The Largest Operation to Save Children During the Second World War: Diana Budisavljevic as an Object of Memory Practices in the Former Yugoslavia and Serbia

The article considers how the narrative about Diana Budisavljevic (1891-1978) was changed after the Second World War. Budisavljevic was the originator and coordinator of the rescue of Serbian children from Ustashe camps during the war.The authors scrutinize how the memory of her actions was shaped first in socialist Yugoslavia and, after its collapse, in Serbia. Today, Budisavljevic is the subject of increased interest in both Serbian and Croatian national culture. Our analysis of the book by Bosko Lomovic Knjiga o Dijani Budisavljevic (Book about Diana Budisavljevic, 2013) and a museum narrative devoted to Budisavljevic in the exhibition Najveca akcija spasavanja dece u Drugom svetskom ratu - Dijanina deca (The Largest Operation to Save Children During the Second World War: Diana's Children, Belgrade, 2018) lead the authors to conclude that, as a figure, Budisavljevic is used instrumentally and for short-term political purposes in the modern Serbian culture of remembrance.