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Cardiff mourns Polish tragedy

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Saturday morning the phone ranged for Eliza and Marta in Cardiff, as it probably did for many Polish around the world. The news were not good. They were in fact shocking, so shocking that both women still cannot believe that the Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, his wife and nearly half of the political body of Poland really died in a sinister plain crash.

“I was in bed, it was Saturday morning and I got a text message from my brother-in-law from Poland saying what it just happened. I didn’t know if it was true or not so I just sat in front of the television the rest of the day”, explained to The Welsh Compass Eliza Jodlonska. Eliza runs a shop with Polish products in Cardiff, and was, at the moment we found her, watching the arrival of the bodies and formal ceremonies on TV. She has been watching live coverage of Polish TV non-stop since the crash. The funeral marches are the soundtrack of our whole interview.

“I felt terrible, it was a big shock. I tried to put everything in my head… they kept on telling in the television, but to be honest with you, even when you look to the TV and you hear everything, you are not… the information comes to you but you’re not feeling that it really happened”, said Eliza, still looking at the images on the screen.

On Saturday the Polish church in Cardiff, St Patrick church, opened for a special service, allowing people to pray, place flowers and light candles. Eliza was there, together with many members of the Polish community. On Sunday she went again. With more time to organize itself, the church held a ceremony that included Polish musicians who came from other cities. “It was very patriotic, very important for us”, explained Eliza.

If she was in Poland, Eliza would “definitely” be participating in the ceremonies. “There are people coming to the churches, praying, lighting candles everywhere. I would do the same.”

Marta Migdalek agrees. “I would probably attend his funeral in Warsaw, masses in church or would light up candles in the streets to pay tribute to the victims”. The 24 year-old also attented to the ceremonies in St Patrick’s church.

This Polish journalism student from Cardiff University was not a fan of President Kaczynski: “I didn't support his presidency, I think he did a lot of harm on both international and national arenas since he'd got to power.” But she recognizes his importance in Polish history. “Nevertheless, he was a part of Solidarity Movement, one of the many who fought against the communist regime. He is a historic and political icon. He stood up for Poland. Thanks to him our country is free.
He deserves respect.”

Despite the “total shock”, Marta has confidence and intends to vote for the temporary President Bronislaw Komorowski, who is expect to run for the permanent position.

The family who owns Ziomek, a small Polish shop on City Road, had a good opinion about President Kaczynski. In her twenties, the daugther of this family living in Cardiff for three years, who did not want to be identified, was unconfortable talking about the crash. “It was a great shock, I can’t talk about it”, she said, stumbling on the words. “I think maybe in a couple of weeks we can start taking about it, for now it’s just too much. We know it’s true but we still can’t believe it”, she continued.

When asked about the President, she became emotional. “He cared about Poland and the Polish people”, said the young blond girl, putting her hand over her heart and looking away with teary eyes.


The Katyn curse

For many, the fact that the Tupulov Tu-154 plane crashed on its way to Katyn, where the President was going to commemorate the 70th aniversary of the massacre of Polish officers by Russian secret police, is somewhat the return of a curse. Marta felt she understood history in a much vivid way now: “The tragedy gave us a hint of what had happened in Katyn 70 years ago. Top heads of the state were wiped off in Katyn - and many people, especially from my generation, could not get a grasp of the extent of the massacre. Now it has become a part of our lives and made us understand the scale of tragedy.”

Like Eliza, Marta has been watching Polish TV constantly. She remembers what she felt when she got the news: “I was asleep when my father called me in the morning. My father asked me in shattered voice if I'd heard what happened. My initial thought was that something happened to my mum because he was all in tears.”

She too, found it hard to process. “I couldn't believe it. I called my friend who works as a journalist at a Polish national TV station to find out what he thought and get some more information. He was speechless, he couldn't say a word.”

”I was down for the next two days. It was one of those things that you can't process in your mind for a long time because they are so harsh. So, so difficult”.