Abstract
During the last years of the Second World War, some 30,000 Yugoslav refugees found shelter in the Egyptian desert from the German occupation of Dalmatia. In the camp El Shatt, the Partisan movement, the nascent UN, western aid groups, and the British Army worked together to take care of the refugees and also to negotiate future relations. The Communist Party, with victory in Yugoslavia in sight, sought to showcase its ability to organize and motivate its future citizens. Thus, the camps in Egypt became a testing ground for state-building back home. The article will explore the tensions that emerged between the self-confident Partisans, the suspicious British and UN officials, and the refugees, who experienced the end of the war in the Egyptian desert.
Highlights
The research for this article mostly draws on the UN archives in New York (UNA), the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) that managed the camps from May 1, 1944, and the Državni arhiv u Splitu (Croatian State Archives in Split) (HR-DAST), which hosts most materials of the Central Refugee Committee (Centralni odbor zbjega), the Partisan control organization that managed the camps
This article uses the terminology employed by the UNRRA, British camp management, and the Yugoslav-led camp management
The COZ was aware of the artists that arrived in El Shat and kept a list of writers, architects, and artists that left Yugoslavia for Italy and Egypt
Summary
The refugees arrived in Egypt after a long, arduous journey. Following the armistice of Fascist Italy with the Allies on September 3, 1943, Partisan forces were able to take control of large swathes of the Yugoslav coast previously held by Italian forces. The COZ was aware of the artists that arrived in El Shat and kept a list of writers, architects, and artists that left Yugoslavia for Italy and Egypt These include the composer and conductor Josip Hatze, who would be a key figure in building up cultural life in the theater and choir groups were set up. Considering the distance from Dalmatia and the obstacles to communication, the COZ had to build up its own media outlets, drawing on reports it received from the Allies and the Yugoslav liaison office in Cairo, as well as newspapers from Dalmatia These included the daily Naš list, which was published throughout the period.[36] Besides, the COZ printed a range of. Beyond the emotional connection to Yugoslavia, reinforced by the desolate conditions in the desert and the temporary nature of their stay, the institutional structures of camp life ensured the connection to Yugoslavia—the Yugoslavia slowly established by the Partisans
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