Recording from the webinar “Freedom of Speech Beyond Borders – the Power of Samizdat” from 21 October 2025.
This session explores how freedom of speech was defended under totalitarian regimes and how underground publications known as samizdat became a powerful medium of resistance across Eastern Europe. Designed for history and civic education teachers, it shows how the legacy of samizdat can inspire today’s students to reflect on the value of free expression.
Participants discover how samizdat challenged censorship and official propaganda, how forbidden texts were copied, shared, and smuggled abroad, and why Slovakia offers a unique example within a broader European network of dissent. The session also presents practical teaching approaches and classroom materials developed within the international project "Freedom of Speech Beyond Borders".
Speaker: Martin Klimza, lecturer at the Museum of the Victims of Communism in Košice (Slovakia). A graduate of the University of Aberdeen, Klimza researches modern Slovak history and leads educational workshops on human rights and political persecution under communism. He is currently pursuing a PhD at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University.
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