Students of the University of Economics in Prague after arriving from a trip to the Soviet Union in 1967. Most of them are wearing military fatigues. Jan Palach is pictured below left (Hubert Bystřičan archive)
The Museum of the Memory of the XXth Century is selecting suitable exhibits for the upcoming exhibition in the House of Pážat at Hradčany. The museum has already acquired an object related to Jan Palach for its collections, which was donated by Jiří Mejstřík, a former representative of the student movement at the University of Economics in Prague in the second half of the 1960s. Jan Palach brought the military shirt from the Soviet Union to Czechoslovakia shortly before the August invasion. The fate of this object is described in the film, which is the first film in the upcoming series The Story of the Museum of Memory of the 20th Century.
In addition to Jiří Mejstřík, the film also features Hubert Bystřičan, who also studied at the University of Economics in the second half of the 1960s. "It was to him that Jan Palach addressed the postcard he sent on 16 January 1969 with his last letters. He and Hubert Bystřičan had known each other since 1967 from a trip to Kazakhstan, where they were on a work exchange with other students. His brother, Jiří Bystřičan, made a film during this trip to the Soviet Union. It is the only film in which Jan Palach is depicted", explains the author of the theme , Petr Blažek, who also acts as a guide in the film.
"We are pleased that we have already managed to acquire some interesting objects for the upcoming exhibition. We would like to thank everyone who has donated items to our collections. The film was made as a demonstration of how we want to work with them. We ask the public to participate in the form of the exhibition, which we plan to open after the reconstruction of the building," says Jan Kalous, director of the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century.
"In addition to commemorating key events and personalities, the opponents and victims of totalitarian regimes and the mechanisms of the functioning of these regimes, we also emphasize the values of human rights and the importance of democratic culture. However, we are also interested in family memory and objects documenting everyday life. We appeal to the general public to donate or lend us objects. We would also welcome the opportunity to make digital copies of documentary sources or photographs. If you are interested, please contact the museum secretariat, who will put you in touch with expert staff. Contacts are available on the museum's website," says Vít Fojtek, collections manager.
The film Rubaška Jana Palacha was produced by A News Production in cooperation with the Museum of Memory of the 20th Century.