A day in history, 96 Poles die in a plane crash

The sea was calm and flat this morning as I watched it from the windows of the train. Before leaving the house this morning I turned the BBC on and just before I left there was a mention of an accident in Russia - the plance carrying the Polish president had crashed near Smolensk. I walked out without thinking much about it. But on the train I got a text from a friend in Poland telling me all passangers and crew had died. Phone calls with my dad followed. It was quite unbelievable. The sea was white and flat and calm, and the ships seemed to be floating suspended in air, as if the world was holding its breath.

It turns out it was, before breaking into tears. The recent dead are remembered for the good things they did, and for a moment we withhold criticisms and wear the black ribbon on the sleeve, a nation united accross borders and seas in the face of what can only be called a tragedy. The plane was old, the weather was bad, they attempted to land four times and the question everyone is asking is why they had not given up and flown to another airport. All detail will be revailed in time, but there is no-one left alive to take the blame.

Now the sun is setting over the sea in a spectacle of gold and purple, as if in a tribute to this day. A mist lingers over the green fields of Scotland and tints them with grey. The time for holding of breath will pass soon, the sun will rise again, and the country will go on, but how? These will be interesting times for Poland. The main political figures of a widely popular but controversial conservative party have all disappeared from the scene in one go. Nature, and politics, does not tolerate a void. Temporarily the few competencies that the Polish president holds are in the hands of the speaker for the lower house of the parliament, but very soon, within the next 14 days, a presidential election will have to be announced. We have to ask what consequences this tragedy will have for the balance of power in the Polish government - will the conservatives gain more ground through sympathy votes; how will the pro-EU opposition defend its position? These questions will not be asked in the mainstream media for a few days yet, but one thing is sure, we are in for very dynamic times in Polish politics.

Amongst the people killed in the crash today were:

LECH KACZYŃSKI, president of Poland

MARIA KACZYŃSKA

RYSZARD KACZOROWSKI, the last Polish president on emigration

KRZYSZTOF PUTRA

KRYSTYNA BOCHENEK

JERZY SZMAJDZIŃSKI

WŁADYSŁAW STASIAK

ALEKSANDER SZCZYGŁO

PAWEŁ WYPYCH

STANISŁAW JERZY KOMOROWSKI

TOMASZ MERTA

MACIEJ PŁAŻYŃSKI

MARIUSZ KAZANA

GEN. FRANCISZEK GĄGOR

MARIUSZ HANDZLIK

ANDRZEJ KREMER

ANDRZEJ PRZEWOŹNIK

PIOTR NUROWSKI

JANUSZ KOCHANOWSKI

SŁAWOMIR SKRZYPEK

JANUSZ KURTYKA

JANUSZ KRUPSKI

GRZEGORZ DOLNIAK

LESZEK DEPTUŁA

GRAŻYNA GĘSICKA

PRZEMYSŁAW GOSIEWSKI

ZBIGNIEW WASSERMANN

SEBASTIAN KARPINIUK

IZABELA JARUGA-NOWACKA

ALEKSANDRA NATALLI-ŚWIAT

ARKADIUSZ RYBICKI

JOLANTA SZYMANEK-DERESZ

WIESŁAW WODA

EDWARD WOJTAS

JANINA FETLIŃSKA

STANISŁAW ZAJĄC

KS. BP GEN. DYWIZJI TADEUSZ PŁOSKI

KS. ABP GEN. BRYGADY MIRON CHODAKOWSKI

KS. PŁK ADAM PILCH

KS. PPŁK JAN OSIŃSKI

KS. ROMAN INDRZEJCZYK

KS. PRAŁAT BRONISŁAW GOSTOMSKI

KS. JÓZEF JONIEC

KS. ZDZISŁAW KRÓL

KS. ANDRZEJ KWAŚNIK

GEN. BRONI BRONISŁAW KWIATKOWSKI

GEN. ANDRZEJ BŁASIK

GEN. TADEUSZ BUK

GEN. WOJCIECH POTASIŃSKI

WICEADMIRAŁ ANDRZEJ KARWETA

GEN. KAZIMIERZ GILARSKI

TADEUSZ LUTOBORSKI

STEFAN MELAK

STANISŁAW MIKKE

BRONISŁAWA ORAWIEC-LOFFLER

KATARZYNA PISKORSKA

ANDRZEJ SARJUSZ-SKĄPSKI

WOJCIECH SEWERYN

LESZEK SOLSKI

TERESA WALEWSKA-PRZYJAŁKOWSKA

GABRIELA ZYCH

EWA BĄKOWSKA

ANNA MARIA BOROWSKA

BARTOSZ BOROWSKI

EDWARD DUCHNOWSKI

ZENONA MAMONTOWICZ-ŁOJEK

JOANNA AGACKA-INDECKA

CZESŁAW CYWIŃSKI

PPŁK. ZBIGNIEW DĘBSKI

KATARZYNA DORACZYŃSKA

ALEKSANDER FEDOROWICZ

DARIUSZ JANKOWSKI

GEN. BRYG. STANISŁAW KOMORNICKI

JANUSZ KRUPSKI

WOJCIECH LUBIŃSKI

BARBARA MAMIŃSKA

JANIANA NATUSIEWICZ-MILLER

KS. RYSZRD RUMIANEK

IZABELA TOMASZEWSKA

ANNA WALENTYNOWICZ

JANUSZ ZAKRZEŃSKI

JAROSŁAW FLORCZAK

ARTUR FRANCUZ

PAWEŁ JANECZEK

PAWEŁ KRAJEWSKI

PIOTR NOSEK

JACEK SURÓWKA

MAREK ULERYK

DARIUSZ MICHAŁOWSKI

ARKADIUSZ PROTASIUK, plane capitan

ROBERT GRZYWNA

ANDRZEJ MICHALAK

ARTUR ZIĘTEK

BARBARA MACIEJCZYK

NATALIA JANUSZKO

JUSTYNA MONIUSZKO