Poland in Iran

On April 10^th, 2010 an  airplane with President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and the First Lady Maria Kaczyńska on board crashed near the city of Smolensk in Russia. The aircraft carried an official delegation - members of the highest state authorities, representatives of social organisations  and churches, high-ranking military commanders. All 96 persons present on board, including the crew, died in the crash.

 

That day the delegation was to participate in an event at the Katyn War Cemetery near Smolensk, commemorating the 70^th anniversary of mass executions carried out by the Soviet secret police in the spring of 1940. The executions took the lives of more than 21 000 Polish prisoners of war -  army officers, academics, clergy of all faiths, officials, representatives of free professions and entrepreneurs.

 

That day President Lech Kaczyński was to deliver a speech. His message:  “Let us work so that the Katyn wound may finally heal” – resounds today, after ten years, equally powerful.

 

The victims of the tragic air crash will forever remain alive in our memory.