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Traces of History
Slovenia
Brina Grobelnik
Born 1987 in Ljubljana, Slovenia
Student (Marketing; University of Economy)
"Refugees in Slovenia" (2006)
"The attitude towards refugees is still pretty negative, but not quite as hostile as I had expected." That's how Brina Grobelnik, from the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, sums up the results of her investigation into the situation for refugees in Slovenia. How well do refugees fit into Slovenian society and what attitudes do they encounter in the state and society? To answer these questions, the student investigated both the immigration policy and asylum rights and, using a survey, public attitudes toward refugees. The 20-year-old author concluded: "I thought our country did very little for a large number of refugees and made no effort at all to improve their situation. In fact, I found that there are several governmental and non-governmental organizations dedicated to improving our problematic asylum policy." According to questionnaires, negative views about refugees are widespread and a further increase in the number of refugees would be looked upon with scepticism. But Brina Grobelnik also found that a considerable percentage of Slovenians support refugees, expect the government to assist them, and are open to personal contacts with them.
Brina Grobelnik received a third prize in 2006 for her work: "Refugees in Slovenia" in the Slovenian National History Competition.
Helena Ursic
Born 1989 in Sempeter pri Novi Gorici; Slovenia
High school student (Skofijska High school; Vipava)
"Anna Pracek Krasna - A commentator, journalist, writer and Slovenian with national sensibilities, in the USA"
In her work, Helena Ursic focused on the life and experiences of Anna Pracek Krasna: her life in the USA, her feeling of homesickness upon moving to a foreign continent, her sense of being torn between two cultures after her return from the USA to Slovenia. The author chose this particular eyewitness because she sensed that Anna Pracek Krasna played a special role among the many Slovenian emigrants, and she wanted to honour this role through her competition contribution. A significant portion of the work deals with Anna Pracek Krasna's reasons for emigrating. The western part of Slovenia, where Anna Pracek Krasna lived, was given to Italy as a result of World War II. The author learned that Anna Pracek Krasna and others were driven to emigrate from their Slovenian homeland by a feeling of political oppression and perceived pressure from the Italian government to assimilate.
With her work on: "Anna Pracek Krasna - A commentator, journalist, writer and Slovenian with national sensibilities, in the USA", Helena Ursic earned a fourth prize in the Slovenian National History Competition, whose theme was: "Migration.
