With a traditional memorial ceremony at the statue of Jan Palach, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology commemorated International Students' Day, which falls on November 17. Although the event has been held for many years, this year was different in one way: the statue was moved to a new, more dignified location, and its creator, sculptor Jiří Netík, spoke at the memorial ceremony.

The attendees, including representatives of the staff, the academic community, and guests, were welcomed by FME Dean Jiří Hlinka. A wreath was laid at the statue of Jan Palach by student representatives Anna Imrichová and Petra Kalousková. The speakers then looked back on the times of oppression, the hopeful atmosphere of the Velvet Revolution, and the lessons we can learn from history today.

"Yesterday, we were at a discussion with priest and philosopher Professor Tomáš Halík, who said that we find ourselves at a crossroads at every moment—and society will go in the direction that we go. According to him, we should think more about who we are, where we are going, what we have achieved, and what we have not. Years ago, our faculty managed to find a few people, young students who were less afraid than others and became the driving force behind the revolutionary events at the faculty. We owe everything we have now to these people, so let's try to work every day to deserve our freedom and democracy. Because without work, it won't happen," recalled Professor Jiří Spousta, remembering the events of November 1989.

Vice Dean Radek Kalousek read a greeting from Professor Petr Dub, who also remembers the revolutionary period as a faculty employee. "We experienced a lack of freedom, which is why we value our freedom even more. We know how precious it is," he said.

The last to take the microphone was sculptor Jiří Netík, whose work "Sacrifice," commemorating the fate of Jan Palach, is a traditional symbol of the memorial gathering at FME. "I am pleasantly surprised by how many of you have come. We had to attend such events compulsorily, and I hope that things have changed in that respect," he said at the beginning, expressing his delight at the students' participation.

Netík recalled memories from 1968, when, as a fifteen-year-old, he saw Soviet tanks arriving, and from 1989, when, at the age of thirty-six, he happened to be in Prague during the so-called Palach Week. "Why did I make that sculpture? It's not really very beautiful... But it was a big impulse for me. I was in Prague on Wenceslas Square on the so-called Bloody Thursday. I got there practically by accident, and that's where it started: police batons, water cannons, arrests. And what bothered me the most: people were sitting in cafés around the square as if nothing was happening. And I feel that for a similar reason, Jan Palach – a student like you – made that very difficult decision. Not because of foreign troops, but because of our people. I think about it very often," admitted Netík.

This year, the statue of Jan Palach, "The Sacrifice, was moved to a more dignified location in the foyer of Auditorium Q. Next to it, you will now find a plaque with a quote from Jiří Netík describing the circumstances surrounding the creation of the work.