The project responds to one of the most pressing issues (not only) of the 21st century – that is, the phenomenon of migration and related topics. The aim is to show that migration is not just a matter of humanitarian aid or a potential security risk. Using past examples, the research team intends to demonstrate that migration can be understood as a mutually enriching process, from both the perspective of the newcomers and the society that receives them.

The project is primarily based on research into the Russian emigration in interwar Europe. The focus is on the study of key figures in the history of the 20th century, namely emigrant intellectuals who left Russia as a result of the civil war and the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. Emphasis is placed on their contribution to European society in the fields of science and culture.

Special attention is paid to the situation in Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, when the government, through the so-called Russian relief action, invited intellectuals and students from the ranks of refugees from Bolshevik Russia and offered them the opportunity to continue their studies or scientific and cultural activities. The "Czechoslovak Way", i.e. the active support of selected emigrants, draws attention to the cultural and social benefits that an open approach to the issue of migration can bring.

In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was extended to include border closures and quarantine measures in the 20th century, which painfully affected migrants. In the context of public health rules, state borders have become obstacles to the development of science and creativity, which could often be politically abused.

The project wishes to open a debate on the phenomenon of migration in modern history with the help of audiovisual and textual materials. In addition to scientific research, a large part of the project is also devoted to the communication of scientific outputs to the general public through documentary and animated films and public lectures. The results of the research will also be transferred to the curriculum for secondary schools.

The main outputs of the project – scholarly studies and articles, public lectures and discussions, as well as comic books and documentaries – therefore try to grasp the phenomenon of migration in its complexity, from traumas associated with fleeing the homeland and difficult life paths to issues related to troublesome and often unexpectedly enriching integration.

Research team

• prof. Ivan Foletti, MA, Docteur ès Lettres
• Adrien Palladino, MA, PhD
• Karolina Foletti, MA
• Mgr. Sabina Rosenbergová
• Bc. Margarita Khakhanova
• Mgr. Martin Lešák, Ph.D.

Graphic and animation team

• Mgr. Anna Kelblová
• Mgr. Michele Foletti
• Mgr. art. Kristýna Smrčková
• Mgr. Gajane Achverdjanová
• Mgr. Jana Čuprová

Administrator

• Mgr. Marie Okáčová, PhD

Collaborators

Zuzana Urbanová, Michaela Kolářová, Berta Skalíková, Paulína Horváthová, Kateřina Jůzlová, Ivana Rapoš Božič, Jan Krotký, Helena Konečná

Animated films

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Documentary films

Teaching programme

The programme focuses on the period of the First Republic and the question of the reception of refugees from the former Tsarist Russia. It is based on a critical examination of contemporary newspaper articles that speak (both positively and negatively) about the emigrants. In this way, it indirectly raises the currently very sensitive topic of emigration, but the intention is not to debate the current situation, but to reveal the (recurrent) ways in which the topic is treated in the public space. The programme is scheduled for three lessons, involving the following activities: 1. screening of the documentary film Refugees and Czechoslovakia in 1918–1948. Russian Action (25 minutes); 2. a game with a timeline and cards representing key historical events; 3. a summary of the information presented in the game; 4. a demonstration of how to read a text critically using a selected newspaper article as an example; 5. work with contemporary articles in pairs and groups; 6. a moderated discussion of the texts; 7. feedback.

Materials for download

• Programme manual
• Accompanying presentation (.ppt)
• Documentary film The Potential of Migration
  We will be happy to send you the entire film. Please write to anna.kelblova@phil.muni.cz, with "Russian Action Documentary" in the subject line. We will send you the file asap.
• Cards for the opening game
  Print on A3, double-sided, without margins.
• Contemporary newspaper articles (print on A2)
  We recommend printing full pages on A2 format. Alternatively, you can use cut-outs with individual articles and print on A3.
• Contemporary newspaper articles (print on A3)
• Brief description of materials used

Books

Panel exhibition

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The panel exhibition dedicated to Russian emigrants from Tsarist Russia includes fifteen information panels and is divided into three thematic areas: the first focuses on the so-called Russian Action and the attitude of the Czechoslovak government and society towards Russian emigrants; the second presents the lives of the students of the Russian high school in Moravská Třebová; and the third one is devoted to the stories of individual figures: the poet Irina Knorring, the writer Irène Némirovsky, and the journalist Hélène Iswolsky.

We are happy to provide the panel exhibition free of charge to high schools and cultural institutions. If you are interested, please contact anna.kelblova@phil.muni.cz, with "Panel exhibition - loan" in the subject line.

For a detailed view of the panels, click HERE

Lectures

Evening programme

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Posters