My dad phoned me this morning with the most shocking news. I turned on the TV and I could hardly believe such a thing to happen. An airplane crash, almost a hundred people killed - among them: the President of Poland and his wife, practically all the most important people from the Presidential Office, three deputies of the Chairman of Parliament, the president of the Polish National Bank, ALL the chief leaders of the Polish army (!), several members of the parliament, and many other famous people, such as Anna Walentynowicz, a symbol of the Solidarity rebellion in 1980 or Ryszard Kaczorowski, the ex-President of Poland-in-exile (an institution which started during World War II and continued into the period of communism in Poland).

I do not believe I have ever heard of a tragedy like that.

Even more unusual are the circumstances of that event. All those people were on their way to Russia to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn homicide. You might, or you might not have heard about Katyn. It was perhaps the most tragic event in the history Poland - after the Soviets invaded our country together with Hitler, their leaders took a decision (signed 5. March 1940) to eliminate the nation's most "dangerous" part, and subsequently murdered over 20 000 officers (prisoners of war), lawyers, scientists, teachers, priests, doctors and others during the April and May of 1940. The biggest executions took place in the Katyn woods, near Smolensk and nowadays all the victims of the different executions held after the 5. March order are referred to as "The Katyn crime".

Well, so it has been 70 years. Our President and many others were on their way there... right for today the celebrations were planned, in those same woods, at the monument of the Katyn victims... and they took place, but so many seats were empty, and the celebrations turned out to be a funeral.

Cursed land for Poland it seems.

And President Lech Kaczynski, he was often criticised and myself I was not very fond of him, either, but one must admit that his great concern was always in the matters of the past. That was itself criticised - that he looked back more often than at the present situation. Perhaps it made him not a good politician. But definitely - which his opponents would admit - he was a true patriot and he did a lot to make the Polish history and national memory alive. He died doing his duties. And I daresay, doing the part of his duties that was dearest to him.

May them all rest in peace.

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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Thanks for that full explanation, Bob.  My condolences to your country. 

I awoke to the news this morning but the CNN reports were nowhere near as enlightening as yours and you have put the tragedy into a fuller context. My first thought was that something like that only happens on "24." Unbelievable.

The discussion I did see this morning was all about how unsophisticated the navigation systems are on eastern European aircraft.  Even if that is the case, I would've assumed that the presidential plane would be equipped with the most up to date technology.  

It was described as an accident caused by heavy fog.  They said the plane may have circled several times attempting to find the runway.  I suppose there will be many conspiracy theories being spawned in the upcoming days.  That's what would happen here without a doubt.  

I'm going to Google some English language Polish news sites now and see what they have to say.  Wonder what the protocols are for such a circumstance?  Next in line for all those positions.  Possibilities of unrest.  Distrust.  

Please keep us updated on whatever you learn too. 

 Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Thank you, Susan.

Speaking of technical problems of the airplane - yes, the safety standards on that are definitely too low, EVEN for the presidential plane. There has been talk about that, too, and all who speak about it now (from the politicians side) keep saying "how stupid we were to neglect that".

But all in all it seems a thing of really  small importance TODAY. Obviously time to discuss (and rather: to improve) will come and let it come sooner than later. But for now it is shock and sadness.

The reports on how it came to the crash are not clear. Definitely the weather was bad and for example about an hour earlier another airplane was withdrawn from landing at the Smolensk airport. It is said that perhaps it was the fault of the crew, that they should have given up landing there and fly to another location. For now we don't know exactly.

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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What should I make of the fact that the tragedy occured on exactly the same day that five eyars ago Pope John Paul II died?. . . The first Saturday after Easter.

We were all so filled with the Resurrection joy and words of life's victory over death, and just a few days later that faith and hope of ours was dramatically challenged by the agony and death of a man who by far was the most beloved Polish man of our times.

And yet - the week of mourning after his death turned out to be an overall triumph of life indeed and grave sorrow was overwhelmed by gratitude and sense of unity. Some of you may remember what I wrote about this week on the board, back in 2005 when I was very active here... For me it was perhaps the most unusual week of my life, a time out of this world when people became better, the way it happens in fairy tales only. Not for long perhaps - but the memory remained and more than memory: an awareness that a different attitude to life is possible.

Now it is the second Sunday of Easter again. Five years ago I remember immense crowds of people gathering everywhere just to be together, to share. I see them again. It is obviously not that strong - the Pope was a man who had the perfect ability to unite the people of Poland throughout all his pontificate. President Kaczynski was widely criticised and used to arouse lots of bad emotions while he was alive. But the unusual circumstances of his death right there in Katyn and together with so many people from different political options make the differences so unimportant and thus, the nation seems to unite again, I can see it.

For me it has a very deep religious meaning. If God took those people on the very same day that he took John Paul II to lead the nation to a blessed time, I do have a strong faith that also for them, who died yesterday in the crash, he prepared something as good as one never ever heard of. Even if in their lives they might sometimes have been quarrelsome or corrupted politicians. God has his own ways.

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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That feeling of friendliness and unity of which you speak Bob reminds me of the period after 911 on Long Island N Y. Amazing good things can happen when the citizens are alert and energized for improvement. Continue to stay strong Poland, as you always have.  

From 1795 Poland was not independent not on the map literally. Poland returns in 1918 at the end of WW1. 1939 they were sneek jumped by one of the three worst regimes ever. And they threw out another of the worst three regimes ever after a galvanizing visit by the Polish Pope. Poland was triumphant ! 

Thank you to Pulaski the Polish man who aided the American Revolution circa 1776. We had a main road named after him on Long Island.

Thanks!! That's so good to hear such words.

Warsaw keeps amazing me. The late President was indeed a controversial figure and many people openly disliked him... and especially the media disliked him and would often mock him in different ways (something you will know very well from the case of George W. Bush). And yet - thousands and literally I should say hundreds of thousands of people are all the time in the streets around the Presidential Palace and the Pilsudski Square (which is a traditional place in Poland for big gatherings of people). Millions of candles, flowers (and those who sell them ;-)). I was there during the weekend and it was so, but I expected that later in the week, everyday work starts, the people will slowly disappear. Well they didn't! On Sunday the body of the President was transported back from Russia, a bit later his wife, our First Lady - and the coffins are open to the public viewing in the Presidential Palace (I mean the coffins are closed! but people can come and see and show their respect). The queues to the Palace are UNBELIEVABLE. it is said that one has to wait about six to eight hours to get in

I went there today, after work . . . didn't get to the Palace of course but I saw the thousands of people and felt the power of unity again. Incredible. And Warsaw - you know I always thought there was something wrong with this city, it isn't really beautiful and often it lacks life, so to say. It seemed to me immensily beautiful tonight, thanks to all those people but also thanks to a lot of good changes the city has undergone in the past years (I start to appreciate my capital more and more, perhaps better late than never...).

And I mentioned the media. Like I said, usually the media were first to show the late President in a bad light. It was quite easy starting from the fact that Lech Kaczynski was rather not good-looking and also, he was kind of bad-tempered, so it was easy to make a photo where he looked even worse: basically there was an image of him as a malicious gnome... It's not that now suddenly everyone says he was so fantastic, no, that would be hipocrisy. But it strikes me most how many pictures have now been found where he looks (together with his wife who used to be mocked along with him) respectably, friendly, smiling, likeable. It's a bit of a shame he had to die to be given that . . . Still, it creates a very good atmosphere around the the presidential couple and all the people who died.

Of course there is some controversy, too. now mostly around the place of burial. The decision is that they will be buried in Wawel in Cracow, that's the old royal castle. Opponents say that he was not a king and moreover, he didn't like Cracow and avoided it. Perhaps it is a good decision, perhaps not, I am not sure. Obviously though, the protests are made in a manner that doesn't go together with most of what's happening around in this time of mourning.

In two days, in Pilsudskiego Square that I mentioned before, there is going to be a great ceremony in memory of those who tragically died. I will be there.

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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Speaking of Pulaski, my father's family lived in Pulaski, Tennessee for many years, named for the same Pulaski.  I visited the town when I was a child and still have relatives there. 

Have you taken any photos of the crowds, Bob?  

When Reagan died, my son and I went to the Reagan Library for a viewing but so did thousands of others.  It was unbelievable!  We waited for maybe four hours.  It was getting late in the day and the crowd control people told us we were still four hours from reaching the interior.  

Here's an article from the American Thinker on your late president which made me feel a lot of appreciation for the man.  I read this the other day and thought of you.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

It's a good article in a way it shows our late President. A lot of truth and I think information unknown to the Western people before. It is sometimes said now that the tragedy in Smolensk was a sacrifice - a sacrifice due to which many more people will now listen and hear about what goes on in this part of the world and about Katyn, too. A shame that such a sacrifice was necessary, yet - that is just what our President was fighting for. Like I said, he would be criticised for not dealing enough with the current matters and instead, making "historical politics". Perhaps. But this history is on top now. Strange.

As for the conspiracy theories about the circumstances of the crash, I don't want to disturb the water with ungrounded speculations. But the speculations exist and it is somehow troubling that the current political leaders of Poland choose absolute silence about it. I mean - it is a usual thing that if a plane crash happens the first thing everyone thinks of is: terrorist attack? It would be so natural to at least say: nothing indicates that anything connected with that tragedy was made on purpose, the matter is under investigation etc. etc. Instead, there is silence - and yet people speak about it and it is in the air.

Personally, I don't believe it was really in any way influenced. I believe it was an accident and I let the people in charge of the investigation deal with it. But one must not neglect the fact that such speculations are there, this is bad strategy...

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I wouldn't put anything past Putin. However, my longdistance layman's sense tells me that it was indeed an accident, for what that is worth.

I expect Bob will tell us about the funeral. To confound things the volcano cloud will be a factor in the event.

Again, I know Poland's history and this tragedy shall pass and the country will follow their Rule of Law and a fully functioning government will be in place very soon.  

I wish I had time to write some more...

As brief as possible: the funeral on Sunday I only watched on TV. It was in Cracow and I did not go. Lost and lots of world leaders cancelled their attending because of the volcano, still many came so it was quite an international event. Most importantly, so many people came again, and from all I hear the atmosphere was again the same - unity is the word.

I did, however, attend Saturday, when Warsaw gathered in the central Square to celebrate a Mass in memory of those who perished. I am happy I could be there... is all I want to say.

The mourning time passed, I guess everything will be as usual again. Tomorrow the date for the new presidential election will be announced and probably quarelling will come back. But once again I saw that we are capable of being better people and this is a lesson I want to remember.

I found this article on CNN yesterday: http://inthefield.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/19/united-in-sorrow-in-poland/

It is called "United sorrow in Poland" and I think it captures what was here very well. It's written by an American, I think, with Polish roots, so someone who finds it easier, perhaps, to understand both our cultures. It definitely stresses the protests issue too much, it was rather marginal, but there is a nice thought about the Polish people that she gives:

"My personal experience is that a Pole will most likely let you know what they think."

I'm Polish and I'm proud! ;-)

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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I read reports of the transcriptions from the black box recorder yesterday.  Looks like this accident was really one man's colossal misjudgment - the pilot's.

Sad.

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

I am a bit late with the answer I guess ;)

Ironically, there's not much more I can say today than I could have those 11 months ago. However, your conclusion about the pilot's misjudgement, Susan, is one which keeps arousing controversies. And the less the Polish government does to clarify it (and it sadly does less than would be decent), the harder these controversies get.

The pilot's mistake was from the very beginning the official Russian explanation of the crash. This explanation was given immediately after the accident without any investigation, as a fact beyond discussion.

Also very quickly the Russian authorities would show lots of friendly attitude towards the Polish nation, mourning, sorrow, sincere condolencies, sad look on Putin's face and so on. Now I am NOT saying they were insincere - lots of countries showed great solidarity with us in those days and that was very supportive indeed. It could be Russia as well. The problem lies elsewhere - in the fact that having taken these friendly gestures for granted, the Polish authorities (and some of the media) announced a breakthrough in the (traditionally bad) relations between the two countries and the start of a new era of Polish-Russian friendship. What's more - and that really killed debate! - anyone who tried to put forward any doubts was automatically labeled as the disturber of that peaceful process.

Yet the doubts are many:

- the pilots who were supposed to be guilty ones, were supreme Polish pilots and the captain of the crew had been flying to Smolensk numerous times before

- the Tupolew aircrafts are generally not reliable and lots of countries stopped using them, especially after the Smolensk tragedy; however, the Russain MAK Commission, whose official report at the beginning of the year put all the blame on the Polish crew, was also the one which approved the Tupolew for flying (so they were in a way a judge in their own case)

- there are serious doubts concerning the quality of work of the Smolensk airport services and the decisions whether to allow the Polish airplane to land or not

- on top of it, for different reasons Polish side is not able to regain the essential materials from the investigation, including the original black boxes and the wreck (which was by the way destroyed by the Russians), thus making it a Russian investigation instead of a Polish-Russian or even international one.

Myself I am not among those who believe that it was an intended act of assasination or sabotage or whatever. But I've recently heard an opinion that even if it were not an act of assasination, the consequences are such as if it were. Of course not for everyone - some people think everything is perfectly alright and the Polish and Russian nations have become friends - but well, some don't.

Bobi 1 Kenobi

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