Poland Prepares for State Funeral Amid Dispute About Burial Site

Poland is preparing to bury President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and 94 other prominent military officials and civilians killed in a plane crash last Saturday in western Russia. But, some people object to the burial site chosen for the late president.

Poland is in mourning. In Warsaw, preparations are underway for a memorial service on Saturday for all those killed in the crash.

A state funeral is planned Sunday for President Lech Kaczynski and the first lady. A number of world leaders are expected to attend, including U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Russia, France and Germany.

But the location of the burial that is stirring controversy. Wawel Cathedral in the southern city, Krakow, is the traditional burial site of Polish kings and national heroes. Some Poles say, although they mourn the death of President Kaczynski, they do not believe he falls into that category.

Hundreds of people have demonstrated in Krakow to make that point. In Warsaw, a smaller crowd of several dozen mostly young people gathered late Wednesday with a similar message.

Speaking with VOA, protest organizer Martina Schultz explained why she posted an Internet petition against the burial.

She says we think President Kaczynski should be buried in Warsaw not at Wawel. I am not talking about his achievements, she says, I am not trying to diminish them, I tried to write the petition so as not to hurt anyone's feelings."

Shultz says she believes the decision to bury President Kaczynski at Wawel was taken in haste and under emotional stress and not considered properly.

She says 10,000 people have signed the petition and another 35,000 have signed it on Facebook. And, she says the protests would continue.

Polish officials say the burial site was chosen by leaders of the Catholic Church and the Kaczynski family, which include the late president's twin brother Jaroslaw, the leader of Poland's opposition.

Magdalena, 18, says she came to the protest meeting to express her feelings, even though she believes it is too late to change burial plans.

At one point she says "I may be young, but I know what I think and can say it." She says she believes people's emotions of grief are being manipulated.

Those sentiments are not likely to hold sway with the many thousands who have lined up in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw to file past the coffins of the president and first lady lying in state inside.

Krzysztof is with a delegation of coal miners, who have come from near the city of Katowice in southern Poland.

He recalls that President Kaczynski came to the mining area on several occasions, he respected the president and he says it would be inappropriate not to be here to pay tribute.

Kaczynski burial plan causes split

A row has broken out over the decision to bury Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Wawel cathedral in Krakow - a place reserved for Poland's kings and heroes.

Hundreds have taken to the streets of the southern city in protest at the plan for a second consecutive night.

Thousands have joined an internet campaign against it. Mr Kaczynski died in a plane crash on Saturday along with his wife and many senior officials.

A date for a presidential election will be set after the funeral on Sunday.

Acclaimed Polish film director Andrzej Wajda dubbed the burial arrangements "misplaced" and "hastily made as emotions ran high", in an open letter published by the newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza.

"Lech Kaczynski was an ordinary and good man, but there is no reason for him to lie in the Wawel among the kings of Poland and Marshal Jozef Pilsudski [the founder of modern-day Poland]," he said.

Officials said the site in a crypt close to Marshal Pilsudski was chosen by church leaders and the Kaczynski family, which include Mr Kaczynski's twin, Jaroslaw - the leader of Poland's opposition.

But Mr Wajda said the decision "will spark protests and could cause the deepest splits in Polish society since 1989".

Facebook protest

Hundreds of people staged a protest in front of the residence of Krakow's Archbishop, Stanislaw Dziwisz, on Tuesday evening, carrying banners reading: "Not Krakow, not Wawel", and "Are you sure he is the equal of kings?"

Late on Wednesday a second protest was held, as well as a smaller counter demonstration in favour of the plan.

A Facebook group called "No to the Kaczynskis' burial in Wawel" had attracted more than 26,000 members by Wednesday.

Many world leaders are to attend Sunday's funeral, including US President Barack Obama along with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany.

Polish officials have said that elections for a new president will be held in June.

In a parliamentary document they wrote that there were "two possible dates" - 13 or 20 June.

Poland's acting President, Bronislaw Komorowski, is expected to name the exact date after consulting political parties.

The bodies of the presidential couple have been lying in state together at the presidential palace in Warsaw.

They were among 96 people on board the Polish government jet that crashed in heavy fog while trying to land in the Smolensk region of Russia.

They had been travelling to attend a memorial service for Polish military officers and others massacred by Stalin's secret police at Katyn in 1940.

Other victims of the crash, whose bodies are believed to have been badly disfigured or burnt in the crash, are being identified by forensic scientists in Moscow.

A number of the dead have yet to be retrieved from the wreckage, officials said.

Russian investigators believe pilot error was to blame for the crash.

Air traffic controllers who handled the plane have been quoted as saying the Polish crew refused three times to heed advice to divert to another airport because of poor visibility.

Poland Mourns Death of Leaders, But Life Goes On

Statue of Jesus Christ,
draped in the Polish flag i
n front of the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, 12 Apr 2010

Poland is preparing for state funerals for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, and is awaiting the repatriation of the bodies of many of its political and military elite - all killed in a plane crash in western Russia on Saturday. Many Poles are slowly coming to grips with this tragedy.

More vigils and tributes - hundreds of people crowded into the Church of Saint Anna in central Warsaw for a special mass for those killed in the crash. Many mourners young people, mostly students who earlier had marched silently through the city carrying Polish flags and pictures of the President and his wife.

This young woman, Katherine, says she came in tribute to the country's leaders and because the rector of her university was among those killed.

Nearly 100 people were aboard the flight from Warsaw to the western Russian city of Smolensk. The plane crashed as it tried to land amid heavy fog, killing all onboard - President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria and a delegation that included Poland's top military leaders as well as many political and cultural figures. They were on their way to attend a memorial service to commemorate the murder of some 22,000 Polish military officers and civilians who were massacred by the Soviet Union's secret police during World War II.

Jacek Kucharczyk is President of the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw. He says Saturday's plane crash has shocked the nation, but that it has not sparked a political crisis. "I think that the reaction to this disaster was very quiet and peaceful, and people wanted to mourn the dead above their political views and how they evaluated the President and his party," said Jacek Kucharczyk.

"There didn't seem to be any sense that the country is in a fragile situation that institutions aren't working." As the Polish Constitution mandates, the speaker of parliament has taken on the role of interim president and new elections are to be scheduled within the next 2.5 months.


Meanwhile life is slowly returning to normal. Shops are open; people are at work. But many Poles are also asking questions such as why so many of the country's political leaders were traveling on one plane and why, if as Russian authorities say, the pilot ignored warnings against trying to land in poor weather conditions. But for now many Poles are seeking comfort in candlelight vigils and in church services.