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Evžen Plocek (29 October 1929,
Evžen Plocek was a toolmaker by trade, but by 1968 had become deputy director of the car-parts company Motorpal and a candidate to the extraordinary meeting of the Czech Communist Party (see
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plocek, Evzen 1929 births 1969 suicides 1969 deaths People from Jihlava Prague Spring Self-immolations in protest of the Eastern Bloc Suicides in Czechoslovakia Suicides by self-immolation
Jihlava
Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia.
Historically, Jihla ...
– 9 April 1969, Jihlava) was a Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
man (reform communist) who committed suicide, at age 39, by self-immolation
Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature.
Etymology
The English word ' ...
as a political protest
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources.
The branch of social science that studies poli ...
. He is usually named together with Jan Palach
Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...
and Jan Zajíc
Jan Zajíc (died 25 February 1969) was a Czechs, Czech student who killed himself by self-immolation as a political protest.
Biography
He was a student of the Střední průmyslová škola železniční (Industrial Highschool of Railways) techn ...
whose self-immolations were similar political protests as Plocek's, but his death did not bring the same attention as the death of his predecessors.
Death
Evžen Plocek was a toolmaker by trade, but by 1968 had become deputy director of the car-parts company Motorpal and a candidate to the extraordinary meeting of the Czech Communist Party (see Prague Spring
The Prague Spring (; ) was a period of liberalization, political liberalization and mass protest in
the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected Secretary (title), First Secre ...
). On Good Friday
Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...
, 4 April 1969, several months after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia
On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...
in August 1968, Plocek set himself on fire in Míru Square (now called Masarykovo Square) in Jihlava
Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia.
Historically, Jihla ...
in protest at what he saw as Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
aggression. His was the fourth suicide by self-immolation
Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for its disturbing and violent nature.
Etymology
The English word ' ...
after an accountant, Ryszard Siwiec, set himself on fire in Warsaw on 8 September 1968 dying four days later in hospital, and two Czech students, Jan Palach
Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...
and Jan Zajíc
Jan Zajíc (died 25 February 1969) was a Czechs, Czech student who killed himself by self-immolation as a political protest.
Biography
He was a student of the Střední průmyslová škola železniční (Industrial Highschool of Railways) techn ...
, who burned themselves to death in Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
on 16 January 1969, and 25 February 1969, respectively. Just before his immolation he dropped a paper with the text: "Truth is revolutionary – wrote Antonio Gramsci
Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , ; ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosophy, Marxist philosopher, Linguistics, linguist, journalist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, Political philosophy, political the ...
" and "I am for a human face – I can't stand those without any feelings. Evžen". Evžen Plocek was taken to the Jihlava hospital, where he died on 9 April.
In spite of a number of difficulties, the workers at Motorpal were able to hold a public funeral in Jihlava. Not a word of Evžen Plocek's self-immolation made it into the central press, however. Today, there's a simple plaque on the ground near the place of Plocek's death.
See also
*Thích Quảng Đức
Thích Quảng Đức ( vi-hantu, , ; born Lâm Văn Túc; – 11 June 1963) was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who died by self-immolation at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quảng Đức was protesting the persecut ...
* Ryszard Siwiec
* Jan Palach
Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation in 1969 at age 20 was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resul ...
* Jan Zajíc
Jan Zajíc (died 25 February 1969) was a Czechs, Czech student who killed himself by self-immolation as a political protest.
Biography
He was a student of the Střední průmyslová škola železniční (Industrial Highschool of Railways) techn ...
* Romas Kalanta
Romas Kalanta (22 February 1953 – 14 May 1972) was a 19-year-old Lithuanian high school student who killed himself by self-immolation in an act of protest against the Soviet regime in Lithuania. His death provoked the largest post-war riots ...
* List of political self-immolations
This is a list of notable people who committed self-immolation
Self-immolation is the act of setting oneself on fire. It is mostly done for political or religious reasons, often as a form of protest or in acts of martyrdom, and known for ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plocek, Evzen 1929 births 1969 suicides 1969 deaths People from Jihlava Prague Spring Self-immolations in protest of the Eastern Bloc Suicides in Czechoslovakia Suicides by self-immolation