Discover how freedom of speech was defended under totalitarian rule — and how this story can inspire today’s students.

In this interactive webinar, Martin Klimza, lecturer from the Museum of the Victims of Communism in Košice (Slovakia), will take us deep into the world of samizdat – underground publications that became a lifeline of free thought across Eastern Europe.

You’ll explore:

  • how samizdat challenged censorship and official propaganda,
  • how forbidden texts were secretly copied, shared, and even smuggled abroad,
  • why Slovakia offers an example within a wider European network of dissent.

The session is designed for history and civic education teachers who want to bring the topic of freedom of expression to life in their classrooms.
You’ll learn how to adapt the topic to different age groups, integrate it with literature, history, and art, and avoid common pitfalls when teaching about censorship and resistance.

Participants will receive ready-to-use teaching materials and discover tested classroom methods.

The webinar will also showcase proven teaching strategies and first results from the international project Freedom of Speech Beyond Borders with presentation from Dr Gábor Danyi, project coordinator.

Join us to see how samizdat — once an act of everyday resistance — can become a powerful tool for today’s learners to understand and value the freedom of speech.

Martin Klimza graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2021 with a degree in modern history. In his dissertation he researched how the experience of the invasion of the Warsaw Pact in 1968 affected the decision making of people in regards to the Velvet Revolution in 1989. After graduating he returned to Slovakia and started working in the Museum of Victims of Communism, where he is in charge of education and workshops focused on secondary school students. In the four years of the Museum operating, more than 10,000 students have visited and were part of workshops regarding themes of violating human rights and persecutions during the communist era in Czechoslovakia. Klimza is currently undertaking a PhD at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University.

Date: 21 October, 5pm-6:30 pm
Speaker: Martin Klimza, Museum of the Victims of Communism in Košice (Slovakia)

Fill the registartion form to participate