U Gospodara Vučića 49 in Belgrade is where the Roma shrine is located, the place of the cult of Aunt Bibija, and a memorial to the suffering of the Roma in the Balkan Wars and in the First and Second World Wars. The chapel has been there since 1921.
This chapel and this monument are unique in Belgrade.
That area was declared a spatial-cultural-historical entity by the Government of Serbia, and it was given to Roma associations for use.
Padlock
Since a month ago, they have not been able to use it because the investor from Novi Sad put a padlock on it.
We learn from Miloš Mihajlović, the president of the Union of Roma, that the investor's name is Ranko Grbović.
Miloš Mihajlović tells "Vreme" that "Roma bought this plot immediately after the First World War and built a shrine on it. Unfortunately, in 1976 that area was nationalized, it was handed over to the City as property, and we were left with the right to use it. And it was like that until 2019. Then we found out that our right was revoked and that the City, in some unknown way, sold that plot".
He emphasizes that the investor "Roma will never allow to destroy our sanctuary".
"We will ask for help from all institutions, and first of all from the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments because they protected the chapel and declared it a cultural monument."
Fake petition
He emphasizes that the investor is already using illegal means to achieve his intention.
"A fake petition has appeared advocating that the shrine be moved to Marinkovo Bar. The Roma Union has informed about it through our networks. Some criminal figures are collecting signatures from citizens, they are mainly Roma from Belgrade neighborhoods, as they were told, in order to enroll children in preschool institutions and get school supplies and help for school children. People do not know that their signatures and read ID cards will be misused," says Miloš Mihajlović.
Photo: Institute for the Protection of Cultural MonumentsMonument to Roma victims
"The idea of relocating our chapel to Marinkovo bar, to a neighborhood where mainly Roma live, is ghettoization," says Miloš Mihajlović.
The legend of Bibi
There are many legends about Saint Aunt Bibi, the protector of children. According to the most famous one, Bibija went from door to door in the village during the cholera with two goats. No one wanted to let her into the house, until they reached a poor family with six children. They shared a piece of bread with her, and Bibija cured their sick children that night.
Aunt Bibi is the glory of the Orthodox Roma. Since 2019, it has been included in the register of intangible cultural heritage of Serbia.
Photo: Vreme archiveBibija
In the courtyard of the chapel there is the mentioned memorial, and on it four marble tablets with 54 carved names of fallen soldiers, as well as the names of benefactors and members of the association who erected the monument in 1921 with the help of voluntary contributions from the Serbian, Gypsy and Jewish population.
The only landmark in Serbia
This monument is the only landmark on the territory of Serbia dedicated to the Roma who died during those wars. In addition to the monument, a memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of the Nazis during the Belgrade raid in 1941 was placed in the yard.
This current one is not the first attack on the chapel. In September 1919, "without any announcement or warning, the excavators began their demolition. The police responded, the demolition was delayed, and everything was reported to the Second Circuit Court." And since then - nothing.
They were helped only by the Society of Conservators of Serbia, Evropa Nostra Serbia and ICOMOS Serbia, who sent a public appeal to all competent institutions of the Republic of Serbia and the City of Belgrade. "The loss of these important monuments would mean the erasure of an extremely important historical layer in the culture of the city of Belgrade and the Republic of Serbia," these three associations wrote in their appeal.
"Unfortunately, now we need support again. Be that as it may, we will not allow anyone to demolish our monuments," Miloš Mihajović is determined.
