On Thursday, the country's 15th anniversary of the alleged Smolensk disaster of April 10, 2010 was celebrated. The President, Speakers of the Sejm and the Senate, politicians laid wreaths on the graves of victims, among others, on Military Powązki. At 8:41 p.m., an Appeal of Memory was held in front of the Presidential Palace, and the March of Memory passed there in the evening.
In the evening, the president of the Republic of Poland spoke with a peculiar tv message about the anniversary. “The Smolensk disaster is inactive a great, unrepentant wound in the hearts of families, relatives and friends of the deceased, and the full Republic of Poland has suffered a immense loss. Andrzej Duda stressed. He pointed out that "the successive leaders chosen by us must unite around the priorities of the Polish state's right, which president Lech Kaczyński left us in his political will".
As he said, “a disaster close Smolensk was taken by 96 prominent Poles, and yet from this large failure a community was born. (...) The bottom-up social initiatives and levels of cooperation for the common good have been created”. – Such Poland – ambitious, assured place in Europe and the world, aware of its history, strong solidarity of citizens and building the power of its army, is the best consequence to modern threats and reborn Russian imperialism - He said.
Anniversary celebrations throughout the country have been held since early morning. At the cemetery in the Military Powązki at 8:41 p.m., the memory of the victims was celebrated by a minute of silence, the names of 96 victims of the disaster were read; Speakers of the Sejm and the legislature and ministers, including the head of the MON Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, attended the ceremony. KPRM chief Jan Grabiec represented Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
The leader KO in the entry on platform X stressed that the memory of the Smolensk catastrophe and its victims "should no longer divide us".
President Duda attended the Holy Mass this morning and laid a wreath before the sarcophagus of the presidential couple Maria and Lech Kaczyński in the crypt on Wawel. In an interview with journalists, he noted that the delegation, along with the then president on board, was flying to Katyń to “return to lie to russian propaganda, which over the years pursued the alleged Katyn lie”. – It was a mission that was highly national and highly crucial historically. Unfortunately, they died, never returned. Nor will anything always correct their closest or the Republic of that loss. And this is simply a pain that I think, for many, especially those closest to me, does not pass, even though it has been 15 years said the President.
In the afternoon, Andrzej Duda laid wreaths at the graves of the Smolensk disaster victim located in the Temple of Divine Providence in Warsaw, including the grave of the last president of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski, and later laid wreaths in front of the monument of the Victims of Smolensk Disaster at the Military Cemetery in Warsaw Powązki and the graves located in that cemetery.
The memory of the dead was besides celebrated in parliament. The Marshals of the Sejm and the Senate, as well as the MPs, placed the wreaths under plaques commemorating president Lech Kaczyński, Marshal of the Sejm Maciej Plażyński, Deputy Marshal of the legislature Krystyna Bochenek and under the plaque commemorating MPs and senators who died in the crash.
In the evening, a Mass was celebrated in the archaeology of John the Baptist in the intention of the victims of the execution in Katyn in 1940, as well as the victims of the Smolensk disaster. – Today we request people of conscience, not just people of interest; we can differ, we can argue, but we cannot hate, challenge and insult each other – said Archbishop Adrian Galbas in the homily.
After the end of the Mass, its participants set off at the Memorial March at the Presidential Palace.
The anniversary celebrations were held not only in the capital. In many Polish cities families and friends of the victims, politicians and local authorities at 8:41 p.m. met at the graves of those who died on April 10, 2010, and at commemorating their monuments.
The victims of the tragedy of April 10, 2010 were besides commemorated by the Polish Ambassador to Moscow Krzysztof Krajewski. The diplomat told PAP that during the celebrations at the site of the Smolensk disaster and in Katyn, a group of Russians tried to disrupt it, which he stressed was unsuccessful. The delegation of diplomats and Polonia folded flowers and lit candles in both memorial sites.
The attempts to disrupt the ceremony were to show "places which burden Poland for attempts to change history, sponsorship – as it was shouted – terrorism", and the slogans were besides that "the Nazi Germans murdered Polish officers in Katyń", described the ambassador. He reported there was no physical safety threat.
The National Prosecutor's Office informed that, at the turn of April and May, it will bring to court requests for the usage of alleged search arrests against Russian experts. The case concerns a message of untruth in their medical and judicial opinions after the autopsy of the victims of the Smolensk disaster.
On April 10, 2010, 96 people were killed in the Tu-154 plane crash on the 70th anniversary of the Katyn crime, including president Lech Kaczyński and his wife, the highest commander of the army and the last president of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski.
Source: PAP
RoM
