The upcoming Study Visit and Action Day “Stara Gradiška” invites young people from across Europe to engage in an educational and commemorative initiative aimed at raising awareness of the largely overlooked remains of the former Stara Gradiška concentration camp and prison.
This initiative seeks to foster a deeper understanding of the site’s complex historical significance through a combination of educational activities and direct civic engagement. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the local history, exchange perspectives with peers from diverse European contexts, and take part in a collective cleaning and maintenance action. The effort is intended to contribute to the preservation of the site and to honour the memory of its victims and the acts of solidarity that occurred there.
All costs related to accommodation and meals during the official programme dates will be covered by the organizers. For further details on the programme and reimbursement policy, please consult the attached information pack.
Application deadline: 8 June 2025
Click here to get the Info Pack
This activity is organized within the framework of the project “Power of Personal Stories in Confronting Oblivion (PPSCO)”, co-funded by the European Union through the CERV – European Remembrance programme.
Why Stara Gradiška? A Difficult Heritage
Stara Gradiška holds profound historical and cultural significance as a site marked by shifting roles of repression, resistance, and remembrance. Originally built as a fortress and prison in 1765, it later became a place of political detention under the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
During World War II, the site was transformed by the Ustasha regime into a concentration camp, where thousands—primarily Serbs, Jews, Roma, anti-Fascists, and political dissidents—were imprisoned, tortured, and killed. Over 12,000 victims of the camp have been identified to date.
In the postwar period, it served variously as a prison for collaborators, political opponents of socialist Yugoslavia, and, during the 1990s war, a site of abuse and detention once again.
Today, Stara Gradiška is a protected cultural monument, though many of its structures remain abandoned and deteriorating. Remembering this site is not only an act of historical responsibility, but also a gesture of compassion toward its victims and a commitment to preserving the memory of their suffering.
