Week of mourning
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Poland has declared a national week of mourning after the plane crash in Smolensk that killed President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, many high-level government officials, the army chief of staff, the navy chief commander and the heads of the Polish air and land forces. They were on their way to Katyn to commemorate the anniversary of the 1940 “Katyn forest massacre,” where Russian secret police executed thousands of Polish prisoners of war (mostly army officers, intellectuals, police and other public servants). Putin was scheduled to attend the ceremony, a step toward acknowledgement or an official apology by the Russian government. The reason for the crash during the attempt to land the aging Tu-154 seems to be the dense fog. Around Kraków you’ll see Polish flags hung at half-mast or with a black stripe throughout the week, Zygmunt was rung on Saturday, and Polish internet portals like Onet, Interia and Wyborcza have turned a respectful grey for the period of mourning. Also on Saturday free suppliments to Gazeta Wyborcza were handed out in the streets listing the names of the 97 dead. Yes, and also the pillow fight was cancelled.
