Summary

The municipality of Lukavac lies in Tuzla Canton, in the Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina. 

In a survey conducted in June 1970, 16 monuments and memorials to the People's Liberation War were recorded as existing on the territory of Lukavac municipality (2 memorial plaques, 4 fountains, 8 monuments of an artistic type, 1 grave, mass grave or ossuary, and 1 cemetery). In October 1979, Smail Tihić of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Monuments submitted a report to Lucavac’s municipal council, a copy of which survives to this day. The report, titled Aktuelni problemi sanacije, rekonstrukcije i prezentacije postojećih i izgradnje novih spomen-obilježja NOR-a i Revolucije (Current problems regarding the restoration, reconstruction and presentation of existing and construction of new memorials to the NOR and Revolution), names these sixteen monuments recorded in the 1970 survey. The report furthermore discusses a number of monuments in greater detail, in particular the memorial ossuary of fallen fighters of the NOR in Lukavac, the memorial obelisk on Patuševina, Turija, which was to be replaced shortly after the creation of the report, and the monument in Sižje, which had not yet been built.

In 2004, the municipal UBNOAR branch was commissioned to write a report on the current condition of monuments and memorials to the NOB on the territory of the municipality. This report, Spomenici NOB-a na području općine Lukavac (Monuments to the NOB on the territory of Lukavac municipality), contained a detailed list of all monuments within the municipality that were known to the Association, and summarized their condition at that time, accompanied by a photographic study. The report covers a total of 42 monuments. It must also be noted that this list erroneously included a bust of 19th century industrialist Ernest Solvay, which has been omitted from the report.

It must be noted that, in addition to the monuments mentioned here, during fieldwork undertaken by Adis Mujkić between September and December 2018, one additional monument – a memorial fountain in Mrka Ploča – was also discovered, and is included in this report. Additionally, while the UBNOAR documentation mentions only one monument upon the property of the elementary school in Smoluća, it was determined that, in fact, two separate monuments existed there, and therefore these are treated separately within this report. Also, information supplied by Semir Hadžimusić allowed the identification of a further monument on the territory of Lukavac municipality; a fountain in the village of Puračić known locally as Bukva (the name of the source, which has been used by villagers since at least as far back as the Ottoman period). This brings the total number of monuments and memorials to the People's Liberation War on the territory of Lukavac municipality to 45.

It is worth mentioning here that a detailed study of the memorial ossuary of fallen fighters of the NOR in Lukavac has been given by Senad Begović (2016, pp.459-468). His paper gives an extensive historical narrative of the monument, as well as an analysis of many archival texts important to understanding its creation and existence. The texts referenced therein have also proved invaluable for the creation of this report.

During the course of research, the memorial ossuary of fallen fighters of the NOR in Lukavac was declared a National Monument of Bosnia & Herzegovina. However, in November 2019, the final monument commemorating the NOR in the village of Puračić was destroyed. The monument, built in 1949/50, was one of the oldest to still survive on the territory of Tuzla Canton, and, despite a number of alterations to its surroundings and cladding, had maintained much of its original form up until its demolition.

Lukavac’s current spatial plan (2015, 273 pp.) does not mention any monuments to the People’s Liberation War specifically, but does contain the following statement: “A large number of cultural and historical monuments have been documented upon the territory of Lukavac municipality. Archaeological sites from the Middle Ages, and also monuments from the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian periods, and monuments to the NOB, have been recorded.”  (p.147).

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(precise coordinates can be obtained by contacting the author

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