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Post Bellum SK was founded in 2011 as a partner organization of the Czech association Post Bellum o.p.s., which originated in 2001. Post Bellum SK is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, which promotes, protects and campaigns for human rights and freedoms via European Remembrance-inspired activities. The two main pillars of our work include documenting of the memories/testimonies of witnesses of the important historical phenomena of the 20th century (Czechoslovak veterans of the 2nd World War, victims of Holocaust and Stalinism, political prisoners of the communist regime in former Czechoslovakia, representatives of the dissent et cetera) and passing them on to the broader public, and educational workshops.

Legal form
Non-profit organization
Objectives

Our ambition and objective is to fight against the current radicalisation of Slovak society (with a special focus on young generation), which is coming hand in hand with negative phenomena such as support to far-right violence, Anti-Semitism or growing support of totalitarian regimes. We want to develop the potential of Slovak society (and especially of young generation) towards civil society and tolerance, and protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms, and democracy.

Main Activities

Memory of Nations

The collected testimonies are available on our international online portal Memory of Nations (www.memoryofnations.eu) and via our media partners, which include some of the leading Slovak media outlets such as Denník N, SME, Aktuality.sk or The Slovak Spectator. By September 2020 we collected – in cooperation with Post Bellum in the Czech Republic – over 10,000 testimonies.

Educational Workshops

The second pillar of our work is represented by educational workshops for primary and high schools. The workshops are based on experience-based learning and on testimonies of the real people from our archive. By January 2020 we conducted over 400 such workshops across Slovakia (thanks to the support from the European Commission / Europe for Citizens program, Active Citizens Fund and other donors). We have successfully implemented the workshops in cooperation with our local partners also in Romania and Bulgaria.

Magazine “Stories of the 20th Century)

In October 2018 we introduced the first two issues of our quarterly magazine Príbehy 20. storočia (Stories of the 20th Century). Currently the magazine has over 100 subscribers and we print 1,000 copies of each number.

Publishing Acitivites

In December 2018 we published our first book bringing the testimonies of Holocaust-survivors, who live in the senior house of Holocaust-survivors Ohel David in Bratislava, under title “Meeting of those, who survived Shoah”.

The Memory of Nations Award

Every year on November 17 (the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution), we organize together with Post Bellum in the Czech Republic “The Memory of Nations Award” in which 2 Slovaks and 2 Czechs are awarded for showing courage in a conflict with totalitarian state power in the past. The event takes place in the National Theatre in Prague and is broadcasted by both Slovak and Czech national televisions on their second broadcasting channel. In 2020 “The Memory of Nations Award” will celebrate its 11th anniversary.

Other Activities

We organise touring outdoor and indoor exhibitions – for example “Stories of the 20th Century” or “Iron – Velvet – Scissors: How The Totality Was Falling”. Currently we are preparing a new exhibition at the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII.

In January 2020 we launched (in a cooperation with news website Aktuality.sk) a podcast series “Stories of the 20th Century”.

Strengths

Post Bellum SK is the leading Slovak non-profit organisation active in area of so called European remembrance.

Our activities directly contribute to strengthening of civil society in Slovakia and contribute to defending of principles of tolerance, freedom, freedom of expression, democracy and human rights.

In Post Bellum SK we strongly believe that only people who are aware of history of their countries and societies will be able to cope with the past of totalitarian regimes in their countries, and also with the present and future challenges for civil society in the European Union (and Europe in broader sense).

Finance and Main Partners

Finance

Our activities are primarily financed from grants and support received from various foundations, funds, state institutions etc., for example: OSF/OSIFE, Orange Foundation, Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic, Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic,  Slovak Arts Council, Fund for Support of Culture of Minorities or Active Citizens Fund Slovakia. We have also received support twice from the Europe For Citizens – European Remembrance program operated by the European Commission. In addition, we also have income from individual donations and corporate fundraising (in a minor way).

Partners

We cooperate with a wide range of partners including media (Denník N, SME, Actuality.sk, Slovak-Jewish newspapers DELET, The Slovak Spectator etc.), The Museum of Holocaust in Sereď/Slovakia, Ohel David – Senior House of Holocaust Survivors in Bratislava/Slovakia etc.

Our main partner organisation is Post Bellum CZ, which received the The European Citizen’s Price in 2018:

https://english.radio.cz/post-bellum-prague-student-summit-prague-receive-eu-citizens-prize-8151544