Yesterday, April 10th marked a day of remembrance here in Poland. One year ago the former President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, along with 95 other Polish diplomats, dignitaries and military officials died in a plane crash in Russia. On the anniversary yesterday, the streets in Warsaw were flooded with people carrying the Polish flag and lighting candles in front of churches, cemeteries and the Presidential Palace in remembrance of the crash. Tom and I took a walk to check everything out and the scene outside the Presidential Palace was pretty amazing. There weer thousands of people gathered together chanting the former President's name and listening to a series of speeches.
It was also a day for the Poles to express themselves. The plane crash that killed a large number of important Poles has caused quite a stir. The crash happened in Russia, Poland's biggest rival, and apparently happened due to very foggy weather. Ask anyone in Warsaw and they will give you their opinion on the situation and there are a large number of people who claim that the crash was a conspiracy that was carefully planned out by the Russians. There is also a huge discrepancy over how helpful the Russians have been in turning over information for the investigation of the crash. And, a large group of people protested in front of the Russian embassy yesterday chanting that "Putin is a murderer."
Regardless of how it happened it was very nice to witness such an outpouring of nationalism for our new home country. It was a unique memory that we will always remember.
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