had little trouble suppressing the events, as none of the relatively few witnesses have shown any particular desire to make the event more widely known. There was some gossip about the incident, with most people considering it a suicide rather than an accident, but the reason for it was unclear, and no one connected Siwiec's dramatic actions to contemporary political events. As publicist Stefan Kisielewski wrote in his diary two days after Siwiec's death, "There are rumours about a self-immolation [during the festival] but none knows the reason for it." Funeral Siwiec's funeral in Przemyśl was well attended, but did not turn into a political manifestation; it was guarded by police, and secret agents spread rumors aimed at damaging Siwiec's reputation. His family reported that while some acquaintances were supportive and aware of Siwiec's true purpose, many turned away from them, either intimidated by the authorities or believing the stories that Siwiec had been drunk or mentally ill. Siwiec's timing has been described as unfortunate, as he chose to commit his act during a dance (mazurka), at which time his cry was muffled due to the sounds of an orchestra playing. Some, like Tomas Kavaliauskas or Krzysztof Kąkolewski, have speculated that if he had chosen to act moments earlier, during a speech by Polish communist leader Władysław Gomułka, first secretary of the Polish United Workers Party, the commotion he caused would have likely interrupted it and his message might have been witnessed more widely. Publicist Antoni Zambrowski noted that many other self-immolators like Czech Jan Palach had cooperated with anti-communist opposition movements and left messages and other documents which helped publicize their activities; Siwiec worked alone and so the Polish anti-communist opposition with which he identified with was not aware of his action and the meaning behind it until much later. Radio Free Europe learned about the incident a few days or months (sources vary) after the incident but did not consider the message reliable nor newsworthy, as the broadcaster was also unaware of its political context. This changed only after the famous self-immolation of Palach in Prague four months later, on 19 January 1969, and after RFE received more information, which clarified the political statement that Siwiec wanted to make. The RFE broadcast about Siwiec aired in February, March or April (sources vary) that year. If Palach became aware of Siwiec's actions, it would thus have been due to