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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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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…
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