Join Dr Kelly Hignett for an exploration of the East European Gulag and the history and heritage of communist forced labour camps.

Speaker: Dr Kelly Hignett

'The East European Gulag: Researching the History and Heritage of Communist Forced Labour Camps in the former Eastern Bloc'.

In this seminar, Kelly will discuss her recent research into the history, legacy and contemporary heritage of communist-era forced labour camps across the former Eastern Bloc.

The paper will begin with the case of Jáchymov in the Czech Republic, the site of a notorious camp complex where an estimated 70,000 political prisoners endured forced labour in uranium mines between c.1948 and the 1960s. Kelly will then introduce some of the other camp sites that form part of her wider comparative research project, before reflecting on the challenges and experiences of researching the history and heritage of the ‘East European Gulag’.

Dr Kelly Hignett is a Lecturer in History specialising in the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe. Her research explores crime, social deviance and political dissent under communism and in the post-communist era, across Central and Eastern Europe and the former USSR.

Description supplied by the event organiser.