities is the Friendship House in Gornji Milanovac, which is to become an educational and cultural centre for joint projects. Its theatre, newly-established computer room and extensive accommodation facilities make the House suitable for shorter or longer stays for purposes of studying or cultural and other activities. It will be used as a venue for visits by several groups of students from Norwegian upper secondary and folk high schools as well as for plays and a selection of short films. The Association is also working on strengthening and/or further developing traditional events such as “the Partisans’ March” and “Joy of Europe”.
The Department of Scandinavian Languages and Literature intends to strengthen its position in the faculty, intensify its cooperation with Norwegian universities and upper secondary schools and continue to run projects relating to Norwegian culture, primarily literature. The extensive translation and publishing of Norwegian litterature continues.
The activities of both the Friendship Association and the Department are supported and assisted by the Norwegian embassy in Belgrade, which is the third pillar of Norwegian-Yugoslav cooperation. The embassy will continue to provide financial assistance, support local projects and promote Norwegian culture through financial assistance for concerts, book publications, plays, festivals, fairs and visits by Norwegian artists.
Important dates
1945 - Establishment of the Norwegian-Yugoslav Friendship Association for Trøndelag
1966 - Establishment of the Norwegian-Yugoslav Friendship Association for the whole of Norway
1969 - Establishment of the Yugoslav-Norwegian Friendship Association
1977 - Establishment of a Norwegian department at the University of Belgrade
1987 - Friendship House built in Gornji Milanovac
1988 - Establishment of the Department for Scandinavian Languages and Literature at the University of Belgrade