Student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Wenceslas Square in Prague in January 1969, insisting that there will be other `torches' unless the oppression of Czechoslovakia by Soviet forces is relaxed.

Five weeks after Jan's death, another student dies by self-immolation, becoming the second `torch'. Lawyer Dagmar Buresova tries to see justice done after the Soviet authorities cover the story up.

Eight months after Jan's death, Dagmar Buresova and the Palach family are still trying to set the record straight, but witnesses refuse to come forward for fear of reprisals from the Communist regime.