HOME Eclectic	A very sad day for Poland April 10th, 2010 will always be remembered as a very sad day in Poland. On this day, I woke up to horrific news from the country of my birth that shook me deeply. The Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, his wife, and over 90 other Polish people, including the members of the Polish government, the members of the Polish Parliament, the Polish Army leaders, and the Polish clergy were killed in an airplane crash near the city of Smolensk, in western Russia. They were traveling to Katyn, the place of another horrific Polish tragedy, where Stalin's henchmen murdered with cold blood some 22,000 Polish officers and other members of Polish elite 70 years ago.  The Polish President and the accompanying figures were to take part in the commemoration of the Katyn Massacre. Sadly, they too became victims of it. One may wonder why so many very important people, critical to the life of this pretty sizeable European country, were put on a single plane at the same time. Well, while this certainly was not prudent, hindsight is always 20/20. I am afraid, though, that even if the Polish President could somehow manage to arrange for more plains to make this short trip less risky overall, it is not obvious that the small airport in Smolensk would be able or even willing to accommodate them.  I doubt that Russians were thrilled by Kaczynski's visit; his rhetoric could not always be construed as friendly towards Russia or her government, although, to his credit, many Poles considered him a good fighter for Poland's causes. While they agreed on it per his request, they chose to limit the main commemoration event to Prime Ministers, Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Tusk of Poland. Kaczynski was a bit of the persona non-grata here and I somewhat doubt he had much of a choice in this matter other than limiting the number of people aboard. That's not what happened, though. He did not use this option.  That is not to say that Russians are in any way responsible for this crash. There is no evidence to suggest any foul play on their part. Still, I cannot help but think that it is the history of often painful Polish-Russian relations that somehow conspired, even if only symbolically, in the death of these people. And that is something that both Poles and Russians may want to draw a lesson or two from. It is not only premature but also rather inappropriate in these very sad circumstances to speculate on what or who is mainly to blame for this accident. Such things are better left for future. We will probably find this out soon or perhaps not at all. Either way will not, however, change the fact that this is a tragedy of enormous proportions for Poland and her people, let alone the families and friends of those who died in the crash.
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