Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:27:33 +0200https://english.radio.cz/czech-martyr-jan-palachs-enduring-legacy-50-years-after-his-self-immolation-8141155© 2026 Radio Prague InternationalFifty years ago on January 16, a young Czech university student named Jan Palach doused himself in petrol and set himself alight at the top of Prague’s Wenceslas Square. Three days after staging this desperate attempt to rouse a demoralised Czechoslovakia in the face of Soviet occupation, he died in a burns clinic. Though his immediate political goals failed, Jan Palach inspired and steeled the resolve of countless others to fight for freedom during the two decades of ‘Normalisation’ that followed the crushing of the Prague Spring.encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/palachuv_pohreb.jpg?timestamp=1784195455 https://english.radio.cz/czech-martyr-jan-palachs-enduring-legacy-50-years-after-his-self-immolation-8141155 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9