Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Remembrance day marking destruction of National Library of Serbia observed

Belgrade, 6 April 2025

Outgoing Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković symbolically laid a flower and a book at Kosančićev venac - the location of the former National Library of Serbia, which was burned to the ground in the bombing on this day in 1941.

Selaković pointed out that the very fact that we gather here every 6 April in memory of all those who died and lost their loved ones, but also as a sign of destruction of the most precious Serbian books, manuscripts, writings and rulers' charters, testifies to the fact that the enemy did not succeed in its intentions to destroy our culture and destroy the identity of our people.

The Remembrance day of destruction of the National Library is observed on 6 April, when the bombing of Belgrade began in World War II, and one of the oldest and most important cultural institutions in our country was among the first targets of the Nazis.

The fire caused by the bombing destroyed 500,000 volumes, approximately 1,500 Cyrillic manuscripts and charters from the 12th to the 17th century, a rich cartographic and graphic collection, and the book collection of the personal libraries of Vuk Karadžić, Dositej Obradović, Đura Daničić and Janko Šafarik disappeared irretrievably.

The new building of the National Library of Serbia, where this state institution of culture is still located today, was opened on 6 April 1973, on the anniversary of the bombing.