I research complicity and collaboration under fascism and communism, from the Holocaust to the postwar regimes, and how people navigate the ruptures between them, often in politically ambiguous ways.
I also engage in public debate on how these legacies shape democratic life today.
My work crosses history and political science, moves between the state and the village, and draws on archives across Europe, Israel, and the United States.
Bedřich Hrozný Prize, Charles University, 2026
Czech Science Foundation, Fascists into Communists, 2026–2029
Senior Research Fellowship, Vienna Wiesenthal Institute, 2026
Council, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, 2026–
Christian Nationalism, Nation-Building, and the Making of the Holocaust in Slovakia
Oxford University Press, 2025. Bedřich Hrozný Prize, Charles University, 2026.
How communal murder and betrayal intersected with nation-building during World War II.
Fascists into Communists
Book project, Czech Science Foundation, 2026–2029
How mid-level collaborators of the fascist Slovak state moved into positions of trust and influence under communism after 1948, and what this “muddled middle” reveals about continuity and rupture across autocracies.
Selected articles
“Civilizing the Village: Race, Progress and Genocide in Wartime Slovakia.” Journal of Genocide Research 27(4), 2025.
“Memory Wars and Emotional Politics: ‘Feel Good’ Holocaust Appropriation in Central Europe.” Nationalities Papers 53(2), 2025. With Jan Láníček.
“The Priest and the State: Clerical Fascism in Slovakia and Theory.” Nations and Nationalism 27(3), 2021. With Michal Kubát.
Public engagement
Speaker, “Nenecháme si ukrást budoucnost,” Milion chvilek pro demokracii, Letná Park, Prague, 21 March 2026.
“Banální antikomunismus nám o skutečných dějinách řekne jen málo.” Deník N, 27 August 2026.
“Došlo k zásadní změně: Přestali jsme se mýlit.” Seznam Zprávy, 13 August 2026.