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Nothing was noticeable about the young man who was walking across Wenceslas Square in Prague in the early afternoon of January 16, 1969.
Around 2:30 p.m. he stepped to the edge of the semicircular fountain in front of the National Museum, took off his coat and bag, took a white plastic bucket he had brought with him and poured the contents over his head.
He waited a few seconds, then struck a match - and was instantly on fire.
There had been gasoline in the bucket.
Passers-by immediately tried to put out the flames.
Others called the ambulance, which immediately took the young man to the hospital, where he arrived at 2:45 p.m.
Jan Palach was approachable;
He whispered to a doctor that it was "his duty" to burn himself.
The place where Jan Palach set himself on fire
Source: picture alliance / CTK
Born on August 11, 1948, Palach came from a middle-class family that had lost everything but bare life as a result of imposed socialism.
Because his father died when Jan was just 13 years old, he was allowed to attend grammar school and study - first agricultural science, then philosophy from the winter semester 1968/69.
The trigger for the change of subject was certainly the invasion of mainly Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, which ended the dawn of the Prague Spring, which aimed to create “socialism with a human face”.
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Palach suffered from the occupation of his homeland and struggled: he demonstrated and took part in a strike at Charles University, wrote letters, suggested stronger protests, right up to the occupation of the Czechoslovak state broadcaster.
But it did not meet with any response - so he probably decided to take a radical act, public suicide.
Jan Palach's coffin at the funeral
Source: picture alliance / CTK
About 85 percent of his skin was burned, the doctors found.
Jan Palach had almost no chance of survival.
One day after the crime, Palach's mother and brother Jiří were given the opportunity to visit him.
On the same day, a psychologist at the hospital spoke briefly to him and recorded the conversation on tape.
He repeated the demands from his letters and said that he wanted to wake people up with his act.
However, his health continued to deteriorate - he was given painkillers, remained conscious, but his life was nearing its end.
Funeral march for Palach on January 20, 1969
Source: picture alliance / CTK
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On January 19, 1969 at around 3:30 p.m., the doctors officially declared his death.
His body was taken to the forensic medicine department, where a sculptor managed to remove a death mask from Jan Palach.
The pathologist entered “pneumonia as a result of the burns” as the cause of death in the death certificate.
That same afternoon around 200,000 people gathered in Wenceslas Square to commemorate Palach.
The police and, in the background, the Soviet occupation forces accepted this, as did the demonstrations on the occasion of his funeral on January 24, 1969. But after that, ruthless measures were taken.
Jan Palach became a symbol of resistance against Soviet socialist rule.
Of course, he has only been honored since 1990.
If you have the feeling that you need help with thoughts of suicide, please contact the telephone counseling immediately. On the toll-free number 0800-1110111 or 0800-1110222 you can get help from advisors who can show you ways out of difficult situations.
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