Before you stands the Monument to the Burned Book – a quiet yet powerful reminder of how precious cultural memory is, and how easily it can be endangered.
For more than a century before the Second World War, the Serbian Reading Room in Irig collected books, newspapers, journals, manuscripts and historical documents. Every preserved page carried a part of the knowledge, experience and memories of earlier generations. Its library and archive belonged not only to one institution. Together, they formed the written memory of an entire community.
During the Second World War, a significant part of this valuable heritage was destroyed by fire. Books disappeared together with documents, records and traces of everyday life that had been carefully gathered and protected for decades. Many stories were lost forever, leaving gaps that could never be completely filled.
However, this story did not end with destruction.
The monument is made of white marble, and its form evokes the phoenix – the mythical bird that rises again from its own ashes. It therefore speaks not only about the books that were burned, but also about renewal, endurance and the strength of a community to rebuild after a great loss.
The white marble may also be seen as a new, unwritten page: empty, yet ready to receive new thoughts, works and memories. The stone preserves the memory of what disappeared, while the surrounding cultural spaces continue to live through books, exhibitions, performances, conversations and human encounters.
This monument reminds us that a book is more than an object made of paper. It can be the voice of an era, the testimony of a life, the record of a people and a bridge between individuals who may never meet. When a book disappears, we lose more than words – we lose a part of our shared memory.
Yet, as long as people continue to read, write, create and pass knowledge to others, culture can be born again.
Pause here for a moment. Look at the monument’s stone forms and imagine the pages that no longer exist. Then turn towards the Reading Room and the Cultural Centre. Their continued presence shows that fire may destroy books, but it does not necessarily extinguish the ideas they inspired.
The Monument to the Burned Book is therefore more than a memorial to loss. It is a message of hope – reminding us that a new story can rise from the ashes, and that by protecting knowledge, we also preserve an essential part of ourselves.
