Plane Crash in Russia devastates local Polish community

 

"This loss is very personal for us and the Museum staff," said Maria Ciesla, Polish Museum of America (PMA) President, about the devastating loss of 88 Poles in Russia. "Many of the people who were killed visited with the Museum officials and staff in preparation for a visit of President Lech Kaczynski on May 1."

Kaczynski, his wife Maria along with politicians, military personnel, religious leaders and a seventy year old Chicago sculptor, Wojciech Seweryn, were among the 88 person delegation who lost their lives in route to the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Katyn Massacre. When USSR invaded Poland in the early part of World War II, Soviet Secret Police executed twenty some thousand Polish officers in the Katyn forest and other locations.

Seweryn died as he was experiencing one of the greatest honors of his life, being with Polish officials giving tribute to the fallen soldiers which included his father at the site where they parished. Dedicated to remembering the 1940 atrocities, Seweryn created a sculpture commemorating the Katyn massacre. It was dedicated at St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles last year.

Poland lost many of its top leaders in the crash. They included the national bank president, deputy foreign minister, army chaplain, head of the National Security Office, deputy parliament speaker, Olympic Committee head, civil rights commissioner and at least two presidential aides and three lawmakers.

With elections scheduled for October, Kaczynski was running for re-election. He had opposition, some of whom were also aboard the fated plane.

A week of mourning will be observed in Poland where the Parliament speaker and acting president Bronislaw Komorowski has announced that he will announce a new election in fourteen days. The election will take place within two months following that announcement.

According to reports, the pilot, with 97 on board, ignored the advice of air traffic controllers who suggested they go to Minsk in neighboring Belarus because the Smolensk military airport did not have navigational equipment to receive planes in heavy fog. In the dense fog, the twenty plus year old TU-154 Russian jet apparently hit tree tops and broke up short of the runway. The plane's black boxes were recovered.

 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:According to Daniel Pogorzelski, the Polish Cultural Institute is organizing a memorial march for Sun. April 11. The March begins in Chopin Park at 12:30 p.m. and concludes at St. Hyacinth Basilica where a memorial mass will be held at 3 p.m., sponsored by the Polish Consulate.

Chopin Park is at 3420 N. Long Ave., kitty corner to St. Ladislaus Parish in the vicinity of Belmont and Central.

Photos courtesy of: the Polish Museum of America

Editor's Note: Our Urban Times extends our deepest condolences to all in the world-wide Polish community for their devastating losses.For more information: World Reports, Chicago Artist