112 arhitektov bilten • architect's bulletin • 224 • 225 • 226 • 227
Arhitektura. Skulptura. Spomin. / Architecture. Sculpture. Remembrance.
Spominski park Bubanj • Niš, Srbija • Arhitekt: Mihajlo Mitrović • Kipar: Ivan Sabolić • 
Material: beton, marmor • Fotografije: Roberto Conte, Olja Triaska Stefanović • 
Besedilo: Ljiljana Miletić Abramović
Memorial park Bubanj  • Niš, Serbia • Architect: Mihajlo Mitrović • Sculptor: Ivan Sabolić • 
Material: concrete, marble • Photographs: Roberto Conte, Olja Triaska Stefanović • 
Text: Ljiljana Miletić Abramović
09_ BUBANJ, NIŠ, 1963
Mihajlo Mitrović, Ivan Sabolić
SRB
113arhitektov bilten • architect's bulletin • 224 • 225 • 226 • 227
razstava / exhibition
Spominski park Bubanj ima za mesto Niš in Republiko Srbijo veliko zgodovinsko 
in umetniško vrednost. Postavljen je bil v spomin na številne žrtve – Srbe, Jude in 
Rome – ki so jih od februarja 1942 do septembra 1944 na območju Bubnja, kjer je 
bilo taborišče, ustrelili pripadniki nemških okupacijskih sil. Prvotni spomenik v 
obliki skromne kamnite piramide je bil postavljen leta 1950, leta 1958 pa je bil 
razpisan natečaj za novega. Zmagovalna rešitev zagrebškega kiparja Ivana Sabo-
lića (1921–1986) in beograjskega arhitekta Mihajla Mitrovića (1921–2019) je bila 
uresničena in slovesno odprta 14. oktobra 1963, na dan osvoboditve Niša izpod 
nemških okupacijskih sil leta 1944. Kompleks sestavljajo spominska pot dolžine 
470 metrov, polkrožna marmorna stena dimenzij 32 x 2,5 metra s plitvim reliefom 
z upodobitvami usmrtitev in glavni element – tri skulpture v obliki pesti, visoke 13, 
14 in 16 metrov, ki izražajo močno in univerzalno simboliko človeškega boja, še 
posebno partizanskega, katerega znak je bila med drugim tudi stisnjena pest. Od 
postavitve do devetdesetih let dvajsetega stoletja in razpada Jugoslavije je bil spo-
menik množično obiskan kot kraj spoštovanja in spomina na žrtve druge svetovne 
vojne. Kompleks je bil nato prepuščen pozabi in izpostavljen zobu časa – vse do 
leta 2018, ko so sprožili akcijo za njegovo obnovo in zaščito.
Memorial park Bubanj has great historical and artistic value for the city of Niš 
and the Republic of Serbia. It was erected in memory of numerous Serbian, Jew-
ish, and Romani victims executed between February 1942 and September 1944 
by members of Nazi occupying forces in the Bubanj area, where there was a inter-
ment camp. The original monument, a modest stone pyramid, was erected in 
1950, but 1958, a competition for a new monument was held. The winning solu-
tion was submitted by sculptor Ivan Sabolić (b. 1921, d. 1986) from Zagreb and 
architect Mihajlo Mitrović (b. 1921, d. 2019) from Belgrade. The monument was 
realised and opened in a ceremony on 14th October 1963, on the day of the lib-
eration of Niš from the Nazi occupying forces at the end of World War 2, in 1944. 
The complex is composed of a 470 m long memorial path, a semicircular marble 
wall measuring 32 m by 2.5 m with a bas-relief depicting executions, and the main 
element - three sculptures shaped like fists measuring 13 m, 14 m, and 16 m, ex-
pressing a powerful and universal symbolism of the human struggle, particularly 
Partisan struggle, which adopted the clenched fist as one of its emblems. From its 
erection until the 1990s and the break-up of Yugoslavia, the monument received 
countless visitors as a place of respect and remembrance for the victims of World 
War 2. Subsequently, the complex suffered from neglect and dilapidation until 
2018 when an initiative for its renovation and protection was launched.