Nina Paulovicova was the first EHRI Fellow at the Jewish Museum Prague where she was based for two months in January-February 2012. She conducted research for her postdoctoral project 'The rescue of Slovak Jews in the final stage of the cleric-fascist Slovak state (1944-1945)'. The aim of this project is to offer a more nuanced interpretation of the rescue efforts in the period 1944-1945. More specifically, this project touches the raw nerve of the Slovak national ego: it aims to scrutinize and de-mystify 1944-1945 as a period of 'great willingness to help' the persecuted Jews.

Dr. Nina Paulovicova is currently a contract instructor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. She received her Masters at the University of Konstantin Philosopher in Nitra, Slovak Republic in 1997, and completed a programme in Holocaust Studies for Educators from Abroad at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem, Jerusalem in 2002. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 2012. Dr Paulovicova has written several books and articles and has presented her work at universities and conferences.

Nina’s fellowship at the Jewish Museum was very successful:

'As an EHRI Fellow at the Jewish Museum in Prague I was able to collect valuable material for my postdoctoral project. The Jewish Museum of Prague has a very rich and efficiently organized database of oral testimonies of Holocaust survivors, many of whom were Slovaks. Since there are only about two hundred Holocaust survivors left in Slovakia, the oral history project as conducted by the Jewish Museum in Prague represents an indelible and crucial source for my project. I managed to collect about 130 testimonies that yielded precious information on the problematic Slovak history in 1944-1945. As an EHRI Fellow at the Jewish Museum I could also conduct my research in the Security Services Archive in Prague. By doing so, I was given an excellent opportunity to integrate new findings with my previous research on the topic of the rescue of Slovak Jews in earlier stages of the Slovak state (1939 – 1943). More importantly still, the EHRI Fellowship allowed me to establish valuable personal and professional connections with young researchers in Prague. I was given an opportunity to discuss and present my work to the specialists on the topic, as well as Holocaust survivors and the general public. The administrative and academic staff of the Jewish Museum in Prague were extremely kind and helpful in every possible way. I am especially indebted to the Head of the Holocaust Department, Michal Frankl, who assisted me in a number of ways from the earliest stages of the organization of my research trip to Prague. Needless to say, Prague itself offered many possibilities and opportunities to explore the past of the Central European region, which only further embraced my passion for the history of Central European milieu.'

Find out more about Nina Paulovicova and the other 11 EHRI Fellows for 2012 >> ERHI Fellows 2012