The victims of the plane crash in Smolensk, photo:A.SkieterskaEleven months since the presidential Tupolev carrying President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others crashed in Smolensk killing all on board, final preparations for the one year anniversary ceremonies are nearly complete.
A month before the one year anniversary, it is known that around 110 relatives of the victims of the Smolensk catastrophe will be travelling to the crash site on 9 April.
“This will be the [second] pilgrimage which will be accompanied by First Lady Anna Komorowska,” Pawel Deresz, widower of MP Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz told Polish Radio.
“We will not be landing in Smolensk, but some 250 km away in Bryansk, and then travel by road to the [crash site],” Deresz added.
In Smolensk, Mass is to be said followed by a ceremony in nearby Katyn to commemorate the thousands of Polish officers murdered there by the Soviet secret police during World War II.
On 10 April, ceremonies are to start at 7.20 CET with an ecumenical service solely for the victims’ families at the Military Airport in Warsaw.
At 8.40 CET, President Bronislaw Komorowski as well as parliamentary speakers from both chambers will lay wreaths at the Field Cathedral of the Polish Army in the Polish capital.
The major State ceremony will take place at the Powazki cemetary by the memorial to all 96 of the catastrophe’s victims, after which a Mass led by Warsaw Archbishop Kazimerz Nycz will take place in Warsaw Cathedral. A special concert is also to take place at the National Opera to mark the occasion.
Meanwhile, members of the Law and Justice party, with Jaroslaw Kaczynski at the helm, took part in a Mass today, held on the tenth of each month. After laying a wreath by the Presidential Palace and saying prayers the party members will go to light candles at Warsaw’s Powazki cemetary. (jb)
Source: IAR/PAP