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Episode details

Radio 4,23 Mar 2016,11 mins

The Death of Jan Palach

Witness History

Available for over a year

In January 1969 a student set himself alight in protest at the crushing of the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia. Soviet tanks had rolled into the country the year before to bring an end to liberalising reforms. Jan Palach's funeral became, briefly, a rallying point for opposition to Soviet rule. This is a Made in Manchester Production for the BBC.

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