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Memorial Complex ”February 12” in Niš

The Memorial Museum-Memorial Museum of the ”February 12” Camp, at the Red Cross in Niš, is an authentic historical complex and one of the largest execution sites in Serbia during World War II. Over 30,000 people from Niš and southeastern Serbia passed through this camp, which was essentially a concentration camp, of whom over 10,000 were shot at Bubnje, and many of them were interned in other European concentration camps.
The project for the reconstruction, revitalization and presentation of the ”February 12” Memorial Complex aims to achieve several important goals:
• Rehabilitation and revitalization of the main camp building with simultaneous renovation of the interior. The project created the conditions to recreate the original atmosphere of dilapidation and neglect from the time of imprisonment
• Rehabilitation and revitalization of the camp perimeter, exterior decoration and reconstruction of the first camp fence made of barbed wire, gates and wooden observation posts. The novelty lies in the addition of lighting effects, primarily in creating an atmosphere of circular light that prevented escape from the camp.
• The access plateau was treated as a completely new entity with the intention of connecting the city center and the historical complex. In the foreground is the memorial frieze in the axis of the camp gate. It consists of a water mirror in which a stone cushion is reflected on which all the names of those, so far known, camp inmates are inscribed.
• The memorial display was redesigned, which basically retains the existing concept with the introduction of new technical solutions. It is a continuous frieze of displays made of printed clear glass that surrounds the rooms at the height of the windows. They tell the entire story of the camp’s history. By dimming the lights, the room has an original atmosphere at one moment, and at the moment the display is illuminated, a museum story is created. Within the project, there is a variant solution based on new technologies. It involves broadcasting documents via monitors with crystal technology and introducing a soundtrack that would evoke the original atmosphere.