INTERVIEW WITH MILADIN MILOSEVIC, DIRECTOR OF THE ARCHIVES OF YUGOSLAVIA
The Archives of Yugoslavia and the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Jakarta. The memorandum was signed by the Acting Director of the Archives of Yugoslavia, Miladin Milosevic and director Asihin. On this occasion, the Acting Director of the Archives of Yugoslavia Mr Miladin Milosevic talked to the General Secretary of “Nusantara” Association Marko Jelic and the Member of the Board Borislav Korkodelovic.
Sir, can you tell us something more about this document: what does it imply and what are the plans of the Archives of Yugoslavia regarding the cooperation with Indonesia in this field?
This Memorandum of Understanding regulates cooperation in the field of archiving. Archival cooperation includes experts exchange, joint exhibitions, publication of documents on a particular topic, such as the cooperation between Yugoslav and Indonesian in any field, whether political, diplomatic, cultural, economic history, depending on what the two archives contain. Cooperation also includes the organization of meetings, round tables, conferences of Serbian and Indonesian historians, etc.
Hence, there are several segments, and if we did something within each, it would be really impressive.
Personally, I would not have signed this kind of a document if I hadn’t had a vision. We discussed some of these issues with our Indonesian colleagues: when, how and what we could do. I suggested what I thought we could do easily, and that is the exhibition dedicated to the relations between Serbia and Indonesia from the beginning to the present. It would be a presentation of diplomatic relations, the summits – heads of state, heads of government or government delegations, going from Yugoslavia to Indonesia, and vice versa. The occasion would be the Independence Day of Indonesia.
We could organize an exhibition that would arouse the visitors’ interest in history or remind them of the relations between our two countries.
How long has this Memorandum been prepared? How long have you been working on it, you in the Archives and the colleagues in Indonesia?
Our first contact was established in May 2011 in Belgrade when our colleagues from the Museum of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung came to visit. We were preparing the exhibition of archival documents on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Summit which was to be marked in Belgrade in September 2011. Our Indonesian colleagues asked for the documents related to 1955 Bandung Conference and material on the non-aligned countries in general. We gave them copies which we had at that point and they organized an exhibition, too. During my recent visit to Indonesia, I saw that museum exhibition in Bandung – it really is imposing. In May 2011 we proposed to continue our cooperation by signing a mutual agreement. We called it the Memorandum of Understanding. This means that the document was prepared in the period from May 2011 to March 2013. Upon mutual agreement, the Memorandum was signed in Jakarta on March 13, 2013.
Are there any similar memoranda, similar documents signed with the archives of other countries?
We have established cooperation and signed memoranda – cooperation agreements with a dozen of national archives. There is also cooperation with the archives of the ex-Yugoslav countries.
Besides this international dimension of the Archives’ engagement, which are its main activities?
The main activities of the archives and the main task of the archives are to preserve, protect, process and deliver documents to the researchers and all those interested in the documents under the jurisdiction of the Archives of Yugoslavia. Each archive works this way – be it the national, city, provincial, or municipal archives, but basically these are the main tasks of the archives.
Everything else is the result of these activities: publication of documents, exhibitions of documents, conferences on specific topics, and the like. Without a consolidated and processed archives and archival, it is difficult to talk about collaboration and publishing documents, organizing exhibitions and the like.
After you sort out and process the archival documents, they are made available to historians for further research?
They are available to everyone, not just historians. Anyone who wants to explore, can come to the Archives reading room. Therefore, the research in the Archives is not just the privilege of scholars and historians. There are students and ordinary citizens, as well as the academics, journalists, museum professionals, archivists, experts, and anyone interested in exploring a certain topic. They explore everything raging from family trees to international issues.
Does it mean that an ordinary citizen can come to the Archives and look for something related to his family?
Yes, but only in so far as it relates to the work in public administration. We do not have birth records because they are not under our jurisdiction. These genealogical data can be tracked through the personnel files of employees who have worked in government institutions in Yugoslavia since 1918. These files include data on the place of birth, parents, education, employment, etc.
How satisfied are you with the utilization of the Archives’ funds? What is the extent of their usage?
The Archives’ Reading Room was opened to the researchers is the late 1960s. Since then, more than 12,000 researchers have visited the library. The entire archive material is made available depending on the topic.
Visitors are interested in many different topics – from the local to those most complex international. Given what Yugoslavia was represented, even the Kingdom, especially the Republic in the world, it is normal to expect that people from around the world explore, especially from countries which are members of the Non-Aligned Movement. They explore relationships, not only between Yugoslavia and the other countries, but also between non-aligned countries, those in Eastern and Central Europe.
Yugoslavia was a respected country. This is witnessed by the documents in our funds.
The Archives organized five conferences that are beyond the scope of domestic and international concern. We even organized two conferences on the subject of the great powers and small states in the Cold War with the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Among the participants at both conferences was Odd Arne Westad, one of the leading experts on the history of the Cold War, a professor at LSE. The first of these conferences was also attended by James G. Hershberg from the New York University.
In May 2012, we organized an international conference on Non-Aligned Countries and the Cold War which was attended by about 20 participants, mainly from abroad.
All these facts speak in favour of our archives. I think that important research centres, institutes, and universities of the world, find the Archives of Yugoslavia a place that cannot be disregarded when exploring the themes of Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe and the countries of the so-called Third World and Non-Aligned Movement.
What is the Archive’s ID?
This institution was established in 1950, under the name of the National Archives. Its objective was to collect, protect, organize and process historical – archival material for preservation and research.
Basically, the Archives still have the same objective, but today it deals with a rounded historical context, the period from 1918 to 2006 – this is where the jurisdiction of the Archives ends. Thus, it includes the documents of the central state organs and organizations of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, SFRY, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro up to 2006.
Archives took over most of the funds, about 850, which is a series of archive boxes of over 250 thousand, of about 25 kilometres. 15 kilometres of archives are still waiting to be taken over.
More than 700 doctoral dissertations have been done using the archives’ funds as well as about 600 master’s theses and the same number of graduate ones, over 2700 monographs, countless articles and studies. The Archives have more than 100 different publications in the field of archival science and historiography journal “Archives”…
How many employees are there?
Now, there are a total of 60 employees.
How big is your budget, if not a secret?
It is not big and it is insufficient- as is the number of employees.
The Archives are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture?
Yes, they are. And I cannot help but say that we have the full understanding of the Ministry of Culture. Two years ago, through the Ministry of Culture we managed to obtain funds from the budget to install a new gas boiler – it is now its second heating season. Before that, the boiler was located within a building which by itself is a devastating fact since the building is protected as a historic monument, and its inventory is the cultural heritage of the utmost importance. By moving the boiler outside, we did a great thing for the safety of archives, the safety of employees, and ultimately the environment. They support our projects.
We had a really friendly and cordial reception. We hope to be able to give back a part of hospitality and friendship to our colleagues from the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia when they come to visit us next year.
During my visit to Indonesia, I met a granddaughter of the first President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ms Puan Maharani, to whom I presented the copies of the letters of President Sukarno to Yugoslav President Tito. Ms Puan Maharani expressed her gratitude in writing. She has an official invitation to visit Serbia, and of course, I invited her to visit the Archives of Yugoslavia on that occasion, which she accepted.
These are not protocol letters – they deal with the most important issues of the Non-Aligned Movement, world politics and world issues, and relations between Yugoslavia and Indonesia. Ms Maharani stressed that these letters were of importance to the family history. Some of these letters in question were written by hand which makes them even more unique.
Can “Nusantara” Association help the Archives in its future activities?
Of course, we always count on you, and we will be in touch when our colleagues from Indonesia come.
