S5E13. Yugoslavia's forgotten Egyptian chapter
During World War II, as the Nazi invasion advanced, over 20,000 Dalmatians were evacuated to the Sinai Peninsula. The El Shatt refugee camp became the first draft of Tito's future socialist federation
Dear reader,
welcome back to BarBalkans, the newsletter with blurred boundaries.
Some stories resist clear definition. We think we know them well, that every step is mapped out—but the moment we ask, “Where did it begin?”, our certainties start to unravel.
Such is the history of Yugoslavia, which formally emerged as a Socialist Federal Republic after World War II, shaped by two years of anti-fascist, anti-Nazi, and anti-monarchist struggle led by Josip Broz Tito’s partisans.
Yet, to trace the first draft of that political experiment, we must go back further—to December 1943. And the setting? Even more unexpected.
Amid the sands of the Sinai Desert, in the El Shatt refugee camp, Egypt.
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From Dalmatia to Egypt
This story begins on 8 September 1943, with the surrender of Benito Mussolini’s fascist Italy.
As soon as the armistice was announced, Tito’s People’s Liberation Army swiftly liberated the Dalmatian coast and the Adriatic islands. Italian garrisons were disarmed, and the city of Split was liberated by 10 September.
Many Dalmatians joined the partisan ranks, but it soon became clear that Nazi Germany was preparing to retake the territories lost by its fallen ally.
Before the invasion began, the decision was made to evacuate around 40,000 people, primarily women, children, and the elderly.
Read also: S4E8. You should know who is Valter
The first destination was the island of Vis, home to Tito’s partisan headquarters and a strategic base for UK armed forces. From there, an agreement was reached to transfer over 10,000 refugees to British-controlled southern Italy, settling them in camps between Bari and Taranto.
The remaining 26,000 were sent to North Africa, also under British control—specifically to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.
Through negotiations between the British High Command and the National Committee for the Liberation of Yugoslavia, it was agreed that Tito’s partisans would oversee the management of the refugee camps—under Allied supervision. Representatives of Draža Mihailović’s Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, the monarchist and anti-communist faction, were excluded from any role.
In December 1943, thousands of Dalmatians embarked on an unexpected journey to Egypt. In the heart of the desert, the first experiment of the Yugoslav socialist utopia began.
An utopia far from Europe
The first question that comes to mind when discussing the Yugoslav refugee camp in El Shatt is: “Why there?” Why relocate over 20,000 people more than 2,000 kilometres away, to a place so drastically different in climate and landscape?
From a logistical standpoint, the answer lies in British strategic calculations. Just a year earlier, the Allies had defeated Axis forces at El Alamein, securing control over North Africa.
Near the Suez Canal, the British had a former military base—El Shatt—equipped with the necessary infrastructure to accommodate refugees.
In Europe, the only stable Allied stronghold was southern Italy, where 10,000 Dalmatians were settled. However, by autumn 1943, the Allies were advancing north, requiring full logistical mobilisation to confront the German army.
Read also: S4E4. Yugeurope
But beyond logistics, there was also an ideological dimension.
Though Tito’s partisans were recognised as an allied resistance force in the Balkans, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill remained deeply wary of communism’s potential expansion in post-war Europe.
As a result, both rival Yugoslav factions—the communists and the royalists—were closely monitored, while both fighting against Germany.
On one side of the Suez Canal, the Royal Yugoslav Army’s aircraft was stationed. On the other, at El Shatt, Tito saw an opportunity to prove to the Allies that a communist society with a human face was possible.
El Shatt was more than just a refugee camp. In Tito’s vision, it was the first draft of a future socialist Yugoslavia.
Like any utopian experiment, it sought to bring its founding ideals to life—equality and solidarity at the heart of Yugoslav socialism.
Despite extreme heat by day, freezing nights, rampant diseases, and the many hardships of the desert, the promise of education and social emancipation—including gender equality—resonated deeply with the Dalmatian refugees, most of whom came from humble backgrounds.
Each family was housed in its own military tent. Soon schools, handicraft workshops, and newspapers were established, alongside a rich cultural life with painting classes, choir rehearsals, theatre performances, ballet, and football matches.
One of El Shatt’s defining features—later mirrored in socialist Yugoslavia—was its approach to freedom of religion. Rather than being suppressed, faith coexisted with socialist ideals. The camp’s final director was, in fact, a Catholic priest.
Throughout their time in the camp, partisans and clergy worked together to foster a sense of community among the Dalmatian refugees, who embraced socialist ideals while remaining deeply rooted in their Catholic traditions.
The El Shatt experience lasted a year, but for many, it stretched to three. As the People’s Liberation Army secured victories in late 1944 and early 1945, the long-awaited return of refugees to Dalmatia began—but at a slow pace.
On one hand, ships needed for repatriation remained tied up in military operations. On the other, British Prime Minister Churchill once again played a decisive role.
Wary of a communist landslide in Yugoslavia’s November 1945 elections, he deliberately delayed the refugees’ return. His efforts proved futile—the communists won by a decisive margin regardless.
Yet, for most of the 20,000 Dalmatian refugees, homecoming was postponed until 1946, a full year after the war had ended.
Read also: S4E17. Balkan sombreros
For decades, the memory of El Shatt endured in Dalmatian towns and cities. But from the 1980s onward, as ethnic tensions escalated—ultimately leading to the wars of the 1990s—any reminders of Yugoslav unity and socialist solidarity became targets for nationalist erasure.
After more than 30 years of historical neglect, the story of El Shatt is re-emerging in Croatia through various cultural initiatives.
These include Branko Radonić’s book El Shatt – Dalmatinci u pustinji (‘Dalmatians in the Desert’), Helena Klakočar’s graphic novel El Shatt – Fragmenti, Vladimir and Kalafat’s album El Shatt, and Ivan Ramljak’s film El Shatt – nacrt za utopiju (‘A Blueprint for Utopia’).
Read also: S3E9. The legend of fraternal Spomeniks
Pit stop. Sittin’ at the BarBalkans
We have reached the end of this piece of the road.
Today, at our bar, the BarBalkans, we try smokvovača, a distilled spirit particularly popular in Dalmatia, made from figs.
Smokvovača belongs to the rakija family, a category of spirits crafted through the fermentation and distillation of fruits or naturally infused with flavourings.
It is one of the sweetest rakija varieties, that is well known in Croatia’s coastal regions where fig trees are as much a part of the landscape as the waves of the Adriatic.
Read also: S4E13. Gastronationalism tastes like nothing
Let’s continue BarBalkans journey. We will meet again in two weeks, for the 14th stop of this season.
A big hug and have a good journey!
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