Pilsudski Square, photo: A.SkieterskaThousands have gathered in Warsaw in memory of the deaths of 96 politicians and military top brass in last Saturday’s air crash in western Russia - the greatest tragedy to befall the Polish nation since WW II.
“None can remember having so many, and so important, killed in such a cruel moment,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the crowd of mourners at the funeral ceremony in Warsaw, midday Saturday. “We will remember them always,” he promised a crowd estimated by police at 100,000 in plac Pilsudskiego in the centre of the capital. TVP public television is reporting that “several hundred thousands” are attending.
Warsaw, 17.04.2010, photo: A.Skieterska“A week ago tragic news came to us of the disaster and its victims and we perhaps even now fail comprehend it: because the size of this tragedy, the largest in the history of post-war Poland, exceeds our ability to understand what happened.”
“We stand here to say goodbye to all those who perished in the crash, near Smolensk,” said acting president Bronislaw Komorowski under large photographs of each of those who died one week ago today, including President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and many prominent politicians, military and families of the victims of the Katyn massacre.
Pilsudski Square, photo: A.Skieterska“We tremble as we read each of the 96 names. With trembling hearts we look at the 96 photographs commemorating the victims. With trembling hearts we remember the words of Pope John Paul II, who prayed here, for the Spirit to descend and renew the face of the earth and of our Polish land,” Komorowski told the thousands of mourners in the large, open square, bathed in Spring sunshine.
Warsaw, 17.10.2010, photo: A.Skieterska
Timeline of events
11.59 - Trumpet sounds
12.00 - Two minutes of silence observed. Trumpeter plays “Sleep my friend”
12.04 - Solemn reading of names of victims of the disaster
12.20 - National anthem played
12.22 - Speeches by acting president Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Jaroslaw Kaczynski
Warsaw, 17.10.2010, photo: A.Skieterska13.05 - Mass
14.55 - End of the ceremony
17.30 - Transfer of coffins with the bodies of the President and his wife from the Presidential Palace to the Warsaw cathedral
18.00 - Holy Mass for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria Kaczynski in Warsaw Cathedral led Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw Kazimierz Nycz
All night Vigil (pg)
Source: PAP