engleski

From the City on the Sea to the City in the Sand: Recreating Dalmatian City in the Desert of El-Shatt

During the final months of 1943 huge numbers of Dalmatian population were forced to seek shelter in south Italy and finally in the El-Shatt Sinai desert in Egypt. Here they had managed to erect tent city with the help of British soldiers where they spent almost two years waiting for the WW II to end and return home. Displaced from the Dalmatian coast and islands with stone architecture and karst landscape they founded new settlement in the desert. Such striking change of scenery was of a profound social and health consequence. However, the refugees tried to preserve the structure of living and quotidian activities held previously in Dalmatia. Even the layout of tents and inhabitants within them followed the pattern of Dalmatian places keeping people together. This helped to stimulate the hope of the forthcoming repatriation that was of great importance for the refugees. The activities on different social levels also contributed to the simulation of life as it was back home. In this paper I would like to argue that the establishment of life in El Shatt followed same patterns of the life in Dalmatia, especially concerning the organisation of settlement, structure of tents and social life. The recreation of “home” space in the desert was densely packed with activities that followed the pattern of Dalmatian experience. The desert of El-Shatt became a transient Dalmatian town in the experience of refugees who yearned for the fast return.

displacement, WWII, desert, Diocletian's Palace, desert, El-Shatt, camp

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