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Traces of History
Slovak Republic
Tatiana Kološtová
Born 1994 in Žilina, Slovakia
High- school student (Varšavská Gymnázium, Žilina)
“Outcast in his own homeland”(2010)
This entry focuses on the story of Antonín Stuchl born in “the first Czechoslovak Republic” on Slovak territory, despite both of his parents being Czech nationals. In 1939 Czechoslovakia was invaded by Nazi Germany and divided into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the puppet Slovak state. Antonín was 17 back then and he had to move to Czech territory due to ethnical reasons. During World War II he was forced to work in Germany . He managed to run off and hid at his uncle’s place in Moravia. After the war he got a college degree in architecture in Prague and started working in Žilina. His first task was to design the first urban plan for the city for which he is mostly remembered.
For her contribution, Tatiana was awarded the second prize in the Slovak history competition.
Slavomíra Krištofová
Born 1992 in Prešov, Slovakia
“Migration in the region of East Slovakia” (2010) together with Zuzana Andrejčáková
The main topic of this project is emigration in the eastern part of Slovakia in the 20th century. It first takes a look at the phenomenon of emigration in general and then tries analysing some possible social, political and cultural causes of emigration in the last century. The author focuses on the territories abroad, now inhabited by Slovak citizens and draws a parallel between life back home and the new existence in a foreign country. Her study case is John Puhak, a Slovak citizen now living in Pittsburgh, USA.
For their contribution to the Slovak history competition Slavomíra Krištofová and Zuzana Andrejčáková were awarded the first prize.
Zuzana Novakova
Born 1986 in Slovak Republic
Student (European studies and International relations; 2007-2008; Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal)
"Destinies of Family Badal in the history of 1920th Century" (2005)
Zuzana Novakova, former participant in EUSTORY´s Summer Academy "East - West: Europe after Communism and Reunification" in Berlin 2005, aimed at showing that history is not just an "abstract machinery", but rather a line of events that affects continuously the lives of individuals and their families. To underline this assumption and to show how the life of a single person and its descendants is influenced and modified constantly in the course of time, she analysed chronologically the history of one of her own ancestors: Jindrich Badal, a Czech craftsman, who was born in the beginning of the 20th century. In her competition entry Zuzana Novakova dealt with approximately 100 years of family history, in each of her work's chapter she concentrated first on the important historical events and political changes in that decade, while focusing in a second step on the lives of selected members of family Badal in that time.
For her research the author relied on literature, written after 1989 (due to doubts about objectivity of the contemporary sources from the era of socialism). She used material from the national archive (e.g. verdicts from the Court of Justice, correspondence with the Public Prosecutor's office) and analysed newspaper articles as well as personal and business correspondence of her family. Additionally she carried out interviews with family members (recapitulating memories about their family's history). Zuzana Novakova won the second price in the national competition "History of the 20th century in Destinies and Lives of a Family" in 2004/ 05.
Zuzana Jungerova
Born 1990 in Krompachy, Slovak Republic
Student (Gymnazium Skolska; Spisska Nova Ves)
"Vojtech Alexander - the pioneer of roentgenology" (2007)
To honour the effort of "a man, who sacrificed all his life and his health for the human progress" and additionally "to inform the people about an important person connected with Slovak history and especially with the Spiš region" was the main motivation behind Zuzana's research about the roentgenology specialist Dr. Vojtech Alexander. Together with a class mate, the 17-year old high school student went to libraries, archives and museums to find out more about the Slovak doctor Vojtech Alexander, who had a major influence on the use of X-rays. Zuzana decided to split her work into five parts, she wrote about Alexander's personal biography, historical events, that influenced his medical research, his main working areas and his contributions for improving the lives of others.
The author found out interesting facts about this pioneer in medical work and research: Dr. Alexander owned one of the first working places, where X-rays were used in all-day practice. Alexander's dedication later became his unfortunate destiny: he died from the effects of an intense flue combined with a damage health due to the radiation of the X-rays, he was working unprotected and intensely with. Additionally to her participation in a national history research competition, Zuzana Jungerova is actively involved with other extracurricular, historical work. She is contributing to an international project of the Jewish museum in Prague, called "Lost neighbour", in whose context she is researching about children victims of the holocaust. Furthermore she is also committed to a project called: "Renovation of the charm of the historical monument": Together with class mates, she tries to save the last Jewish monument - an old cemetery - in her home town Spisska Nova Ves.
With her competition entry: "Vojtech Alexander - the pioneer of roentgenology" Zuzana Jungerova won a third prize in the Slovak History Competition (2006/07): "The Inventions and Discoveries Change Our World: Search for Less-known or Unknown Inventions and Discoverers of 20th century in Slovakia".
