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   Death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski

On Saturday morning April 10 2010, President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and his wife along with an official government delegation were killed in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia. The crash occurred as they flew to a commemoration ceremony for 22,000 Polish military officers and other elite murdered by the Soviet forces at Katyn in April 1940. All 96 people aboard President’s plane died.
While trying to land in heavy fog the Presidential Tupolev 154 airplane flipped upside down after shearing off its wingtip and plowed into the ground less than 400 yards from the airport runway. The cockpit voice recorder captured the last sounds of the airplane clipping a tree before the recording cut out. Many top Polish military officials, lawmakers and leading historical figures from the nation's recent history died in the crash.

Fatalities included the country's army chief, the deputy foreign minister, the Central Bank governor, and scores of other officials, legislators as well as the crew members. Also aboard the plane were war veterans, surviving relatives of Poles killed by the Soviets, and representatives of various religious denominations. Among the notable Polish historic figures who died in the crash were 90-year-old Ryszard Kaczorowski, Poland's last "President-in-exile" during the Soviet years, and 80-year-old Anna Walentynowicz, the shipyard worker whose dismissal in 1980 sparked the protests that led to the formation of the Solidarity trade union and ultimately to the collapse of Polish communism and the fall of the Iron Curtain.
"Perhaps I poured so many tears in my life so that on my behalf someone would laugh at least once more in their life." Anna Walentynowicz, September 9, 1980.

Many Poles called the tragic accident one of the worst disasters since the Second World War. Flags around the country were lowered to half-staff. Some residents taped black ribbons to their windows; others wept as televisions broadcasted the news. Immediately after the news broke tens of thousands of Poles instinctively assembled at the Presidential Palace bringing flowers and votive candles. The Polish national anthem "Poland has not perished while we are alive…" was often spontaneously sung. A week of national mourning was declared, sports and entertainment events were postponed and shopping malls and most restaurants were closed.

The tragedy gripped Poland with particular emotional force in part because the plane crashed near a site notorious in Polish history: the Katyn forest where 70 years ago the Soviet secret police slaughtered thousands of Polish officers and other elite - doctors, professors, lawmakers, police officers, public servants, landowners, factory owners, lawyers, priests- and dumped their bodies into mass graves. President Kaczynski and his delegation were to attend a Mass to commemorate this 70th anniversary of the massacre. As some pointed out, the crash occurred on Saturday, the eve of the Second Sunday of Easter (Assumption Day), exactly the same holiday eve that Pope John Paul II died five years earlier, which was also a Saturday. The stark irony of the crash elevated President Kaczynski's death to an event regarded worldwide not only as the loss of a country’s leader, but also as an echo of Poland's most torturous historic moments.

Condolences immediately followed from leaders and political figures from around the world, including all European countries, Brazil, Canada, Iran, Kenya, Russia, USA, Venezuela, and many more. The European Union as well as several countries declared a national day of mourning.
In expressing his condolences to the Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said: “In this accident, Poland has lost some of its most brilliant and dedicated patriots and public servants—citizens who have transformed their country into a model of peace and prosperity at the center of the Euro-Atlantic community.”
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned the Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to offer her personal condolences. In a statement issued shortly after she learned of the catastrophe, she said: "Lost alongside President Kaczynski and his wife were Polish leaders from across the political spectrum, men and women who shaped and sped Poland's post-1989 democratic transformation and were leading Poland into its promising future."
The European Parliament held a special ceremony where all the names of the crash victims were read by Polish and non-Polish parliament members. During the following week, churches around the globe filled with people in memory of the tragedy in Smolensk. Several foreign officials, including the Belgian Prime Minister, spoke in Polish during the ceremonies. The Pope addressed crowds at the Vatican also in Polish. The U.S. Senate passed a resolution expressing sympathy with the people of Poland. Victims of the airplane crash were also honored by a minute of silence before soccer matches throughout Europe.

On April 10, the day of the plane crash, memorial service prayers were organized in Polish communities around the globe. News of the Masses to mourn Poland’s tragedy spread quickly by email and text messages. The Polish church in Los Angeles filled at virtually a moment’s notice for a 6pm Mass.

President Lech Kaczynski, was a fervent Catholic who battled communism during the Cold War and matured into a staunchly conservative politician. President Kaczynski and his cabinet presided over a period of prosperity where based on certain measures the Polish economy has grown to become the 18th largest in the world, a free press where people can openly speak their mind, and a stable democratic system where voters elect their leaders. He was a loving family man, often displaying his affection in public. President Kaczynski is the first Polish leader to die in office since the exiled World War II hero General Wladyslaw Sikorski perished in a plane crash off Gibraltar in 1943.

On April 17, 2010 about 100,000 people witnessed the official funeral for the crash victims in Warsaw at and around the Pilsudski Square. Elsewhere in Warsaw and in other cities throughout Poland the funeral was watched on giant TV screens. Sirens sounded and bells tolled around the country. Thousands upon thousands of decorative candles covered town squares across Warsaw. So many, that officials had to select specific zones for placing candles and called for scouts to keep order there.

In Krakow, the next day on Sunday, over 150,000 city residents and about 5,000 official delegates from around the world, including the Russian President and Prime Minister as well as foreign ambassadors, assembled to mourn at the funeral of President Kaczynski and the first lady, Maria Kaczynska. The elaborate state funeral was bereft of many world leaders whose travel plans were paralyzed by a plume of volcanic ash from Iceland that blanketed Europe forcing nearly all airports to close. U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and leaders from Japan, Korea, and China were among those who canceled at the last minute. However, the volcanic ash did not deter everyone as leaders from other countries, including the Baltic and Balkan states, arrived by car. The funeral Mass was held at St. Mary's Basilica, a 13th-century red-brick Gothic church. Inside, scores of Poland's political elite were seated in the ancient pews, shoulder to shoulder with leaders from Armenia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and other countries.

In his memorial remarks Solidarity leader Janusz Sniadek said, "You have reminded us what it means to be a Pole….we have come to testify that there cannot be a better world without solidarity. There is no Warsaw or Krakow or Gdansk today. There is just one united Poland, her thoughts deep in mourning." His words were well received and applauded by thousands outside the church.

The caskets of the Presidential couple were laid down at the historic Wawel Cathedral, the final resting place for Poland's kings, poets and statesmen, including General Wladyslaw Sikorski (the exiled World War II leader who died in a mysterious plane crash off Gibraltar in 1943), Tadeusz Kosciuszko (hero of the American Revolution and of Poland's 1794 uprising against Russia's occupation), Jozef Pilsudski (Prime Minister and leader of Poland from 1926 until his death in 1935), and Romantic-era poet Adam Mickiewicz. Photos of all plane crash victims were placed afterwards next to the presidential coffin.

In downtown London, the funeral was shown live on a giant screen and it was also telecast in many other locations worldwide despite the time difference. Separate funerals for the other victims were held over the next few days and were also well attended.

Memorial services were also held worldwide. In Los Angeles more than 400 people of Polish descent, many holding white and red striped Polish flags, gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels for a Mass with Cardinal R. Mahoney. During the traditional Mass, Cardinal described the faith of the Polish people as an example to Catholics all over the world. "Today, as we are in solidarity with our Polish brothers and sisters, we are actually inspired by that deep spirit that no secular government has been able to diminish or to quench," the Cardinal said.

By special declaration of Georgian President M. Saakashvili, President Kaczynski was awarded the title of 'National Hero of Georgia' "for showing heroism in defending Georgia's interests" internationally. President Kaczynski was strong supporter of Georgia in its conflict with Russia. Former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski said in television interview, "It [Katyn] is a cursed place. First the flower of the Second Polish Republic is murdered in the forests around Smolensk, now the elite of the Third Polish Republic die in this tragic plane crash when approaching Smolensk North Airport."

The commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre was mired in a political conflict between the liberal government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the conservative opposition of President Kaczynski. On April 7, Prime Minister Tusk, along with government officials and members of his party, attended a ceremony in Katyn on invitation from Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The official commemoration, organized by the Polish Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, was scheduled for April 10, the date when the tragic accident occurred.
Nevertheless, both the ruling coalition and opposition were represented on board the fateful plane with members from both chambers of parliament being present. Among the many passengers actively opposed to Prime Minister Tusk's policies and his liberal approach to Russia were President Kaczynski, President of the National Bank of Poland—Slawomir Skrzypek, President of the National Institute of Remembrance—Janusz Kurtyka, and Ombudsman—Janusz Kochanowski

The silver lining of the Smolensk plane tragedy may lie in the unprecedented worldwide publicity, including on Russian television, given to the 1940 Katyn massacre, which hitherto had been relatively unknown outside of Poland. More Russian documents on Katyn are being declassified and files are being published online. Many families of the Stalin regime’s victims are hoping that these newly released documents will finally reveal the names of thousands of missing and unaccounted Polish officers and elite.

Names of those who died in crash at April 10 2010:
Kaczynski Lech –President of Poland
Kaczynska Maria –First Lady and President’s wife
Kaczorowski Ryszard -Poland's last President-in-exile
Agacka-Indecka Joanna
Bakowska Ewa –granddaughter of general Mieczyslaw Smorawinski
Blasik Andrzej –the Commander of Poland’s Air Force
Bochenek Krystyna -Deputy Senate Speaker
Borowska Anna Maria –Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Borowski Bartosz - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Buk Tadeusz, - the Commander of Poland's Land Forces
Chodakowski Miron –Chaplain of the Polish Army (Orthodox)
Cywinski Czeslaw –President of Polish Underground Army (AK) World Alliance
Deptula Leszek –Member of Parliament
Debski Zbigniew
Dolniak Grzegorz - Member of Parliament
Doraczynska Katarzyna -Member of President's Chancellery
Duchnowski Edward –Secretary General of Siberian Association
Fedorowicz Aleksander –Translator of Russian
Fetlinska Janina –Senator
Florczak Jaroslaw - Government Protection Bureau
Francuz Artur - Government Protection Bureau
Gagor Franciszek -Army chief of Staff
Gesicka Grazyna - Member of Parliament
Gilarski Kazimierz –head of Warsaw Garrison
Gosiewski Przemyslaw - Member of Parliament
Gostomski Bronislaw –Catholic Priest
Handzlik Mariusz -Minister at the President's Chancellery
Indrzejczyk Roman –Presidential Chaplin
Janeczek Pawel - Government Protection Bureau
Jankowski Dariusz
Jaruga-Nowacka Izabela - Member of Parliament
Joniec Józef –head of Association “Parafiada”
Karpiniuk Sebastian –Member of Parliament
Karweta Andrzej -Commander of Polish Navy
Kazana Mariusz –Foreign Ministry
Kochanowski Janusz -the Civil Rights Commissioner.
Komornicki Stanislaw -Chapter Representative of the Military Order of Virtutti
Komorowski Stanislaw – Under Secretary of the Defense Ministry
Krajewski Pawel -Government Protection Bureau
Kremer Andrzej -Deputy Foreign Minister
Król Zdzislaw –Chaplain of Warsaw’s Katyn Families 1987-2007
Krupski Janusz –Head of he Office for the Rights of Combatants and Repressed Persons
Kurtyka Janusz -President of the National Institute of Remembrance (IPN) which investigates communist-era crimes
Kwasnik Andrzej –Chaplain of Federation of Katyn Families
Kwiatkowski Bronislaw –Operational Head of the Polish Armed Forces
Lubinski Wojciech –President’s Doctor
Lutoborski Tadeusz - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Maminska Barbara –Director of President’s Chancellery
Mamontowicz-Lojek Zenona -Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Melak Stefan –President of Katyn Committee
Merta Tomasz -Deputy Culture Minister
Michalowski Dariusz – Government Protection Bureau
Mikke Stanislaw -Vice Chairman of ROPWiM
Natalli-Swiat Aleksandra –Member of Parliament
Natusiewicz-Mirer -Janina
Nosek Piotr - Government Protection Bureau
Nurowski Piotr -head of Poland's Olympic Committee
Orawiec-Loeffler Bronislawa - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Osinski Jan –field Chaplain of Polish Army (Catholic)
Pilch Adam – Field Chaplin (Evangelical)
Piskorska Katarzyna - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Plazynski Maciej –head of Association "Wspólnota Polska" Ploski Tadeusz –Filed Chaplin of Polish Army
Pogródka-Wieclawek –Government Protection Bureau
Potasinski Wlodzimierz –Chief of Special Forces Przewoznik Andrzej –Secretary of the Institute of Military History
Putra Krzysztof -Deputy Speaker of Parliament
Rumianek Ryszard
Rybicki Arkadiusz –Represented Polish Parliament
Sariusz-Skapski Andrzej -President of Federation of Katyn Families
Seweryn Wojciech - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Skrzypek Slawomir –President of the National Bank of Poland
Solski Leszek - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Stasiak Wladyslaw -Head of President's Chancellery
Surówka Jacek - Government Protection Bureau
Szczyglo Aleksander -Head of the National Security Bureau
Szmajdzinski Jerzy -Deputy Speaker of Parliament
Szymanek-Deresz –Memeber of Parliament
Tomaszewska Izabela -President's Chancellery
Uleryk Marek - Government Protection Bureau
Walentynowicz Anna -Mother of Solidarity freedom movement
Walewska-Przyjalkowska Teresa -Foundation "Golgota Wschodu"
Wasserman Zbigniew –Memeber of Parliament
Woda Wieslaw - Memeber of Parliament
Wojtas Edward - Memeber of Parliament
Wypych Pawel -Minister and President's Chancellery
Zajac Stanislaw –Senator
Zakrzenski Janusz –Film and Theatrical Actor (played roles of Soviets’ victims from Katyn forest)
Zych Gabriela - Representative of Katyn Families and other organizations
Plane crew members:
Protasiuk Arkadiusz -Captain
Grzywna Robert –Crew Member
Michalak Andrzej –Crew Member
Zietek Artur –Crew Member
Maciejczyk Barbara -Stewardess
Januszko Natalia -Stewardess
Moniuszko Justyna -Stewardess

Below is the text of the speech that Lech Kaczynski was going to deliver at the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Katyn massacre. "Dear Representatives of the Katyn Families. Ladies and Gentlemen. In April 1940 over twenty-one thousand Polish prisoners from the NKVD camps and prisons were killed. The genocide was committed at Stalin’s will and at the Soviet Union’s highest authority’s command. The alliance between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact and the Soviet attack on Poland on 17 September 1939 reached a terrifying climax in the Katyn massacre. Not only in the Katyn forest, but also in Tver, Kcharkiv and other known, and unknown, execution sites citizens of the Second Republic of Poland, people who formed the foundation of our statehood, who adamantly served the motherland, were killed. At the same time families of the murdered and thousands of citizens of the eastern territory of the pre-war Poland were sent into exile deep into the Soviet Union, where their indescribable suffering marked the path of the Polish Golgotha of the East. The most tragic station on that path was Katyn. Polish officers, priests, officials, police officers, border and prison guards were killed without a trial or sentence. They fell victims to an unspeakable war. Their murder was a violation of the rights and conventions of the civilized world. Their dignity as soldiers, Poles and people, was insulted. Pits of death were supposed to hide the bodies of the murdered and the truth about the crime forever. The world was supposed to never find out. The families of the victims were deprived of the right to mourn publicly, to proudly commemorate their relatives. Ground covered the traces of crime and the lie was supposed to erase it from people’s memory. An attempt to hide the truth about Katyn – a result of a decision taken by those who masterminded the crime – became one of the foundations of the communists’ policy in an after-war Poland: a founding lie of the People’s Republic of Poland. It was the time when people had to pay a high price for knowing and remembering the truth about Katyn. However, the relatives of the murdered and other courageous people kept the memory, defended it and passed it on to next generations of Poles. They managed to preserve the memory of Katyn in the times of communism and spread it in the times of free and independent Poland. Therefore, we owe respect and gratitude to all of them, especially to the Katyn Families. On behalf of the Polish state, I offer sincere thanks to you, that by defending the memory of your relatives you managed to save a highly important dimension of our Polish consciousness and identity. Katyn became a painful wound of Polish history, which poisoned relations between Poles and Russians for decades. Let’s make the Katyn wound finally heal and cicatrize. We are already on the way to do it. We, Poles, appreciate what Russians have done in the past years. We should follow the path which brings our nations closer, we should not stop or go back. All circumstances of the Katyn crime need to be investigated and revealed. It is important that innocence of the victims is officially confirmed and that all files concerning the crime are open so that the Katyn lie could disappear forever. We demand it, first of all, for the sake of the memory of the victims and respect for their families’ suffering. We also demand it in the name of common values, which are necessary to form a foundation of trust and partnership between the neighboring nations in the whole Europe. Let’s pay homage to the murdered and pray upon their bodies. Glory to the Heroes! Hail their memory!”

Aftermath:
On 6 June, 2010 it was reported that payments had been made from a credit card found on the body of historian Andrzej Przewo'nik, one of the victims of the crash. Credit cards belonging to the politician Aleksandra Natalli-'Swiat were also missing but were not used in any transactions. On 8 June 2010, ITAR-TASS reported that four soldiers of Unit 06755 had been charged in connection with the theft, after being found in possession of three credit cards used in illegal transactions. The first withdrawals using the cards had been made around two hours after the crash. The Russian government's immediate reaction was to promise to "give back" the amount stolen from the cards after the thieves are convicted.

Public pressure on the Polish government to call for an international investigation into the plane crash grew as tens of thousands of people signed petitions. The independent news website Bibula and other Polish news services reported that U.S. Congressman Peter King of New York also called for an investigation. The question at hand was whether the accident could have been prevented or minimized. Wikipedia, citing an article from the Charleston Mercury written by the President of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and a former CIA analyst, indicates “that political violence should not be ruled out under the circumstances of the plane crash.”

On July 10, investigators revealed that the GPS height data given by the Smolensk airport authority was incorrect and was not updated before the flight even though requests for this information had been made. News agencies also reported that the radio-light signal navigation was 50 meters off course. On June 6, the Polish newscast “Teleexpress” and magazine ‘’Fakty” stated that an extra person in the control tower during the tragic landing had still not been questioned or identified. According to another Polish newscast from the same day, the control tower indicated worse conditions than actual perhaps in order to scare the pilots from a landing attempt. On June 8, news surfaced that even the pilot’s requests of navigating the plane with help of Russian aboard (a method not in practice since 2009) and about airport equipment went unanswered. On June 18, media reports began stressing that neither transcripts of communication between the Smolensk control tower and Moscow, nor information about specific technical equipment (e.g., radar) in use, had been released although requests for both had been made.

It is still unknown why the control tower did not notice or indicate that the plane’s altitude was 100 meters above normal during the first landing attempt. The poor lighting system at the Smolensk airport been replaced since the crash. Others question why the high-tech navigation equipment that was brought in to the airport for the earlier visits of Prime Minister Tusk and Prime Minister Putin had been subsequently removed. The presidential plane was equipped with a Terrain Awareness and Warning System (TAWS) that should have prevented it from striking obstacles such as trees. If the safety system was functioning properly, this would be the first plane accident of this kind since the system began to be used in 1990. The system could have been turned off since the old airport at Smolensk was not equipped to use it; however, according to a statement made by the Russian Interstate Aviation Committee on April 24, TAWS at the airport was turned on.

Some military and aviation experts are accusing the Polish authorities of negligence, arrogance and lack of competence. According to these experts, if proper measures had been taken over the last two years the accident near Smolensk could have been prevented. There have been calls to upgrade official airplanes. Although Tupolev-154s are aging planes, many are still in current use worldwide and there have been very few accidents due to technical issues in prior years. However, this particular presidential plane experienced two instances of technical difficulties in 2010. Between the years 2000-2010, the Polish Air force suffered several catastrophes including a helicopter accident with former Prime Minister Leszek Miller aboard and a tragic crash that killed 20 top Air Force pilots in 2008.

The Smolensk airport, which would have been normally closed under such severe weather conditions, remained open perhaps because management feared that closing it for such an important flight would have caused a diplomatic affair. About an hour before the crash, a Yakovlev Yak-40 jet, also belonging to the Polish government, carrying Polish journalists landed there without incident. But shortly afterwards, a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 was diverted to an airport near Moscow due to poor visibility. Permission to allow Polish archeologists to examine the crash site was given in July but no specific dates have been yet set due to weather conditions.

Poland officials received Russian investigation documents in the second half of June 2010, however there is no confirmation that these are full transcripts of all findings. Translating the documents may take months. During the second half of June, Polish officials received the Russian investigation documents; however, there is no confirmation that these are the full transcripts and reports of all findings. Translating the documents may take months. On July 13, after three months of unsuccessful requests to obtain Russian forensic autopsy documents, the widow of Przemyslaw Gosiewki asked for the exhumation of her husband's body to learn the direct cause of his death. On the previous day, she had voiced her doubts to the Polish media whether the coffin actually contained her husband's body. Zbigniew Wasserman’s family has also mentioned a possible exhumation. At a hearing at the lower chamber of parliament (Sejm) on July 23, more families of victims asked for exhumations. Questions were also raised about how Polish prosecutors could have allowed funerals without conducting forensic autopsies. As of July, only a transcript of the forensic autopsy of President Kaczynski has been received. As of July 2010, President Kaczynski’s cell phone, weapons and ammunition of military officials, and the crashed airplane parts have not yet been turned over to the Polish authorities.

Poland has suffered its share of tragedies throughout history. April 10, 2010, has added one more to the brave nation's past—a country that has endured much and yet has taken part in so many crucial events that have helped to positively change Europe and the world. "Poland will not perish while we are still alive…