HIS 135
Unit 10: The Key Events of the Last Half Century

Palach Memorial

This bronze memorial, located across from the National Museum on Wenceslas Square in Prague, marks the spot that Jan Palach set himself on fire to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that brought an end to the Prague Spring of 1968. Palach carried out his suicide pact on 16 January 1969, dying three days later. Another student, Jan Zajíc, burned himself to death nearby on 25 February 1969, and he is also memorialized here. (The Memorial was erected after the fall of the communist regime.) Several other Czech students also took part in the self-immolation campaign. Photo credit Wikipedia Commons.

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