Photo 8 : An attack on a village captured by Vlajko Begović while part of the XV International Brigade ( Belgrade City Archive , Vlajko Begović collection )
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The exhibition of cultural memory and the Spanish Civil War not only sought to provide information on the forgotten history of Yugoslav volunteers who fought for the Republic , but on many ongoing issues related to memory politics in both Croatia and Spain , as well as throughout Europe . After struggling with the legacy of Francoist memorials for decades , Spain is still building memorials to Republican forces or victims of Francoist terror that were denied under the dictatorship and the subsequent years of silence , in places such as Málaga or Fuentes de Andalucia . Last year ’ s decision to remove Franco ’ s body from the Valley of the Fallen was another reminder of how Spanish society is still coming to terms with the legacy of the Civil War , not to mention the still unresolved issue of thousands of victims who remain in unmarked mass graves . Croatia continues to seek a balance of investigating communist crimes and its own exhumations without completely succumbing to revisionist narratives that seek to erase all of the contributions of the Partisan movement , while simultaneously trying to create an inclusive commemorative culture for the Independence War in the 1990s . Rijeka2020 , although greatly reduced due to the global Covid-19 pandemic , nevertheless provides an opportunity to engage in a European dialogue about difficult pasts , and this exhibition is an example of a comparative approach in dealing with the legacies of war and dictatorships but also international solidarity and cooperation .
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Photo 9 : Temporary monument built in the Gurs Internment Camp | Archive of Bosnia and Herzegovina , Čedo Kapor collection
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Observing Memories ISSUE 4