Poland marks 5th anniversary of Presidential plane crash

(Vatican Radio) Poland is marking the fifth anniversary of the plane crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 members of his presidential entourage on a visit to Russia. Friday's commemoration of what was the worst single catastrophe to strike the country since World War Two came amid reports that pilots were pressured to land despite thick fog.   

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: 

At a somber ceremony near the presidential palace in Warsaw, crowds remembered former President Kaczynski, his wife Maria and the 94 others who died when their plane crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk. 

They wanted to mark the 70th anniversary of what became known as the Katyn Forest Massacre of Polish officers by the Soviet secret police.  

The dead president’s twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski – who refused to accept the findings of the Russian investigation – also paid tribute to those who died exactly five years ago.

MILITARY CEMETERY 

And at the Powaski military cemetery there were prayers, as Poland is a heavily Catholic nation, and a minute’s silence for the victims.

President Bronislaw Komorowski, Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and other leaders attended the ceremony at the cemetery next to a memorial shaped like airplane wings entering the ground.

Earlier, Parliament Speaker Radek Sikorski and other parliamentary leaders placed wreaths in the building to remember the 18 lawmakers who were also killed in the crash on April 10, 2010.

A generation of promising politicians, top military commanders and high-ranking officials, were killed in what was the worst disaster to hit this nation of 38 million people since World War Two.

There are some, including the president's surviving twin brother, who believe the president was assassinated by Russian authorities. 

POLES TRUSTING

Yet, many Poles seem to trust a state investigation which has mainly blamed pilots who chose to land in heavy fog as well as Russian air traffic controllers for giving faulty guidance.

The national bitterness was revived this week with the leak of transcripts from the cockpit shortly before the plane crashed near Smolensk. It added to evidence that an air force general was in the cockpit pressuring the pilots to make the dangerous landing, despite heavy fog, further undermining the theory of an assassination.

The incident added to tensions with Russia.

Poles are angry that the wreckage still has not been returned to Poland. Russia claims Poland has failed to hand over evidence needed in their investigation, but Polish officials say they are doing their best to cooperate. 

But on Friday, they and others were busy grieving in what is still a wounded nation.