Punkt Widzenia: Pogrzeb prezydenckiej pary | A Point of View: The funeral of the presidential couple

Prezydent Rzeczypospolitej Lech Kaczyński i Jego małżonka Maria pochowani zostali w sanktuarium kościelnym, a zarazem najważniejszym, miejscu pamięci narodowej: w katedrze wawelskiej. Pochówek nastąpił w miejscu wybranym przez Polaków. Wbrew pozorom decyzje rządowe, zgoda metropolity krakowskiego czy życzenie rodziny niewiele tu miały do rzeczy.

Marmurowy sarkofag prezydenckiej pary jest symbolicznym pomnikiem potrzeby i jednocześnie marzenia o patriocie stojącym na czele państwa, wielkim przywódcy, mężu stanu, dzielnym i uczciwym polityku. Wiemy, że to pierwsza potrzeba i wiemy, że to marzenie romantyczne.

Polish President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria have been buried in a church sanctuary, the most important place of national memory: in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow. The place of burial was the choice of the Poles. Despite all appearances, the decisions of the government, church officials or the wishes of the family had little to do with it.

The marble sarcophagus of the presidential couple is but a symbolic monument of the needs and dreams about a patriotic head of the nation, great leader, statesman, brave and honest politician. We know this is our first need and quite a romantic dream.

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Głosy ze świata żydowskiego o katastrofie | The Jewish response to the catastrophe

Prezydent Izraela, Szymon Peres: To tragiczne wydarzenie jest ogromnym ciosem dla narodu polskiego i dla całego świata. Mój przyjaciel, Prezydent Kaczyński, był jednym z tych którzy przewodzili zmianom w swoim kraju….

“This tragic event is a dreadful blow to the Polish people and to the world at large. My friend, President Kaczynski, was among those who led and advanced change in his country…”

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Canadian community mourns death of Polish president

Canadian Jewish Congress, B’nai Brith Canada and the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundation of Canada released statements over the weekend, among others, expressing their sympathy and mourning the deaths. Peter Jassem, chair of the Toronto chapter of the Polish-Jewish Heritage Foundation, recalled Kaczynski’s devotion to repairing ties between Jews, Israel and Poland. „He continued the political course that has now made Poland the closest ally of the Jewish state in Europe and its fervent supporter in the United Nations.  He was the first postwar head of Poland to celebrate the start of…

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American Jewish Commitee (AJC) Mourns Polish President Kaczynski, Other Victims of Plane Crash

April 10, 2010 — New York — AJC Executive Director David Harris, issued the following statement this morning: We mourn the tragic death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, Maria, and scores of other passengers in the crash of a governmental plane carrying them to a memorial service in Russia. We knew President Kaczynski very well, as we did several members of his entourage who also lost their lives in the accident. We last met the President in Warsaw in February, where we thanked him for his powerful speech…

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European rabbinical group mourns Polish President who had ‘close relationship to the Jewish community’

BRUSSELS (EJP)—The Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) mourned the tragic untimely passing of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and many senior personalities of the Polish society. „We will sadly miss this leader who had a close relationship to the Jewish community and to Israel, both as Mayor of Warsaw and as President of the Republic of Poland,” the RCE said in a statement. Lech Kaczynski died Saturday in a plane crash in Russia. „As a great friend and national leader, we warmly recall his sympathy not just with words,…

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JTA News: Jews in Poland mourn president’s death

Jews in Poland joined in mourning the victims of a plane crash that took the lives of President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other members of Poland’s leadership. Memorial services were scheduled in synagogues in Warsaw and Krakow, and Jewish organizations and cultural centers canceled their programs during the week of national mourning declared by the government. „In the face of an unimaginable tragedy we join the victims’ families and the whole country in grief and sorrow,” said Joachim Russek, director of the Judaica Foundation Center for Jewish Culture in…

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