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Czech HistoryNew website presents the life and sacrifice of Jan Palach
It was one of the most remarkable single acts in Czechoslovak history, one
that still today evokes mingled shock and admiration. Now the documents,
reports, essays and films relating to the self-immolation of Jan Palach -
five months after the invasion of his country by Warsaw Pact forces – is
available to the public through a new website launched to commemorate the
life and sacrifice of the young activist. More
Current AffairsJan Palach statue promised by Prague city hall
Czechs are marking the 42nd anniversary of the death of student martyr Jan
Palach. He set himself on fire and later died in protest against the Soviet
led invasion of 1968 and retreat from the reforms, the so-called
‘normalisation’ that followed. The anniversary has relaunched hopes and
promises that Prague could finally get a statue to mark the self sacrifice
of the 20-year-old student. More
SpecialA world full of seekers: Christmas before and after the fall of communism
Exactly 20 years ago, Czechs and Slovaks were celebrating their first
Christmas for four decades without a hint of official
disapproval. While
the communists tolerated the trappings of Christmas – with Christmas
trees and traditional Czech Christmas carp in abundance – their tolerance
of Christian traditions was never more than skin deep. In the 1950s,
priests and members of religious orders were often locked up for their
beliefs, and the brief reforms of the 1960s were followed by another wave
of persecution, following the Soviet-led invasion of 1968. For this
programme I’m going to be talking to two people, who remember only too
well what it meant to be a practising Christian in communist
Czechoslovakia. They are the Protestant pastor, former Dean of the
Protestant Theological Faculty of Prague’s Charles University and former
dissident, Jakub Trojan, and the British translator Gerry Turner, who has
lived in Prague for many years and has had close links with the churches
here since before the fall of communism.
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