WARSAW, Poland- I have a Polish flag with a black ribbon hanging outside of my dorm window. Every room in my housing unit has a flag with a black ribbon on its windows too. We mourn because of April 10th, 2010 when a plane transporting the president and other important political figures crashed by the town of Katyn, Russia. Every person on the plane died. This included Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria Kaczynska, Chief of the Armed Forces, Deputy of Foreign Affairs, President of the Central Bank, government officers, vice-speakers, members of Parliament, and senior members of the Clergy. The loss of lives numbered 96 people, all Polish dignitaries and plane crew.
We have been mourning for a week. The high number of deaths makes this a terrible tragedy in Polish history. It is especially important because the crash leaves the Polish government destroyed. We must reestablish our government without many of the people who were leading it a before the crash.
The plane crash has a feeling of repetition with it. We think Katyn is a cursed place for Poland because of what happened in Katyn in 1940. The town held about 22000 Polish prisoners of World War II. These included about 8000 Polish officers form the army. All 22000 of these prisoners were executed and place din a mass grave. This led to many problems between Poland and Russia because Russia did not want to be responsible for these deaths until fifty years passed. The President and his government officials were flying there for the 70th anniversary of the disaster and to show reconciliation with the Russian president.
When we first heard about the crash, we thought it was an assassination because the plane fell by Katyn and because of the tense Russian-Polish relationship, but now we know the plane crashed because of fog. Russia has been very supportive. Many other countries have offered support too. Polish people all over the world have lit candles and said prayers for everybody who died on the plane. We continue to mourn the tragedy, but we are also hopeful.
