Nearly thirty years ago, Monika Vrzgulová took part in the very first oral history research project aimed at Holocaust survivors in Slovakia. That project transformed her professional as well as her personal life. The Holocaust as a scholarly subject and the oral history method have stayed with her to this day. This book summarizes her findings and the experience she has acquired researching Holocaust memory, combining memory studies, oral history, autoethnography, and reflexive writing methods. It presents data from two international research projects which took part in Slovakia too and are available to experts and the public online. The insights gained from this research are contextualised with the social situation in a country that is trying to come to terms with its past after the fall of Communism.
1. Introduction: A Brief History of the Holocaust in Slovakia.- 2. The Holocaust in Slovakia and Modes of Remembering: Communicative and Cultural Memory Since the Second World War to the Present.- 3. The Oral History Method and Holocaust Research in Slovakia: An Insider's Reflections.- 4. The Images of the Non-Jewish Majority in Survivors' Holocaust Memories.- 5. Jewish Neighbours in the Memories of Non-Jewish Eyewitnesses.- 6. Conclusion.
Monika Vrzgulová is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. In cooperation with non-governmental organizations, she applies the results of her research in education programs for Slovak secondary school students and teachers. From 2005-2017 she led the Holocaust Documentation Center in Bratislava.
Oral History and the Holocaust in Slovakia remains a deeply ethical, methodologically thoughtful, and emotionally resonant work. ... As both a scholarly contribution and a work of engaged practice, it shows that oral history is not only a research method but also a form of witnessing. This book will be of particular value to scholars of Holocaust memory, oral history, and Central and Eastern Europe, as well as to educators seeking ethically grounded approaches to testimony. (Nino Natroshvili, The Oral History Review, March 10, 2026)
The book's foundation in the methodology of oral history is both its strength and its central contribution. The author, an expert in the field, reflects on nearly three decades of conducting interviews, offering both theoretical and practical insights. it's an essential text for scholars of the Holocaust, oral history, and Central European studies. The book serves as a reminder of the power of oral history to challenge dominant narratives, recover lost voices . (Denisa Ne táková, Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung, Vol. 74 (3), 2025)
