1st Edition
A Woman Political Prisoner in Fascist Slovakia Unlearning Democracy
By Marína Zavacká
Copyright 2026
168 Pages
13 B/W Illustrations
by
Routledge
168 Pages
13 B/W Illustrations
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Mária Janšáková’s 1939 memoir offers a rare, deeply personal account of political repression in wartime Slovakia.
Detailing her imprisonment in the Ilava detention camp, she records the harsh physical and psychological conditions of daily life – from solitary confinement in mouldy cells to interrogation routines. Her attentive portrayals of fellow prisoners bridge their civilian identities with... Read more
1. Introduction 2. Mária Janšáková and her family 3. Disrupting democracy 4. The Ilava detention camp 5. Released but not free 6. Prisoner memoirs as a source 7. Mária Janšáková’s memoir Cell No. 20 Appendix Sources Index
Biography
Marína Zavacká is a senior researcher at the Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, focusing on history of propaganda and regime loyalties in the 20th century. As an external lecturer she also reads related courses at Comenius University, Bratislava, for the departments of History and of Russian and Eastern European studies. Her publications target both the academic and lay public.
