Episode 4: Between remembrance and forgetting

It is hard work confronting the darker chapters of our shared past. When faced with horrors like those that occurred on Slovak soil during the Second World War, it is easier to look away. To try to forget.

Others still never learn about the crimes committed by the wartime Slovak regime against citizens of the country. About what neighbors did to neighbors.

Yet in what Hana Kubatová – who you will meet in the second main interview of this week's episode – calls the spirit of historian Tony Judt, nations and people can never move on from the misdeeds of our past if we do not acknowledge and remember. There is no other way forward.

So, as hard as it might be, I invite you to join me on another journey around Slovakia. I invite you – as the band Besna put it when speaking about their 2025 album Krásno, from which this episode's soundtrack is drawn – to face the darkness head-on, rather than averting your gaze.

Episode breakdown:

Intro segment: A case study of history concealed during a walk across the main square of Banská Bystrica
Slovak-language interlude #1: Empty spaces, with Zuzana Janíčková in Banská Bystrica
Segment 1: Remembrance work and reclaiming lost history, with Veronika Fishbone Vlčková in Bratislava
Slovak-language interlude #2: Bringing history alive and connecting it to the present, with Lubomir Morbacher in Bratislava
Two minutes about: The Slovak language, with Lucia Hasbach and Tomáš Polesensky, somewhere between Martin and Banská Bystrica
Segment 2: We can feel shame and we can feel pride, with Hana Kubatová in Prague
Slovak-language interlude: They felt relieved only when they tore down the synagogue, with Eva Paulechová in Čadca

Episode soundtrack: Zmráka sa by the Slovak post-metal band Besna, the opening track from the album Krásno. A special thanks to the band for agreeing to lend their music to this episode and for their support of the podcast more generally.

As always, you can reach me with questions, comments or just to say "ahoj" by emailing jeff@centraleuropematters.eu.

This episode was produced by Dávid Pál, and hosted and executive produced by me, Jeff Lugowe.

All photos taken by me, Jeff Lugowe