Vanished History

Tomas Sniegon is a historian and Senior Lecturer in European Studies at the University of Lund, Sweden. His research focuses on Holocaust memory in various historical cultures and on the development of the Soviet forms of Communism in Europe during the Cold War.

“Overall, this is an informative book [that]… may be especially useful for readers interested in the ongoing development of historical narratives in Europe generally, and in the Czech and Slovak Republics in particular.” · Holocaust and Genocide“Vanished History represents a major contribution to the field of collective memory and Holocaust studies in the Czech and Slovak republics [and] offers a thoughtful analysis of the Holocaust’s position in Czech and Slovak historical culture during ‘the long 1990s’.” · Judaica Bohemiae“The end result is a fascinating journey into the Czech and Slovak historical narratives of the 1990s…[an]important and original contribution to the growing field of Czech and Slovak Holocaust studies.” · Canadian Slavonic Papers: Revue Canadienne des Slavistes“Tomas Sniegon’s book makes an important contribution to the field. Its well-researched and persuasively argued empirical chapters offer a nuanced analysis of the Czech and Slovak historical narratives and also accommodate them in relation to Pan-European perspectives.” · American Historical Review“This is an important study, which should be read by anyone interested in Jewish, Czech, Slovak, and Czechoslovak history, and in issues of collective memory, historical consciousness, comparative cultures, dominant narratives, and the intensity of historical experience.” · Austrian History Yearbook“This book opens up important issues not dealt with extensively in the historiography so far. Unlike with some other post-Communist countries, and Poland in particular, there hasn't been that much interest in the topic of commemoration and historicisation of the Holocaust in post-Communist Czechoslovakia…The author should be praised for the critical distance with which he approaches the historical cultures in both parts of former Czechoslovakia and its actors.” · Michal Frankl, Jewish Museum in Prague

• List of IllustrationsIntroduction: Czechoslovak history’s velvet awakeningChapter 1. Czech and Slovak historical narrativesChapter 2. The Holocaust in Czechoslovak historical culture before 1989Chapter 3. The Holocaust’s uneven returnChapter 4. Schindler’s List arrives in Schindler’s homelandChapter 5. Pig farm as a Porrajmos remembrance siteChapter 6. The Slovak war history goes to EuropeChapter 7. The Holocaust-lacking historical cultures in Slovakia and the Czech RepublicConclusion                                                           References and literature