Relay Batons for Tito
The House of Flowers in Belgrade, resting place of Marshal Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980) houses a permanent exhibition of the relay batons given to Tito.
According to the Muzej Jugoslavije / Museum of Yugoslav History "Mass youth baton relays across Yugoslavia were organised from 1945 as part of the celebration of Josip Broz Tito’s birthday. The batons were used to convey birthday wishes for long life and good health to Tito and more than 22,000 of them, the last dating from 1987, are kept in the Museum of Yugoslav History. Each year an endless number of local and regional batons fed into the main route of the primary batons which were presented to Tito at the climactic celebration in the Yugoslav People’s Army stadium in Belgrade. The number of batons and the kilometres covered grew year by year so that, by 1950, more than a million people were involved in carrying batons.
The exhibition includes local batons, presented by youth groups and various social and political organisations, republic and federal batons from the period after 1957. This was when May 25 began to be celebrated as Youth Day and the Tito Baton became more of an institution and was renamed the Youth Baton."
These photos were taken in August 2017.
