Bring us your First World War memories

University Library, Bratislava, 29-30 November, 2013 9.00 am – 5.00 pm

State Science Library, Košice, 6-7 December, 2013 9.00 am – 5.00 pm

Slovak National Library, Martin, 13-14 December, 2013 9.00 am – 5.00 pm

Do you have a box hidden deep under the bed containing letters, pictures or diaries documenting the life of your family 100 years ago? If so, then bring these items to Family History Roadshows in three Slovak cities to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the war and to save these memories from disappearing. This is your chance to preserve your personal stories and also to commemorate those who did return home from the Great War.

The First World War greatly affected those living in what is now Slovakia as the cemeteries and monuments in almost every village remind us. More than 400,000 men had to leave their families as soldiers of the former Austrian-Hungarian Army (15% of the total population). Their families struggled with a lack of food as harvests decreased by 50%. Almost 70,000 men never returned home and more than 61,000 returned heavily crippled.

Europeana, Europe's digital museum, library and archive, has been gathering personal stories from 1914-1918 and now the Slovak National Library (SNK) is bringing the Europeana 1914-18 project to Slovakia, one of 10 countries where people's memories will be recorded and not forgotten.

Family History Roadshows are being held across Europe. These events provide an opportunity for individuals and families to bring photographs, letters, diaries, or other materials from 1914-1918 which will help to document both military and civilian life during the First World War. All items will be photographed and digitised by experts and the personal stories that go with them will be recorded and preserved for future generations. Historians and experts will also be available to discuss the historical value of the objects. Once digitised, all these previously untold stories will be uploaded to www.europeana1914-18.eu and become part of Europe's historical heritage.

Roadshows will be hosted by the University Library in Bratislava (29-30 November), the Academic Library in Košice (6-7 December) and the Slovak National Library in Martin (14-15 December). People who will be not able to participate can contribute online by uploading pictures and their stories directly at www.europeana1914-18.eu.

By recording the stories of our grandparents, we can create new ways for teachers, students, historians, genealogists and the general  public to learn about history and about life – both the positive and negative sides – during the First World War.

Jill Cousins, Europeana's executive director, said:

'Memorabilia and stories are kept by families. They are hidden archives containing very personal stories of great historical significance. That's why our online archive, which is collecting material from across Europe in a series of roadshows, is so important. Europeana brings a new approach to cultural history, linking people's own stories to the official histories and showing the many-sided views of the same slice of history. We want to encourage people to create their collective memory of a war that affected the everyday lives of virtually all Europeans, no matter which side they were on.'

Katarína Krištofová, General Director, Slovak National Library, which is the main partner of the project Europeana 1914-18 in Slovakia, said:

'The Slovak National Library is very proud to be a partner of this unique European project which provides the opportunity to remember the First World War and to discover family stories, digitise them and to make them public for all Europeans and the world on the internet. Thanks to this project, Slovaks can record the personal stories that have been hidden for years in family archives. It is a chance to learn about the war from very different perspectives – both the military side and the daily lives of people who remained at home. We believe that many people across the country will bring their items and stories and that, thanks to them, we will discover more about an important part of our history.'

 

Contact

Miroslava Remenárová
Tel.  +421 903 789 707

miroslava.remenarova@crossline.sk

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About Europeana 1914-1918:

The project Europeana 1914-1918 is a joint initiative of Europeana, Oxford University and many local partners. Everyone is invited to share their private memorabilia from the First World War on the web. This could be photographs, letters, diaries, short films, audio recordings, objects and their stories that will be digitised professionally and added to the online archive, along with corresponding descriptions. Independently of the roadshows, everyone can contribute their digitised images and information to the website - www.europeana1914-1918.eu. Until 2014, the year of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One, we will collect memorabilia in digital form from many of the countries across Europe. The project aims to save people's family memories of this tragedy that convulsed Europe and make them accessible to the world.

About Europeana:

The Europeana 1914-1918 project is part of the Europeana platform (www.europeana.eu), Europe's digital library, museum and archive. Europeana collects and provides access to digitised material from libraries, archives, audiovisual archives and museums. It has more than 2,300 collaborating institutions and the website is available in 29 European languages. Europeana allows the public to discover and explore the cultural and intellectual heritage of Europe through a simple search engine and virtual exhibitions. Since its launch by the European Commission in November 2008, Europeana has grown to include 29 million documents and heritage works. All the stories and objects collected by Europeana 1914-1918 will be made available through www.europeana.eu