Архив Jугославије

On 19 February 2009, by decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Archives of Yugoslavia were founded as a cultural institution. With this decision its old name was returned – the Archives of Yugoslavia, instead of the Archives of Serbia and Montenegro, their name since 2003. The activities of the Archives have remained unchanged.

The internal structure of the Archives of Yugoslavia followed, developed and were fine-tuned simultaneously with the development of the needs and opportunities for the protection of archival records at state level.

In the period following its establishment, namely from 1950 - 1959 the structure of the Archives reflected and dovetailed with the main tasks, which were primarily to locate, register, gather and sort public records for which the Archives were responsible. In 1959, the Federal Executive Council adopted its first act laying down the structure of the Archives. It was important not only in that it was the first such act passed by a public authority but also in that it established a separate department within the Archives for the information on archival records. This was an indicator of the fact that, in the period until that date, the Archives had managed to complete a large number of technical tasks with its records that were now in a condition that made it possible to use them and get more detailed information about the holdings and collections.

The next act on the structure of the Archives was passed in 1965, which determined its definite structure. It was much more complex than before and had well-defined structural segments each responsible for a particular type of technical duties. This structure included a separate segment for the protection of archival records outside the Archives; namely, a library was established. The sorting out and processing of archival material took place in two separate structural segments depending on the periodisation of the holdings in question.

The new structure was put in place in 1973 following the adoption of the Law on the Archives for the first time providing for the establishment of a department for the special protection of archival records and a somewhat changed structure for the sorting out and processing of public records. According to the structure in place in 1978 when the Archives was once again incorporated into the government administration structure, the duties were divided up between two departments: the first covered archival duties and the second - legal and technical protection of archival records. Lower-level structural segments - sections were introduced, too.

The structure of the Archives in 1979 and 1980 included, for the first time, a research group as a separate structural segment. The sorting out and processing of records took place within the structural segments that were set up depending on the activity of the entities producing holdings and collections. Further changes in the Archives' structure (until 2000) made it possible for a large number of duties to be streamlined in terms of human and technical resources. The structure of the Archives in 2000 included two departments: the department for supervision, protection, sorting out, processing and use of archival records and the department for the application of information technologies, publishing of archival records, cultural and educational activity and international cooperation. In addition to the two departments, there was also a Section for Legal and Administrative Affairs. In 2003 the first Act on the Structure of the Archives was passed within the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The duties are performed by three departments as the main structural segments notably: the department for the protection of archival records, information and use; the department for sorting out and processing of archival records; and the department for IT applying and technical protection of archival records. Within each of these departments there are two lower-level structural segments - (5) units and (1) desk. Apart from these three departments, there is also a separate Legal, Material-Financial and Administrative Affairs Section. The salient features of this structure of the Archives are the following: the activities of the Archives are accurately defined; the performance of the duties and tasks presupposes an adequate working methodology and personnel; the technological process for a particular technical assignment or task is complete and structural segments are coherent and mutually interlinked making it possible to achieve maximum efficiency throughout the Archives. When the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro ceased to exist in May 2006, the Republic of Serbia became an independant state and acquired successor state status. The Republic of Serbia, based on the Decree on Financing Competencies, which were transferred from the former state union to the Republic of Serbia, has continued to finance competencies of the Archives of Serbia and Montenegro. The Archives of Serbia and Montenegro existed under this name from 2003 until 19th February 2009, when by the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia the Archives of Yugoslavia was established, as a cultural institution.

Activities of the Archives are regulated by laws and by-laws and the activities are as follows:

• protection of archival holdings outside the Archives
• admission, storage and protection of archival holdings in the Archives
• organisation and processing of archival holdings
• information about the funds and archival holdings from the competence of the Archives
• provision of conditions for the use of archival holdings
• publication of archival holdings, means of information about archival holdings and other publications promoting the use of archival holdings
• exhibitions of archival holdings, organisation of lectures and other forms of cultural and educational activities
• research and photographing of archival holdings in the country and abroad for the purpose of completing the funds of the Archives
• application of new technologies in all fields of work of the Archives, in line with the positive practice of other Archives and similar institutions in the country and abroad
• technical protection of archival holdings
• cooperation with archives and other similar institutions and associations in the country and abroad
• implementation of the Agreement on Succession Issues, Annex D – Archives, regarding the "SFRY State Archives".

Presently, there are 47 employees with following qualifications at the Archives: 29 people with university degrees, including two with PhDs 8 people with college diplomas 10 people with secondary school diplomas

The building of the Archives of Yugoslavia was built as an endowment of King Alexander I Karadjordjević according to the design of architect Vojin Petrović. Built for over two years, between July 5, 1931 and July 15, 1933, the three-storey building built in the style of academicism, with the useful area of about 8,000 square metres and the main façade facing Topčiderska Zvezda, was initially named Home of King Alexander I for secondary school students. According to the diaries of students of the school, a bust of King Alexander was situated in the yard. The building kept its original use for a short time. The Gestapo and German military command moved in at the beginning of World War II, and between the liberation and 1953 it was used for accommodating political school students and holding classes. After that the building was taken over and used by the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs until 1970. At the beginning, the building was used as the seat of the Educational Centre of Internal Affairs and later it housed the Pane Đukić Home of Internal Affairs Workers. The decision to grant the building to the Archives was made by the Federal Executive Council at the March 19, 1969 session. In the yard in the direction of the front entrance, there is a bust of King Alexander I, placed there in 2003. The king’s name and the years of birth and death can be read on the base, made from the sandstone from Bele Vode. The bronze bust was made on the model of the bust that was made by sculptor Slavko Miletić and cast in the Belgrade-based Bronza Foundry in 1936. Between 1952 and 2003, a bronze bust of Đuro Đaković by sculptor Stevan Bodnarov was situated on the same spot, on a stone base. Today, the bust of Đuro Đaković is on the ground floor of the building, next to the entrance to the reading room. The building of the Archives of Yugoslavia was declared a monument of culture. The decision was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia No. 30/2007 of March 27, 2007.

From the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 148 fonds have been preserved.

The number of record groups and the quantity of materials from this period would undoubtedly be larger had it not been for the large-scale devastation of this part of our cultural heritage too during World War II. Apart from that, selected archival records were systematically carted away by the occupying power. Despite the incompleteness of archival material from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, record groups of the central bodies of authority and state administration in the spheres of internal and foreign policy, finance, economy, health, education, culture, welfare, justice, banking etc. constitute valuable and crucial sources for studying the history of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In classifying and processing record groups, those from from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia have been accorded priority in view of their having become accessible for use, and most of them have been processed and equipped with finding aids. (list of fonds, see: http://www.arhivyu.gov.rs/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/arhivska_gradja/fondovi_i_zbirke/fondovi_iz_perioda_do_1945_godine/lista_fondova_do_1945.html)

Although the archival holdings from the period after 1945 are lengthy, the level of preservation of some fonds, especially those until 1953, is not satisfactory. The AJ-50 Presidency of the Government of the FPRY fond can serve as an illustration, because the minutes and documents from government sessions are missing, among other things.

On the other hand, the АЈ-507 Communist Party of Yugoslavia fond is very well preserved for that period and represents important additional material and frequently even the main source for the studies of developments from Yugoslav history after 1945.

During the NATO bombing, in the night between April 2 and 3, 1999, the archival holdings from five fonds relocated to the building of the Federal Interior Ministry were destroyed (four entirely and one partly).

Basic information about archival material from the period of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia can be found in the Guide Through the Holding Funds of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, published in 2000. The state of fonds from this period in the Archives is not satisfactory, because inventories have not been made for a large number of fonds. However, researchers can still use them because there are provisional summary inventories for the largest number of fonds. (lists of fonds, see: http://www.arhivyu.gov.rs/active/en/home/glavna_navigacija/arhivska_gradja/fondovi_i_zbirke/fondovi_iz_perioda_nakon_1945_godine/fondovi_nakon_1945.html)