Denis Cerkvenik, MA, young researcher

Institute for Historical Studies

Phone: +386 5 663 77 00 E-mail: denis.cerkvenik@zrs-kp.si

Research area:

  • History of the 20th century with the emphasis on the second world war
  • Second World War
  • Relations between the Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
  • Collaborationism
  • Nazi Recruitment of the soviet prisoners of war
  • Logistical importance of the Adriatic Littoral for Nazi Germany

 Biography:

Denis Cerkvenik completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the field of history at the Faculty of Humanities in Koper. His focus was on the relations between Slovenes and Italians at the border area of ​​the northern Adriatic; also, the connections between the Soviet Union and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. His master’s thesis on this topic was entitled “Views of Slovene politicians and businessmen on the Soviet Union at the time of Slovene independence” under the mentorship of prof. dr. Jože Pirjevec and prof. dr. Mateja Režek. As a part of the research, he conducted interviews with key politicians and businessmen who cooperated with the Soviet Union during Slovenia’s independence. During this time he also perfected his language skills in Russian (MESI, Moskovski gosudarstvenij universitet ekonomijej, statistiki i informatiki) and English (Tunisia, Crif Sfax and Tunisia). In 2017, he was selected as a young researcher under the mentorship of prof. dr. Egon Pelikan and is currently researching the topic of the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral.

 

Research:

As a part of the Institute of Historical Studies, he researches the topic of the Adriatic Coast Operational Zone (OZAK). Through one part of his research, Denis Cerkvenik explores the legal position of this area between Nazi Germany and the Italian Social Republic. The second part is the strategic importance of logistical connections that enabled the Nazis to connect the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas with the Third Reich through this area. The third area of ​​his research is foreign collaborationists brought to OZAK by the Nazis, especially the 162nd Turkestan Division and the Cossack Corps.

This young researcher is studying at the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts, and through this department he went on an ERASMUS + student exchange to Humboldt University in Berlin. The main purpose of this exchange was to research in the archives of the German Foreign Ministry (PAAA), the Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv) and the Military Archive in Freiburg. He also conducted research in the Slovenian archives of the Institute of Contemporary History and the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia.

 

Selected publications:

Nazi recruitment and training of Soviet prisoners of waron the example of the 162nd Turkestan Division (1942 – 1943), Prispevki za novejšo zgodovino, 2020, št. 3.

 

http://izumbib.izum.si/bibliografije/A20181204154124-50466.html