Prague Unveils Obelisk Commemorating Polish-Czech Hero

Philosopher and anti-fascist fighter Ryszard Siwiec set himself on fire in Poland in September 1968. It was a symbolic protest of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.

A new obelisk placed outside the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes on one Prague street, also named after Siwiec, will commemorate the act of the Polish hero. The obelisk was unveiled on the eve of the invasion anniversary on the 20th of August.

[Daniel Herman, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes]:
"The memorial has immensely symbolic meaning, everyone who will see it, will become a little familiar with the act of this man and will be aware that there are certain values that are to be put above one's own life."

Siwiec doused himself in a solvent and lit a match at the 10th Anniversary Stadium in Warsaw, where thousands of people, including leadership members of the Polish Communist Party, were celebrating a harvest festival. In his briefcase were leaflets with his last words: "I protest against unprovoked aggression against fraternal Czechoslovakia. I am dying so that freedom, truth and humankind will not die."

[Maciej Ruczaj, Polish Institute]:
"He is a man who is lonely, who is alone and at the same time he has a need to shake the conscience of the people, to get to people with some message, and he found this horrible, tragic, dramatic death as the only way to shake the conscience of people."

However, his protest did not shake anything at all. Even though thousands of people watched Siwiec burn, only a few people understood the reasoning behind it. Siwiec was quickly transported to the hospital and the harvest festival continued as if nothing happened.

In Czechoslovakia in 1969, several students also set themselves on fire to protest the invasion. The best-known is Jan Palach. His death triggered waves of protests in 1968 and also in 1989 which led to the Velvet Revolution and the eventual fall of communism in Czechoslovakia.

NTD News, Prague, Czech Republic.