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EB

EB

ONLINE

[Praga] : Karolinum, 2025

1 online zdroj (442 stran)

ISBN 978-80-246-6059-2 (online ; pdf)

ISBN 978-80-246-5968-8 (print)

čeština

The book presents the lives of those who chose self-immolation as a radical form of protest against the political oppression of Communist regimes in the Soviet Bloc between 1966–1989. While more than fifty such cases were identified during the relevant period, Petr Blažek focuses here on the twenty-one cases in which at least partial political motivation is apparent from historical sources.Many of the cases of the “living torches” were a radical response to the August 1968 occupation of Czechoslovakia by the armies of five Warsaw Pact member states and the suppression of the Prague Spring. After January 1969, the self-immolation of Jan Palach evoked a large wave of followers not only in Czechoslovakia, but also abroad, and greatly influenced other cases of “living torches” which continued to appear in the Soviet Bloc until the end of the 1980s. Although the conditions in the Soviet Bloc states were sometimes fundamentally different, these cases of self-immolation across states share a common disapproval of the totalitarian form of rule. They were often drastic responses from members of occupied nations, most of whom were Czechs, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and Poles, who rejected the enforced Communist regime and Soviet military presence. Some decided to sacrifice their lives to wake others from indifference and resignation. Even several decades later, their shocking acts not only provoke, but also lead us to reflect on fundamental questions of human life..

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Foreword (Lukasz Kaminski) 11 // Introduction to the Czech Edition 13 // Introduction to the English Edition 18 // Studies 21 // Self-immolation as a form of radical political protest 25 // Fiery protests in the Soviet bloc 30 // Cases of self-immolation after 1989 39 // Conclusion 41 // Profiles 59 // Mykola Dyadyk 64 // Ryszard Siwiec 72 // Vasyl Makukh 100 // Jan Palach 117 // Sándor Bauer 201 // Josef Hlavatý 212 // Tan Béreš 231 // Mykola Bereslavskiv 242 // Ian Zalic 251 // Evžen Plocek 277 // Michal Levčík 298 // Elivahu Rips 313 // Bohumil Peroutka 323 // Márton Moyses 342 // Romas Kalanta 351 // Oskar Brusewitz 361 // Oleksa Hirnyk 377 // Musa Mamut 387 // Walenty Badylak 393 // Liviu Babes 400 // Vytautas Viciulis 411 // Bihliooranhy and Sources 417 // Abbreviations 422 // Index of names 424 // Zusammenfassung 429 // Streszczenie 431 // Резюме 433 // Резюме 435 // Santrauka 437 // Osszefoglalas 439 // Rezumat 441