The lack of interest in the remembrance of communist prison and labour camps in the Balkans: a case-study of Yugoslav Goli Otok

Abstract

This thesis investigates the memory of Goli Otok, the notorious political prison of the former Yugoslavia, within contemporary Croatian public life, focusing on the attitude of the Croatian State. Despite its historical significance, Goli Otok occupies a marginal position in public memory, characterized by indifference and minimal political engagement. The study addresses two research questions: how the Croatian State’s attitude can be defined, and why this apparent lack of interest persists. The analysis is grounded in memory studies, emphasizing conceptualizations of forgetting, silencing, and amnesia, which are particularly suited to examining a memory defined by absence. Empirical insights are drawn from six expert interviews, analyzed using thematic analysis. One core finding is that if a memory cannot serve a political function, it loses relevance. Goli Otok’s historical complexity. including its association with leftist prisoners and contested meanings, prevents its integration into simplified narratives that support national identity and state continuity. Consequently, it remains largely untouched by the Croatian State, which prioritizes memories that yield political benefits. Engagement with Goli Otok carries minimal reward but significant risk of backlash if mishandled, further discouraging action. Experts emphasized that this lack of engagement is not driven by malice but by political pragmatism. As a result, Goli Otok occupies a liminal space: neither actively suppressed nor fully commemorated, lying at the intersection of Hirst and Coman’s selective retrieval-induced forgetting and Connerton’s repressive erasure. Although limited by the small sample of interviews, this study provides a first in-depth exploration of the interplay between political utility, historical complexity, and collective memory in Croatia. It highlights the structural and perceptual factors that maintain Goli Otok’s marginal status while pointing to avenues for further research, including discourse analysis and comparative studies with other politically contested sites in the Balkans.