Serbs on the island of Corfu (Texts)

At the end of 1915 and at the beginning of 1916, under the pressure of the joint attack of the Austro-Hungarian, German and Bulgarian troops, the Serbian army, Serbian government, National Assembly, as well as a part of the Serbian civilian population, were forced to withdraw from Serbia through Montenegro to Albania. On this long journey the Serbs went through the biggest exodus in their recent history. In his official report to the Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pasic, General Bozidar Terzic, Minister of Defense, wrote that on their way to Albania, 243,877 people were killed or taken as prisoners or died from hunger or cold weather. The approximate total number of casualties was at least 150,000 including both soldiers and civilians.

From 18 January to 21 February 1916, 151,828 Serbian soldiers and civilians were evacuated with Allied ships from the Albanian port of Avlonas (Valona) to Corfu. The first port of disembarkation on Corfu was Gouvia (Guvino), eight km to the north of the city of Corfu.

The suffering of solders and civilians did not, however, stop upon their arrival on the "Island of Salvation", as the Serbs named Corfu.

The Allies had not had enough time to make provisions for adequate care of such a great number of people. There was lack of food, clothes, tents and heating. For 8 days since their arrival, the cold rain would not stop. Without tents, suffering soldiers began to die en masse.

On the 21st of January 1916, the army hospital units from Morava, Pirot and Cacak were the first to land on the rocky island of Vido. Soon afterwards, a couple of thousands of young boys - recruits arrived on the island. Most of which were seriously ill and on the verge of death.

In the beginning (those first days), up to 300 soldiers were dying every day. Twelve hundred of them were buried in the island shores, whereas later (because of lack of burial grounds), the boats from the French hospital ship "St. Francis of Assisi" would carry the dead bodies and drop them in the Ionian Sea, a few kilometers away from the island, in what was called "the Blue Graveyard".

It is estimated that around 10,000 Serbian soldiers and recruits were buried on the island of Vido and in the "Blue Tomb".

The Royal Navy of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croatians and Slovenes erected the first monument dedicated to the perished soldiers. It is a Stone Cross situated above today's Mausoleum. The monument was uncovered by King Aleksandar Karadjordjevic the First in 1922, in the presence of a great number of Yugoslav and Greek military, government and church officials.

The Mausoleum (kosturnica) on the island of Vido was the work of architect Nikola Knjazev and was erected by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1936. Within the marble walls of the Mausoleum, there are 1,232 coffers (cases), containing the bones of soldiers previously buried in 27 cemeteries of Corfu, the names of which were known. The bones of the soldiers whose names remain unknown were buried under two separate stone plaques outside the Mausoleum.

The mild Mediterranean climate, adequate medical care and proper nourishment by the Allies, new uniforms and, above all, warm and close relationships with the local inhabitants, led to a miraculous recovery of the Serbian army.

By a kind gesture of the local Greek authorities, the sessions of the Serbian National Assembly were held in the National theatre of Corfu from 19 January 1916 until 19 November 1918.

The churches of St. Archangel, the Holy Trinity and St. Nicolas where given to the Serbs for temporary religious use.

The cultural life of Serbs in Corfu was very lively, as various theatre performances, musical concerts etc. were organized frequently.

Also, the municipal authorities of Corfu temporarily gave a printing house to the Serbs, which was supplied with the most modern printing equipment offered by the French. This way, they were able to publish the "Serbian Newspaper" with a circulation of 10,000 copies and many valuable books, as for example "Diplomatic Correspondence", "Codification", "Motherland" etc. In addition, school books for children in Serbian schools were printed there.

The Serbian primary school (290 pupils) and a Serbian highschool (120 pupils) were organized on the island of Corfu.

Furthermore, sport associations were organized and a number of football matches were played with the allied teams.

Finally, the island was full of Serbian restaurants and grocery stores.