President Komorowski at Smolensk ceremony at Powazki cemetery; photo - PAPThe ceremonies began at 08.41 CET, the exact time when the plane crashed near Smolensk.
Sirens sounded outside the Presidential Palace. President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and leaders of the lower and upper houses of parliament Grzegorz Schetyna and Bogdan Borusewicz laid wreaths under the memorial plaque at the Armed Forces Cathedral in Warsaw.
The plaque has the names of all those who perished in the crash, their date of birth and position.
Like much of the last year’s political conflict over the causes of the disaster and how to remember the dead, including President Lech Kaczynski and First Lady Maria, events were split into two - with official ceremonies taking place led by the government and President Bronislaw Komorowski, alongside an alternative schedule based around leader of the opposition Law and Justice party Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late president.
One of the areas of conflict has been where to situate a monument to Lech Kaczynski, with the Law and Justice party wanting to place it outside the Presidential Palace.
President Komorowski said today that “the most beautiful monument that can be erected to those who perished in the crash is through creating a spirit of unity.”
The widow of Andrzej Przewoznik, former head of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites, Jolanta thanked the authorities for their support.
“Thank you for all the words and gestures which enabled us to live through the period of pain and regain trust in the sense of life.”
Jaroslaw Kaczynski said this afternoon that Poles will not be a nation of worthy people if the whole truth about the causes of the Smolensk air crash is not revealed.
Speaking at a meeting inaugurating the Lech Kaczynski Movement, the Law and Justice leader said Poles must follow a road outlined by his brother, the late president.
“The first step on this road is the truth about Smolensk. We have to spare no effort to make sure that the truth, no matter what it is and whom it hurts, is revealed. We want the truth. Without the truth we won’t be a nation commanding respect.”
Lech Kaczynski Movement
Jaroslaw Kaczynski said this afternoon that Poles will not be a nation of worthy people if the whole truth about the causes of the Smolensk air crash is not revealed.
Speaking at a meeting inaugurating the Lech Kaczynski Movement, the Law and Justice leader said Poles must follow a road outlined by his brother, the late president.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski in Warsaw today; photo - PAP“The first step on this road is the truth about Smolensk. We have to spare no effort to make sure that the truth, no matter what it is and whom it hurts, is revealed. We want the truth. Without the truth we won’t be a nation commanding respect.”
Jaroslaw Kaczynski claimed that the 10 April air crash happened because the weak state was unable to protect its president.
The Smolensk crash claimed the lives of people whose political credo was “it’s worth being a Pole” and
who translated these words into deeds.
“We have to preserve their memory at ceremonies like the one today, in writing and in stone. We also have to translate their last will into life,” Mr Kaczynski said.
The Lech Kaczynski Movement adopted an ideological declaration, which says that the patron’s twin bother Jaroslaw is the depositary of his ideological legacy, political thought and actions on the level of the state.
The Movement described itself as an organization finding inspiration in Christianity and drawing on the achievements of the Solidarity movement.
The new organization believes it will be an important social partner for the state authorities. It said, however, that the way the Polish government undertook to investigate the circumstances of the Smolensk tragedy shows the state institutions need an urgent reconstruction and that an ideological dimension should be restored in the country’s political life.
(kk)
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Smolensk 2010 anniversary - as it happened, thenews.pl, 10 April