22.04.2015.

Promotion of "Memoirs of General Svetomir Sveta Djukic"

On the occasion of the Day of the Serbian Armed Forces, today, at the Gala Hall of the Central Military Club of Serbia, the latest publication of Odbrana Media Center “Memoirs of General Svetomir Sveta Djukic”, prepared in two books: The Balkan Wars and The Great War, was presented.

This greatly significant work, which is mostly based on the author’s immediate witnessing of events in the Balkan Wars and the Great War, was presented by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Jovica Draganic, Dr. Mile Bjelajac, reviewer, Prim. Dr. Dusan Djukic, son of General Djukic and Dragana Markovic, Chief Editor of the publishing activity at Odbrana Media Center.

Discussing the importance of this publication of Odbrana Media Center, in the context of current attempts at remodeling historical facts about the beginning and causes of the Great War, general Draganic drew particular attention to the gift of General Djukic to realistically depict the reality if the war in which the Serbian Army fought.

- There is no unnecessary lifeless glorification of heroes in Djukic’s work; he noted the life of a Serbian officer, the way it truly was; he wrote down the goodness of the peasant and the soldier in the difficult times of suffering and hardships - Deputy Chief of the General Staff stressed, confirming that special value of the Memoirs lies in precise and striking telling of his contemporaries, soldiers and politicians who marked the end of 19th and beginning of 20th century in Serbia.

Dragana Markovic, Chief Editor of the publishing activity at Odbrana Media Center, reminded that all books, as people, have their fates, and that, the Memoirs waited several decades before being published within the house to which, accordingly to its topic, it logically belongs.

- The team of creative and professional staff at Odbrana Media Center make al publications of our house attention-worthy and respectable – Markovic stressed, adding that the Memoirs are one of the truths that “have filled our civilization chest”, the ones we surrender to time for the final judgment and onto future generations.

The reviewer of the publication, historian Dr. Mile Bjelajac, presented the contents of the book through his familiarization with the author’s biographic data and duties he conducted to determine which parts are authentic testimonies, and stated that the book represents invaluable historical build.

- In their entirety, the Memoirs of General Svetomir Sveta Djukic are a story about his youth, the Serbian village and difficult life, his choice of the military calling, first experiences with friends and superiors, his service and daily life, and about development of sports in Serbia and his engagement in the development of Olympic spirit in our people – Dr. Bjelajac said, adding that the notes represent General’s personal view of all Serbia wars of the time.

Bjelajac said that, reading the Memoirs, the military youth of today can see that General, an old veteran, tells them to always practice understanding a man, a soldier in war, who faces the possibility of losing his life or being severely wounded, and that support, inspiration and leading by personal example are the best ways to turn around the fear and lack of morale in a person that lead to misfortune into something good.

Prim. Dr. Dusa Djukic, General Djukic’s son, spoke about his meetings and farewells with his father, who lived in emigration until his death in 1960, and whose remains were buried in his native village Razani near Kosjeric with military honours.

- He was and remained a soldier, so, whenever we went somewhere, and he needed his coat, he would ask for his greatcoat. He always saw my life calling – surgery –as the General Staff of medicine. This was his world, the military and everything around it – Dr. Djuric stressed, and, thanking Odbrana Media Center for the greatly successful cooperation, expressed his respect and gratitude to the Armed Forces, which has not forgotten his father.

The two-part manuscript of Memoirs of General Svetomir Sveta Djukic was created based on diary entries he kept during the war, and then filled in during his service in Zagreb in 1922 and in his late years of life in emigration. As such, these memoirs can also be characterized as exceptionally important historical build for the period they describe.

Aside from members of the Collegium of the General Staff of the Serbia Armed Forces, the promotion was attended by representatives of the Olympic Committee of Serbia and guests from political and public life.