Monuments of Kosmaj

On my free days, when I don't plan a trip, I like to spend most of my time visiting and discovering some interesting locations in the area. Sometimes it is a natural beauty, sometimes an interesting street of the city, the bank of a river or a lake, and sometimes a monument or a locality connected with history.

This Wednesday, I drove to Kosmaj, a mountain in Šumadija, near Belgrade. There is a known route for visiting Kosmaj.

First, I go to the Tresije monastery (which I will write about in a future post), where I pray to God for health and happiness, and then I drive to Mali Vis, one of the three peaks of Mount Kosmaj, where there is a monument to fallen fighters, partisans from the surrounding areas, who died in the conflict with the enemy in World War II.

The story of this monument has long been known to me. We used to go to this hill, under 5 giant concrete arms, when we were in primary school, on mandatory field trips, when, as Tito's pioneers, we laid flowers on this monument. The monument known as the "Spark of Freedom" was erected in 1971, in honor of the fallen fighters of the Kosmaj detachment.

This monument represents one of the most impressive symbols of the anti-fascist struggle in World War II in Serbia and one of the most significant achievements of brutalist architecture of the twentieth century in the territory of the former Yugoslavia.

The Kosmaj partisan detachment, formed in the summer of 1941, was one of the first detachments in this area to rise up against the occupiers. The monument was erected in honor of 5,820 fighters who fell for freedom.

It is the work of the architect Gradimir Medaković and the sculptor Vojin Stojić and consists of five arms 30 meters high, which are arranged in such a way that they form a pentagram that symbolizes the spark that erupts from the earth to the sky and represents the flame of the uprising that spread to the entire region.

A large marble slab covers the central part of the monument, on which are written the places where the fighters of this detachment were from, who died in battles in these areas.

The size of the monument and the fact that it is placed on top of the hill makes it visible from a long distance and is a symbol of the Kosmaj mountain.

But on Mount Kosmaj, this is not the only monument to the fallen fighters who gave their lives in this area to defend against the occupiers. Exactly 27 years before the formation of the Kosmaj Partisan detachment that fought against the Germans, on the northern slope of the mountain, in 1914, battles were fought in the First World War against the Austro-Hungarians.

Directly below the wooden lookout point, which is out of order at the moment, so I could not photograph the panorama, there is another monument, with the story of the battles of the Serbian army in World War I.

Towards the end of 1914, the final days of the Battle of Kolubara were fought here. It was at this place that the Serbian army managed to stop the attack of the Austro-Hungarian army and briefly restore the positions for the defense of Belgrade.

In memory of that battle and the fallen fighters, a memorial ossuary was built on White Stone, a locality that got its name because of the structure of the rocks on which it was built, but the ossuary with a white cross, built of stone and marble, which represents the real memorial center, took on the name "Memorial Ossuary on White Stone".

On the monument there are engraved verses of the famous song "Fatherland" by Ðura Jaskić, which symbolize the insubordination and strength of defense of the Serbian people.

"И овај камен земље Србије, Што претећ сунцу дере кроз облак, Суморног чела мрачним борама, О вековечности прича далекој, Показујући немом мимиком Образа свога бразде дубоке. Векова тавних то су трагови, Те црне боре, мрачне пећине; А камен овај, ко пирамида Што се из праха диже у небо, Костију кршних то је гомила Што су у борби протиб душмана Дедови твоји вољно слагали, Лепећи крвљу срца рођеног Мишица својих кости сломљене, — Да унуцима спреме бусију, Оклен ће некад смело презирућ Душмана чекат чете грабљиве. И само дотле, до тог камена, До тог бедема — Ногом ћеш ступит можда, поганом! Дрзнеш ли даље? ... Чућеш громове Како тишину земље слободне Са грмљавином страшном кидају; Разумећеш их срцем страшљивим Шта ти са смелим гласом говоре, Па ћеш о стења тврдом камену Бријане главе теме ћелаво У заносноме страху лупати! Ал један израз, једну мисао, Чућеш у борбе страшној ломљави: „Отаџбина је ово Србина!”

"And this stone of the land of Serbia, Which, threatening the sun, shouts through the cloud, With its gloomy forehead and dark wrinkles, Speaks of distant eternity, Showing with mute mimicry The deep furrows of its face. The traces of centuries of darkness, Those black wrinkles, dark caves; And this stone, like a pyramid That rises from the dust into the sky, It is a pile of broken bones That in the battle against the enemy Your grandfathers willingly laid, Gluing with the blood of their own hearts The muscles of their broken bones, — To prepare a battle for their grandchildren, Someday, boldly scorning The enemy will be awaited by the armies of predators. And only until that stone, To that rampart — You will perhaps step with your foot, a filthy one! Do you dare to go further? ... You will hear thunder Like the silence of the free land With thunder they tear apart; You will understand them with a fearful heart What they say with a bold voice, And you will pound on the hard rock With shaved heads, bald, In rapturous fear! But one expression, one thought, You will hear in the terrible crushing of the battle: "This is the homeland of the Serbs!"

In the ossuary itself lie the bones of hundreds of Serbian famous and unknown heroes who laid down their lives in 1914 and 1915 to defend the homeland. Glory and gratitude to them!

While I was sitting on a bench by the ossuary and watching the panorama, I thought about the battles in this place and realized how important this position was for the conquest. From this position, you can see half of Šumadija.

I paid my respects to the fallen heroes in peace and quiet, because unlike the big monument on top of the hill, at this monument there are no visitors and crowds and children playing.

I went uphill on a winding path, climbed a few hundred meters to the viewpoint, from where I set off on a further walk around Kosmaj.