The White Eagle, the symbol of Poland, wears black today.
There will be seven days of mourning.
What a terrible tragedy. How can a country, in the brief seconds of a plane crash, lose its president and his wife and so many of its top leaders??
I can't even imagine such a disaster.
President Lech Kaczynski was a firm friend of Poland's Jewish community, which has enjoyed a revival in recent years after it was nearly wiped out in the Holocaust and later suffered from communist-era repression.
In 2008 he became the first head of state to attend a religious service at a synagogue in Poland. As mayor of Warsaw, he promoted a planned museum on Jewish history by donating city land to the project.
In 2008 he became the first head of state to attend a religious service at a synagogue in Poland. As mayor of Warsaw, he promoted a planned museum on Jewish history by donating city land to the project.
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May President Kaczynski and all the victims of this crash now rest in peace. God help the Poles as they try to come to terms with this and rebuild the government.
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(The monument pictured is on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl. It remembers the Jews who fought and died serving in the Polish army during World War II.)
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