Housed in an iconic mid-century building in Belgrade, the “Museum of Yugoslavia” is packed every day. Some are holding flowers or old Yugoslav flags. Their goal is the Mausoleum of Marshal Tito, the founder of socialist Yugoslavia.

Many visitors are older. In other words, these are people who grew up under the old system and came to celebrate Tito’s birthday. After all, before the collapse of Yugoslavia, it was an important national holiday. Some others are members of far-left parties. However, young people stand out among the visitors, who simply wanted to see an exhibition about Tito, including posters and photographs of the time, works of art and oral histories with recorded testimonies of the “common people”.

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, created by the marshal, consisted of six republics: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the autonomous region of Kosovo. Tito’s main vision and goal was to unite the region’s various religious and ethnic groups under the slogan “Unity and Brotherhood”. The rise of nationalism after the marshal’s death in 1980 led to its fragmentation and the wars of the 1990s.

Today, 81% of Serbs and 77% of Bosnians consider the breakup of Yugoslavia an unfavorable event. Even in Slovenia, the first of the countries of the former Yugoslavia to join the EU, the breakup of Yugoslavia is considered a catastrophe. The nostalgia of many for the old system is called “Yugnostalgia”. However, Larisa Kurtovich, a Sarajevo-based political anthropologist who studies post-Yugoslav identity in Bosnia, believes that the term does not reflect reality. “Nostalgia includes melancholy and longing for a return. Of course, there are, as many restaurants and hostels are full of memorabilia of that era, which is approached through rose-colored glasses, ”he says, adding that the younger generation objectively considers that period, recognizing its pros and cons. “Obviously, the socialist period is held in high esteem mainly because of economic growth and quality of life,” he explains, adding that even the “broken promises” of the Yugoslav experiment pale in comparison to the nationalism and violence that followed.

Many wonder if the answers to the future can be hidden in this socialist past.

Many wonder if the answers to the future can be hidden in this socialist past. Kurtovich notes that several trade unions have emerged in Bosnia over the past decade, based on the old Yugoslav model of workers’ self-organization.

Tito’s Yugoslavia was very different from other Iron Curtain states. Tito maintained a balance in relations with the West and the USSR, and the Yugoslavs could travel to both.

Another reason for “youthfulness,” Kurtovich explains, is the loss of prestige felt by citizens, as Yugoslavs suddenly find themselves citizens of smaller and more insignificant states.

Some, of course, do not sympathize so much, do not feel nostalgia for the past, but look at the historical era more critically. Arnela Iserik’s family is originally from Bosnia but immigrated to the US during the war. “As a child, I got the impression that Yugoslavia is a wonderful country and everything in it is harmonious. Everyone loved everyone. Growing up, I realized that there are aspects that I don’t like at all,” he says, referring to LGBTI rights and the suppression of free speech. She herself admits that even now the “spirit of Yugoslavia” has taken possession of her.