Smolensk memorial cross. Photo: east news

UPDATE - The Smolensk cross that now stands in front of the Presidential Palace is to be moved down to nearby St. Anne’s Church, but opposition groups have already declared they will defend the cross “to the death”.

“Last night [Tuesday] an agreement between the Presidential Chancellery, the metropolitan curate, scouts and St. Anne’s Academic Church, was signed in Warsaw. We are pleased that the cross from the Presidential Palace will be placed in our church,” says Father Jacek Siekierski, rector of St. Anne’s.

The priest added that St. Anne’s is a very special church in Poland’s history and is a very suitable location to house the cross that commemorates the late President and his wife, Maria Kaczynska, both of whom died tragically in the April 10 plane crash near Smolensk, western Russia.

Meanwhile, groups opposing the multi-lateral agreement to cross’s move have gathered at the cross, stating that “we will sooner let ourselves be torn apart or killed,” emphasising that the group will “defend the memory of those who were taken away from us in such a dramatic way.”

The cross is to stand in the Loretto Chapel next to the Katyn monument which was erected thanks, in part, to the work of Stefan Melak, head of the Katyn Committee who died in the Smolensk tragedy.

The Tu-154 plane that crashed in April was ferrying 96 important political, military and public figures to Katyn to commemorate the 60thanniversary of the Katyn massacre in which over 20,000 Polish soldiers and intelligentsia were killed by Soviet NKVD officers in the woods.

The commemorative wooden cross that now stands before the Presidential Palace was put up by scouts from around the nation and reads: “This cross is an appeal from scouts to authorities and society to build a monument here.”

On Tuesday, the Government Protection Bureau (BOR) announced that the crowds that gather daily in front of the cross to pay respect to the Smolensk victims present a security threat to the President and that the cross will have to be moved, raising much controversy amongst both politicians and social groups. (mmj/jb)

Sources: PAP/Gazeta.pl/TOK FM