Kaczynski funeral - The nation mourns

23rd April 2010

© prezydent.pl Thousands turned out to pay their respects to the late president Share:

Last week witnessed a lengthy series of funerals take place around the country as the nation began to come to terms with the tragic Smolensk air disaster.

On Sunday April 18, Poland and much of the world focused its attention on Krakow for the state funeral of President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria.

Despite controversy surrounding the decision to bury the couple in Wawel Castle, the resting place of Polish royalty and national heroes, and the volcanic ash cloud reducing the number of foreign guests, an estimated 145,000 people packed themselves into the main square and lined the route down to the couple’s final resting place.

“Memory and truth are stronger than the greatest tragedies. The solidarity of Poles in these days of mourning is a tribute to you, your wife and all the victims,” said Janusz Sniadek, the chairman of the Solidarity trade union, in a solemn funeral mass at St Mary’s Basilica on the old town square.  

A combined sense of loss and national solidarity in the wake of the crash united the thousands of mourners who stood for hours wishing to pay their respects to the 96 who died.

As the bodies of the president and his wife were placed on gun carriages to take them to the castle, mourners chanted “Lech Kaczynski: We thank you.” At other times the crowd sang spontaneous versions of the Polish national anthem.

“I’m here because I think this is a great tragedy and great pain for the Polish people. This was our president, and that is why I’m here in Krakow. It’s good that he’s being buried in Wawel. He died serving in Poland,” explained Krystian Druzyski, a 35-year-old engineer from Warsaw, who had travelled to Krakow with his four-year-old son and parents.

A couple of days later, at a funeral in Kolobrzeg, at the opposite end of the country, Donald Tusk, the prime minister, was moved to tears as he said goodbye to Sebastian Karpiniuk a close party colleague.

“Sebastian, you should not have left us,” said the prime minister in a tearful address. “Twenty years ago I met a boy who became my younger brother.”

In Warsaw, the military cathedral saw a succession of funerals. With so many of the victims in the armed forces, the area around the church was sealed off to traffic to allow the frequent convoys of hearses and mourners to pass without hindrance.