Rare video from the funeral of Jan Palach

Prague, January 23, 2009

– The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes has obtained footage from the funeral of Jan Palach that was unknown until now. Its author is Ladislav Gahler; David Svoboda obtained it on behalf of the Institute. “I was eighteen at the time of Jan Palach’s funeral. As I had been interested in filming from the time I was fifteen or sixteen, and I had a camera at home, I didn’t hesitate and headed to Prague. I remember that the weather was quite bad; it was either snowing or raining. I also didn’t have much film material, so what is available now on the Web is all that resulted from that day,” Ladislav Gahler stated regarding his footage. He also took his still camera to Prague in January 1969. “But almost none of those photos turned out. At least the 8mm film footage survived,” he adds, and says that he had been hiding the footage at home all this time. Adobe Flash Player and JavaScript must be installed to view this video.