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Full Description
Explores cases of self-immolation as political protest against Communist occupation in the Soviet Bloc.
Living Torches in the Soviet Bloc 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.
Contents
Contents
Foreword 13
Introduction 15
S T U D I E S
Self-immolation as a form of radical political protest 23
Fiery protests in the Soviet bloc 28
Cases of self-immolation after 1989 35
Conclusion 38
P O R T R A I T S
Mykola DYADYK 59
Ryszard SIWIEC 67
Vasyl MAKUKH 95
Jan PALACH 113
Sándor BAUER 191
Josef HLAVATÝ 203
Jan BÉREŠ 221
Mykola BERESLAVSKIY 241
Jan ZAJÍC 251
Evžen PLOCEK 279
Michal LEVCÍK 303
Eliyahu RIPS 321
Bohumil PEROUTKA 333
Márton MOYSES 351
Romas KALANTA 361
Oskar BRÜSEWITZ 373
Oleksa HIRNYK 369
Musa MAMUT 401
Walenty BADYLAK 407
Liviu BABES 415
Vytautas VICIULIS 427
Bibliography and sources 435
List of abbreviations 443
Name index 447
Abstract: Living torches in the Soviet bloc 449
