# Entertainment and fun in the service of survival: Theatre of the People’s Liberation in the battles of Neretva and Sutjeska

## TL;DR

This paper explores how soldiers and civilians used theater and entertainment during wartime battles in Yugoslavia to cope with hardship.

## Contribution

It highlights the role of fun and emotional resilience in survival during the Second World War in Yugoslavia.

## Key findings

- Theatre provided emotional relief and a sense of normalcy during wartime.
- Participants used entertainment as a means to maintain morale amid chaos.
- The study reveals how pleasure functioned as a survival strategy in war.

## Abstract

Using the accounts of the participants in the battles of Neretva and Sutjeska, particularly the members of the Theatre of the People’s Liberation (Kazalište narodnog oslobođenja, KNO), this article focuses on ways of having fun as well as its functions among soldiers and civilians who were primarily busy with escaping enemy encirclements. It reveals the range of experiences and the accompanying emotional registers they were exposed to in everyday life while pondering the role of pleasure in the biggest battles of the Second World War in Yugoslavia.