Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Poland’s Unity Is Disrupted by Plans for President’s Interment
Public discontent erupted on Tuesday for the first time in the grievous aftermath of the plane crash that claimed the lives of Poland’s president and dozens of top politicians and military leaders, as hundreds of people in Krakow protested the decision to inter the president and his wife in a crypt holding the remains of many Polish kings.
Opposition was building over the plan to lay President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, Maria, to rest in Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, which also holds the remains of leading historical figures like Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, the post-World War I leader of Poland, and Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski, leader of the government-in-exile during World War II.
Those opposed to placing the often divisive Mr. Kaczynski in such august company demonstrated Tuesday night outside the Palace of Bishops, the seat of the Krakow curia. Witnesses at the protest said they were chanting “Krakow, say no!” and holding signs reading, “Is he fit to be a king?”
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Katyn 2010
