Friday marks exactly 10 years since a Polish plane carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 others, including top political and military figures, crashed near the western Russian city of Smolensk, killing all those on board.
The disaster has scarred the national psyche and is still a source of controversy and recrimination in Poland.
The Polish officials had been on their way to commemorate some 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and intellectuals who were killed in the spring of 1940 on orders from top Soviet authorities in what is known as the Katyn Massacre.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the plane crash, the names of all 96 victims were read out in a special roll call of honour on all Polish Radio stations beginning at 8:41 a.m., the exact time of the crash on April 10, 2010.
At 4:00 p.m., all Polish Radio stations and the polskieradio.pl website will air a special symphony concert in tribute to the victims of the tragedy.
That classical music concert was originally performed during a period of national mourning in the wake of the disaster 10 years ago, and then again on April 18, 2010, the day of President Kaczyński’s funeral.
The concert features works by outstanding Polish composers Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Andrzej Panufnik.
To mark a decade since the crash, Polish Radio has released two special CD albums to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the 2010 disaster.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR