Kamenolom memorial

About 500 m from the monastery, beside the road up to Zmajevac, stands the memorial complex known as Kamenolom (“the quarry”). It marks the place where in September 1941 residents of Rakovac and workers of the quarry swore the partisan oath.

Large plaques surround a central open space and carry the names of fighters who fell and of the civilian victims from Rakovac. Part of the complex is built into the hillside and looks like the entrance to a mine gallery. The introductory plaque is dated 1941–1961, so the memorial was most likely unveiled in 1961.

Above the entrance to the gallery, a mosaic shows Tito’s portrait with the words “Druže Tito, mi ti se kunemo” (“Comrade Tito, we swear to you”). It was painted over in the 1990s; today the portrait and the words are visible again.

The introductory plaque reads, in Serbian: „Rakovac selo i Kamenolom iako su mali i u blizini jakih fašističkih uporišta nisu se predali okupatoru. Pod rukovodstvom Komunističke partije odvažnih radnih ljudi iz mesta i Kamenoloma ubrzo su počeli zadavati udarce okupatoru. Borilo se i ginulo. Već početkom 1942 god. uništena je okupatorska vlast. Rakovac i Kamenolom se ponose svojim žrtvama i učešćem u oslobodilačkoj borbi naših naroda. 1941–1961.“

In English: “Although small and close to strong fascist strongholds, the village of Rakovac and Kamenolom did not surrender to the occupier. Led by the Communist Party, brave working people from the village and the quarry soon began to strike at the occupier. They fought and they died. By the beginning of 1942 the occupiers’ authority had been destroyed. Rakovac and Kamenolom are proud of their victims and of their part in the liberation struggle of our peoples. 1941–1961.” The date on this plaque is the basis for dating the memorial to 1961.