Tag: Plane (geometry)

As is the case every year, April 10, 2018 was a day of patriotic demonstrations and memorial services in Poland, commemorating a tragic plane crash eight years ago in Smolensk, Russia. This year's events were especially important for Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party (PiS), as a memorial plaque honoring his twin brother Lech — who was president at the time he was killed in the crash — was unveiled at the country's parliament, the Sejm. When addressing crowds at memorial services that are held monthly, not just on April 10, Kaczynski likes to say of his brother Lech: "He rekindled Poland's national consciousness and restored its honor." On April 10, 2010, the Polish president and a high-level government delegation were on route to Katyn, a village near Smolensk in western Russia. Zbigniew Mikolejko, a philosopher of religion at the Polish Academy of Sciences, calls the PiS leader a "chosen one" who has constructed an entire "religion of Smolensk" atop his own personal trauma. Tragedy as a political instrument That melding of pseudo-religious ritual and politics is viewed by many people as an attempt to instrumentalize a national tragedy. But Jaroslaw Kaczynski quickly realized he could use his brother's death to push his own political agenda," sociologist Jakub Bierzynski told DW. In Bierzynski's opinion, Kaczynski is "a completely rational politician" who doesn't even believe in the Russian attack conspiracy himself, but he consistently pushes that narrative because it suits his needs. Every month for the last eight years Kaczynski has promised that the cause of the crash would be found. The national tragedy and personal trauma of Poland's most influential politician have, nevertheless, left their mark on the country.