Relay of Youth

The Relay of Youth (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian "Štafeta mladosti", Serbian Cyrillic "Штафета младости", Macedonian "???", Albanian "Stafeta e Rinise") was a symbolic relay race held in Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia every year. The relay carried a baton with a birthday pledge to Josip Broz Tito ostensibly from all young people of YugoslaviaMaja Mikula. " [http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/content/wnlptyec3rx35v3y/ Virtual Landscapes of Memory] ". "Information, Communication and Society". 6(2003):169-186. (needs subscription)] " [http://www.nskstate.com/nk/day_of_youth.php Relay Baton and the Day of Youth] " NSKSTATE.COM.] . The race usually started in Tito's birth town Kumrovec and went through all major towns and cities of the country. It ended in Belgrade on May 25, Tito's official birthday [Although Tito's birthday was celebrated on May 25, he was in all probability born on May 7.] and Day of Youth, a national holiday.

The relay first took place in 1945 and was formalized as a national holiday in 1957. It went on after Tito's death in 1980 and was last held in 1988.

In 1987 the winning poster design for the relay caused a national scandal, as it was revealed to be based on a Nazi propaganda poster" [http://www.nskstate.com/nk/poster_scandal.php Poster Scandal - Youth Day] " NSKSTATE.COM.] [Regina Hackett. " [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/200214_visual19.html Slovenian art collective is adept at working politics and art] ". "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", Friday, November 19, 2004.] . The authors, the design division of Neue Slowenische Kunst, submitted the design in order to protest Tito's cult of personality, of which the relay was a major part.

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