Небески знаци и земаљске прилике: астрономске појаве, метеоролошке промене и геолошка активност у Србији 1941. године

English title: Celestial Signs and Earth Conditions: Astronomical Phenomena, Meteorological Changes and Geological Activity in Serbia in 1941 

This article examines the relationship between natural phenomena and historical experience in occupied Serbia during 1941, focusing on astronomical events, extreme weather conditions, and seismic activity. Drawing on archival sources, contemporary press, diaries, and scientific data, the study reconstructs how climatic instability, floods, cold spells, heatwaves, earthquakes, and celestial phenomena intersected with war, occupation, and social disintegration.

The analysis demonstrates that, despite the dramatic historical context, natural phenomena were rarely integrated into dominant symbolic or political interpretations of the crisis. Instead of functioning as apocalyptic signs or collective metaphors, most environmental disruptions were experienced pragmatically, shaping everyday survival, public health, military operations, and agricultural production. Only selectively were they incorporated into religious, folkloric, or political narratives.

By combining environmental history with social and cultural analysis, the article contributes to scholarship on wartime everyday life, perception of risk, and the limits of symbolic interpretation in moments of extreme historical rupture. It situates environmental factors as an underexplored but structurally relevant dimension of the Serbian experience of 1941, complementing existing studies on occupation, violence, and political culture.