The commemorative ceremony was opened by Mr. Antonín Stáně, Chairman of the board of trustees of Velehrad London, at the monument to Jan Palach sculpted by František Bělský in Velehrad´s garden. The opening words were followed by a minute´s silence and prayer for Jan Palach and all those who lost their lives in the struggle for a free Czechoslovakia.

Afterwards, the Deputy Czech Ambassador Jan Brunner gave a speech in the Velehrad auditorium. Among other things, he expressed how very important it is to commemorate Jan Palach´s legacy to new generations. Then powerful photographs from the funeral of Jan Palach on 25 January 1969 in Prague taken by Mrs. Markéta Luskačová were screened. Mrs. Luskačová who was personally present at the event, gave her moving impressions of Prague in January 1969, as did several other guests. The event was attended by about three dozen expatriates. At the end of the evening, there were refreshments provided by Velehrad London.

The Czech Embassy would like to thank Velehrad London for organising the memorial event to commemorate Jan Palach, whose important legacy still lives and will live on through similar events in the future.

The whole story of Jan Palach is available on this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Palach