Commemorative plaque to Jan Palach

“Within a week of his birth, Palach’s parents brought their second son home to no. 337 in Všetaty. The small house remained Palach’s home for the rest of his short life.”

Jiří Lederer (from Jan Palach – a report on the life, act, and death of the Czech student)

Jan Palach spent most of his life in Všetaty, where he grew up and went to elementary school. He lived in a house where his parents used to run a sweetshop.

The small house is located near the Tišický stream, at the end of Smetanova street. Jan Palach’s room was at the first floor. On 16 January 1969, he left the house for the train station in Všetaty, where he took the 6:10 train to Prague. Libuše Palachová continued to live in the house for a few more years. Then she sold the house and moved to Kamenický Šenov to live with her second son Jiří. She died there on 24 September 1980.

As early as in 1969, proposals were made in Všetaty to place a commemorative plaque on the house in Smetanova street. This, however, did not happen until 1993, when the Jan Palach Society provided for its installation. The plaque reads “This is the place where Jan Palach lived and which he left in order to die for the FREEDOM of the Czech nation (1948-1969)”. There are regular commemorative events held at the house.