Posted on 04/17/2010 8:23:09 AM PDT by lizol
Poland holds public memorial for crash victims
By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA and MATT MOORE (AP) – 1 hour ago
WARSAW, Poland — Some 100,000 Poles filled Warsaw's biggest public square Saturday, joining together for a memorial and funeral mass for the 96 people killed in a plane crash a week earlier. They stood silent for two minutes before emergency sirens screamed and church bells pealed.
The crowd in Pilsudski Square waved white-and-red Polish flags with black ribbons of mourning affixed to them. A massive white stage, a large cross in the center, was flanked by oversized photos of the dead, including President Lech Kaczynski.
The names of the dead were read aloud, starting with the president and his wife, Maria, while Marta, their only child, and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the president's twin brother and former prime minister, looked on. Others at the service included former President Lech Walesa, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and acting president Bronislaw Komorowski.
"Our world went crashing down for the second time at the same place," Komorowski said of the crash near Russia's Katyn forest, site of a World War II massacre of Polish officers.
Tusk called the crash a calamitous event that was "the greatest tragedy in Poland since the war."
The event was the first of two days of ceremonies and will be followed by a funeral Mass for the first couple at St. John's Cathedral at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT; noon EDT) in Warsaw.
Among the mourners was Teresa Winkler, 76, who came to honor a president "who took care of the people forgotten by society," such as aging World War II soldiers and forgotten Solidarity activists.
"He was a real patriot and a real Pole," Winkler said. "I am afraid it will be hard to find another president like Kaczynski."
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Very impressive.
I see they allow a white cross to be present without the ACLU types asking for it to be banned.
Thank you! What a great set of photos! I found them moving, touching, and informative. They demonstrate the depth of emotion, feeling, ceremony, and beauty of a caring people. May God bless and keep those lost in the tragedy, and those mourning the loss.
Thank you for posting these.
Joining Poland’s people in prayer.
God Bless the Poles. I don’t care what anyone says, this was a Russian hit from start to finish. One of these days the Poles are going to get fed up with the Russian bear and settle its hash once and for all.
very, very moving. Poland, we are with you in spirit. God Bless.
Prayers for the country.......
Yeah, you noticed that too huh nmh?
Imagine that, Christianity at a public event/?????
They are truly God’s people.
They will stand fast and be victorious against this evil.
We have help in heaven.
As always, Poland has my fervent prayers; I ask in their grief, they pray for us also. We need their strength and courage.
Their blood screams out from the ground to the father, the devil knows his time is short.
Please know that many of us are with the Polish people in spirit and they continue to be in our prayers.
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