”Som tack för den frihet vi nu kan kalla vår”: den svenska ungdomsbrigaden (Švedska udarna brigada) i Jugoslavien 1947

Sammanfattning

”As a thanks for the freedom we can now call ours”: the Swedish Youth Brigade (Švedska udarna brigada) in Yugoslavia in 1947. This paper examines the Swedish Youth Labour Brigade’s participation in the reconstruction work of post-war Yugoslavia in 1947, particularly their involvement on the Bosnian ”Youth Railway” (Omladinska pruga), linking Šamac with Sarajevo. With a microhistorical approach, the study aims to illustrate the driving forces behind the Swedish participation in the project, their experiences from their stay in Yugoslavia as well as their retrospective reflections on their participation in the Brigade. Furthermore, it aims to situate the Swedish Brigade in a bigger political and ideological context of the political agency of youths. Given that the Youth Labour Brigades in Yugoslavia has not been subject to major academic attention, especially in a Swedish context, the study also aims to chart the composition of the Swedish Brigade as well as its performed activities. The study is based on a varied set of source materials, consisting of archival documents, newspaper articles, published works by the Swedish author and artist Stig Claesson and oral interviews with one of the last remaining Swedish Brigadiers. In the analysis, two theoretical perspectives are applied, the first being Patricia M. Goff’s perception of cultural diplomacy, and the second being Maria Nikolaeva Todorova’s ”balkanism”. Methodologically, the thesis is mainly based on a qualitative text analysis, along with the approach of oral history. The study shows that the participation among the Swedish youths were primarily motivated by a sense of anti-fascist solidarity, gratitude towards Yugoslavia and its people, ideological beliefs as well as a longing for adventure. Their willingness to travel abroad to help rebuild another country corresponds with a philanthropic spirit present in Sweden during the postwar era. Furthermore, their first encounter with a war-torn Europe on their travels to Yugoslavia was an initial shock, but strengthened the Brigadier’s commitment to their task to an even greater extent. At the worker’s camp in Nemila, the Brigadiers initially had a hard time adapting to the changes in living conditions. The life at the camp was characterized by hard work, discipline, ideological education as well as an ample cultural and international exchange. The Swedes saw Yugoslavia’s projected progress in areas such as culture, education and gender equality as exemplary, these experiences made a strong impression on the Swedish Brigadiers and further reinforced their already positive perception of the country. Their experiences created a strong admiration for Yugoslavia, as well as its people’s resilience and progressive spirit. Their perceptions strongly challenged stereotypical Balkanist notions, and the experience as a whole could be considered as both transformative as well as an ideological confirmation for most of the participants.