Memory, Oblivion and National Narrative in “Landscapes of Defence”: the Memorial Fountain in Honor of the Bulgarian and German Soldiers Near the Village of Giouretzik, Drama (1942)
Memory, Oblivion and National Narrative in “Landscapes of Defence”: the Memorial Fountain in Honor of the Bulgarian and German Soldiers Near the Village of Giouretzik, Drama (1942)

Summary/Abstract: This research is focusing on the memorial fountain that was built by Bulgarian teachers in the spring of 1942 during the Bulgarian occupation of Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace (1941–1944), in honor of the Bulgarian and German soldiers near the village of Giouretzik (Ruzdene, now Granitis), Drama. The monument – as a site of memory – is studied both aesthetically and semiotically: its form, the choice of its site – which is a key “landscape of defence”, – and its direct and hidden symbolisms. In addition to that, the official Bulgarian state policy of memory concerning the fallen soldiers – Bulgarian and German – until 1944, and how this top-down policy was implemented locally is also studied. In this context, a bottom-up urban policy was produced by the Bulgarian community of Drama. The research focuses on the characteristics of this policy too. Dialectical thinking and interconnectedness of the “landscape of defence” are used as crucial tools in this research. The photos and sketches included seek to provide an additional documentation on the research conclusions.

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