In Skopje: The Museum of the City of Skopje
According to Sinisa Jakov Marusic (Balkanian Insight) "the earthquake that struck the Macedonian capital of Skopje at 5.17am on July 26, 1963 – while most of its inhabitants were still sleeping – killed over 1,000 people and left more than half of the city's 200,000 residents homeless.
Entire families perished under collapsed buildings while the survivors woke to find their previously prosperous city a scene of devastation.
Despite the horrifying damage that it caused, the earthquake became a major turning point in the city’s development.
Despite the horrifying damage that it caused, the earthquake became a major turning point in the city’s development.
The peoples of Yugoslavia - of which Macedonia was then part - and those of some 90 other countries provided generous aid after the disaster, after which Skopje was called the City of Solidarity.”
One of the most helpful collectives in the reconstruction of Skopje after the earthquake was the Omladinska Radna Brigada.
Omladinska Radna Brigada / Youth work actions were organized voluntary labor activities of young people in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The actions were used to build public infrastructure such as roads, railways, and public buildings, as well as industrial infrastructure. The youth work actions were organized on local, republic and federal levels by the Young Communist League of Yugoslavia , and participants were organized into youth work brigades, generally named after their town or a local national hero.
The Museum of the City of Skopje is a cultural institution located in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Founded in 1949, it is located in a former railway station that was partly destroyed in the 1963 earthquake. For this reason this institution has become a symbol of the earthquake, specially for its clock which still remind us of the date and hour of the earthquake: 26 July 1963 at 05:17.
The museum is home to permanent еxhibitions representing the history of Skopje, from the first recorded settlements around 3000 BC to present.
In summer 2018 the Museum organized the exhibition “From Brotherhood and Unity ’63 to Skopje’63 “ which explains the big work made by the Omladinska Radna Brigada / Youth Work Actions in the reconstruction of Skopje after the earthbrake.
These photos were taken in August 2018 and show some views of the Museum of the City of Skopje, which preserves part of the effects of the earthquake.
