On remote hilltops in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Slovenia, and Montenegro stand giant monuments to the former Yugoslavia, a state that no longer exists.
The futuristic brutalist concrete structures were designed by different sculptors and represented the strength and confidence of Tito's socialist republic.
The Monument to the Revolution in Podgarić, Berek, Croatia. Built in 1967 and designed by Dušan Džamonja, the memorial pays tribute to the people of Moslavina during the Second World WarAntonio Bronic/ReutersThe 'stone flower' monument to detainees of the Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia, designed by Bogdan Bogdanović and unveiled in 1966. It is thought that around 100,000 Serbs, Jews and gypsies were killed at the extermination camp during WWIIAntonio Bronic/ReutersThe Battle of Sutjeska memorial monument in the Valley of Heroes near the Bosnian village of Tjentiste. This monument, opened in 1974, pays tribute to those who lost their lives in a bloody WWII battle between May and June 1943Dado Ruvic/ReutersThree concrete fists at Bubanj Memorial Park in Niš, Serbia. The memorial, which was designed by sculptor Ivan Sabolić and unveiled in 1963, commemorates the shooting and execution of more than 10,000 local people during the Second World WarMarko Djurica/ReutersA monument to Stevan Filipovic in Valjevo, Serbia. He was a Yugoslavian Partisan who was hanged during World War II, thrusting his arms up and crying "Death to fascism, freedom to the people!" as the noose was put around his neckMarko Djurica/ReutersThe National Liberation Fight in Maribor, Slovenia, pays tribute to people killed by the Nazis during World War II for rising up against occupation. The spherical bronze sculpture was created by local artist Slavko Tihec and erected in 1975Srdjan Zivulovic/ReutersMonument to the Revolution, a World War II memorial sculpture by Dušan Džamonja, at Mrakovica, a peak of Kozara mountain, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Dedicated to the Battle of Kozara, construction began in 1969 and was completed in 1972Dado Ruvic/ReutersThe Šušnjar memorial monument in Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in 1971, it is dedicated to the more than 5,000 Serbs and Jews killed by the Nazi-sponsored Ustaše regime in the Second World WarDado Ruvic/ReutersThe National Liberation War Monument, also known as the Martyr's Monument. This memorial in Pristina, Kosovo, honours fighters who fell during the liberation of the region in WWIIHazir Reka/ReutersInterrupted Flight, a monument to Serbian, Jewish and Roma men and boys murdered on 20 and 21 October 1941 in Kragujevac, SerbiaMarko Djurica/ReutersThe Monument to Yugoslav Partisans in Ljig,Serbia, representing a common man throwing a bombMarko Djurica/ReutersThe Monument to the Revolution in Virpazar, MontenegroStevo Vasiljevic/ReutersThe Monument to Hanged Patriots in Vranjske Njive, MontenegroStevo Vasiljevic/Reuters
These monuments once received millions of visitors a year, particularly on Republic Day on November 29, marking the creation of socialist Yugoslavia.
Many are now neglected or ignored, abandoned symbols of a state forged during World War II, but torn apart by nationalism half a century later.
Republic Day is no longer marked in any of the seven independent states that emerged from the ashes of Yugoslavia.
