Národní třída, 17 November 1989

Národní třída, arcade at no. 16 · Prague, Czech Republic · 1989-11-17

On the evening of 17 November 1989 riot police sealed both ends of Národní třída and beat a student demonstration commemorating Jan Opletal. Hundreds were injured; a rumour of a death spread overnight. Within days theatres and universities went on strike, the Civic Forum formed, and by the end of the month the Communist government had resigned. A bronze relief of outstretched hands in the arcade at No. 16 marks the spot.

The record

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Finding photographs

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• Wikimedia Commons — freely licensed images, with the licence stated on every file. This is the only source we republish from.
• The reference article — its own illustrations, and its citations to archives.
• Image search filtered to reusable licences — useful for tracing which institution holds a picture.
• National and municipal archives of Czech Republic, and the picture desks of newspapers published there at the time.

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Footage

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