P o l s k i e W i e ś c i

Friday, August 13, 2010

Smolensk Memorial Plaque Unveiled

A marble plaque commemorating the victims of the presidential plane crash at Smolensk was unveiled on the wall of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Aug. 12, by Head of the Presidential Chancellery Jacek Michałowski and Deputy Mayor of Warsaw Jacek Wojciechowicz, in the company of church and military representatives.

The brief, unveiling ceremony was announced only two hours before the event and right after the Warsaw Heritage Conservation Department agreed to the form of the plaque suggested by Presidential Chancellery.

The incription on the plaque reads: "In this place, next to the cross erected by Scouts, in the days of mourning after Smolensk plane crash in which 96 people were killed, among them President Lech Kaczyński with his wife and former President of Poland in exile Ryszard Kaczorowski", many Poles were gathering united in pain and concern for the fate of their country.

There will be another plaque unveiled in the Presidential Palace Chapel, in memory of the late Presidential Couple as well as the employees of the Presidential Chancellery and the National Security Bureau, Michałowski, told reporters.

It is still rather unlikely that the plaque will put an end to the recent political dispute over the commemoration of the crash victims. The defenders of the wooden cross standing in front of the Presidential Palace say they will not allow the government to remove it until it is replaced with a proper memorial.

Opposition party PiS Law and Justice had earlier announced at a press conference the appointment of an honorary committee for the construction of the monument.

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