In Děčín, a monument to Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc designed by architect Vávra was unveiled

Děčín – A monument to Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc was unveiled today in Děčín in front of the Evangelical church on Teplická street. This was done symbolically on the day of the 55th anniversary of Palach's act. The monument is named Light for Děčín and is one of the few dedicated to Palach and Zajíc. The architect designed it to be illuminated and interactive, with glowing palm prints representing students.

The architect originally intended to place a symbol of a heart or flame at the top of the artifact, but ultimately a star won out. "They didn’t die here nor were they born here. Here we have the positive message that we have freedom. I thought that the star is ultimately more because it shines, and we are not dealing with that suffering,” Vávra told reporters. The monument consists of glass set in metallic material. The architect revealed that while creating the monument using a method of layering differently colored glass, he cut himself. Drops of blood remained on the piece, which he considers symbolic traces.

According to Vávra, the handprints were provided by Palach's niece Andrea Palachová and Zajíc's sister Marta Janasová. When pressing Palach's palm, the monument lights up red, and when pressing Janasová's palm, it lights up blue. The monument is white, so the colors create a tricolor.

At the unveiling ceremony, singer-songwriter Bohdan Mikolášek performed his song "Silence," after which there is no applause. Following this, approximately 300 attendees observed a minute of silence in memory of both students. "At a time when they closed for a word, they forgot to make a paragraph to close you for being quiet and looking straight,” Mikolášek told reporters today, who wrote the protest song after Palach's self-immolation. He was also 20 years old at that time.

In the church, the Chairman of the Senate Miloš Vystrčil (ODS) spoke afterwards, praising that the monument was created in a place with which the students are not connected. "People, and there are not few among us, can do things that seemingly have no logic or meaning because they have no apparent connection to that place, but that is not true. What Jan Palach called for, we all need for a happy life,” Vystrčil said. The initiative to create the monument in Děčín was started by Pavel Randák, who told the Czech News Agency today that Palach's act has been commemorated in Děčín for many years.

Jan Palach set himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square 55 years ago. With his act, he wanted to awaken the nation from resignation and spur it to resist the incoming normalization. The twenty-year-old university student died from severe burns three days after his act, on January 19, 1969. Another student, Jan Zajíc, followed Palach's example and self-immolated in protest against normalization on February 25, 1969.

For 20 years, representatives of communist Czechoslovakia and the media remained silent about the actions of the students. A memorial event for the 20th anniversary of Palach's death in January 1989 unexpectedly turned into a strong protest against the regime. Thousands of people were not afraid to repeatedly express their dissatisfaction and risked a harsh response from the security forces. A few months later, the totalitarian regime fell. Since 2014, January 16 has been a significant day in the Czech Republic.

Today, people commemorated Palach's legacy in several places across the Czech Republic, especially in Prague.