Thousands Gather To Commemorate Smolensk Disaster
PENNSYLVANIA – On Palm Sunday weekend 2014, at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa, Doylestown, PA, the Commemoration of the Fourth Anniversary of the Smolensk Disaster of 10 April 2010, had two components. First, on Saturday 12 April, two hundred representatives of Polish organizations, based in Canada and the United States, held the first ever POLONIA FORUM, and drafted the text of the APPEAL below in order to promote truth and justice for the victims of the Smolensk Disaster through political action. The POLONIA FORUM agreed to lobby their elected representatives in Ottawa and Washington, DC. The Polonia Forum wants their Canadian and American elected officials promptly to convene Parliamentary Commissions of Inquiry and Congressional Investigations of the Smolensk Disaster. Second, the APPEAL was ratified by acclamation by approximately seven hundred who attended, after Holy Mass on Palm Sunday, the panel discussions with Minister Antoni Macierewicz, Mrs. Szonert-Binienda and other experts and activists who are struggling to find the truth about the Smolensk Disaster.
APPEAL TO POLONIA AND TO ALL POLES IN THE MOTHERLAND AND ABROAD!
We are gathered here on 12 April 2014 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania (the American Czestochowa) to commemorate the Fourth Anniversary of the Smolensk Disaster of 10 April 2010. In that disaster all 96 aboard Polish Air Force One perished. Among the victims were many of Poland’s top governmental, military, church, and academic leaders, including President Lech Kaczynski. On this occasion, we appeal to all of our fellow Poles and friends who love Poland.
Nations are not granted their independence once and for all. From across the Atlantic, we clearly see that, in these times, the sovereignty of Poland is once again threatened. From the moment of the disaster to the present, we observe the attenuation of Poland’s sovereignty, which, unless we stop it, will destroy our Motherland. One can ascertain this most clearly by the fact that the investigation of the Smolensk Disaster was subserviently and unconditionally handed over by the Tusk Government to a foreign power inimical to Poland – the Russian Federation.
We are aggrieved by the stance of the Tusk Government, who demonstrate a disdainful, even contemptuous, attitude towards the families of the Smolensk Disaster victims. Independent academic researchers and journalists have been harassed and even defamed following their attempts to objectively analyze the causes of the disaster. This clearly demonstrates a threat to fundamental democratic principles and a return to what we recognize as well-known totalitarian methods of control and manipulation.
Our staunch opposition to these threats, as well as our engagement on the side of truth, justice and freedom, are necessary to uphold the sovereignty of Poland. This is why we appeal to our compatriots throughout the world to show courage and tenacity in search for truth. We appeal for moral support for those who relentlessly work to uncover what really happened on 10 April 2010 at Smolensk North Military Airfield.
Most importantly, we are calling on North American Polonia to let their elected representatives know that their Polonia constituents expect from them to convene congressional and/or parliamentary hearings on the Smolensk Tragedy.
Revealing the truth about the Smolensk Disaster is the key to ensuring Polish sovereignty. We will always regard this effort as our sacred obligation to those who perished on April 10, 2010.
So help us God!
– Participants of the Forum of Representatives of major Polish Organizations based in Canada and the United States of America.
– Organizing Committee to Commemorate the Forth Anniversary of the Smolensk Disaster, 10 April 2010.
– Tadeusz Antoniak – Chairman.