Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.06.2010, Side 14

Just because you imagine something
cannot happen doesn’t mean that it
will not. Early in the morning of April
10, a plane with 96 Polish passengers
on board crashed near Smolensk in
Russia, as it attempted to land in deep
fog. There were no survivors.
There were some very inf luential
figures among the 96 Poles who died
in the crash. Lech Kaczynski, the
President of Poland, was one of them.
The plane was also carrying many
members of the Polish parliament,
senior figures in the Polish army, the
head of the national bank of Poland,
the ombudsman, deputy ministers
and top officials from the church hi-
erarchy. The President and the other
dignitaries had been travelling to
Russia to commemorate the 70th an-
niversary of the infamous Katyn mas-
sacre.
We wondered how the Polish na-
tion was taking these events, given
Iceland now has a sizeable Polish
community. So we made some calls.
On the phone from Poland, a 28-year-
old banker from Warsaw called Mal-
gorzata Wolodzko said: “We can all
see a very symbolic meaning in this
event. The most appalling fact is that
the plane crashed so close to Katyn,
where during the Second World War
around 22 thousand Poles were mas-
sacred by the Soviet Army. The vic-
tims of this massacre were mostly
members of the intelligentsia and the
Polish army that had been taken cap-
tive by the Soviets. Russians denied
their responsibility for this massacre
for over 50 years, placing blame on
the Nazis. Now, on the 70th anniver-
sary of the massacre, top Polish offi-
cials die on Russian soil again.”
MASS MOURNING
In the aftermath, the media’s imme-
diate focus was of course upon the
President. Many Poles’ first concern,
however, was to find out whether his
wife had been with him on the plane.
She was actually much more popu-
lar than her husband with the Polish
people because of her subtlety and her
warmth, and she was very well liked.
A Dutch tulip company even named
a pale yellow tulip after her: “Maria
Kaczynska.” It means humble, pale
yellow. The deep sadness many felt
when it was revealed that she was
aboard the plane will always remain.
Poland immediately became a
place of mass mourning. Thousands
of people spontaneously gathered
in front of the Presidential Palace in
Warsaw, bringing candles and f low-
ers. They cried together. Those who
were abroad watched whatever news
reports they could find and searched
the internet incessantly for new in-
formation. Condolences came from
all over the world to Warsaw, where it
was finally decided that the president
Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria
would be buried in Wawel, where
Polish kings were traditionally laid to
rest.
REyKJAvíK POLES REACT
About the events, Anna Rechlewska,
a 27 year-old psychologist from the
Polish School in Reykjavik, tells us:
“At first, everybody coped with their
emotions in their own way. But af-
ter a while, many Poles in Reykjavík
started to feel a strong urge to gather
together and do something. The Pol-
ish consulate organised a meeting.
There was also a Catholic mass on
Saturday and Sunday. This helped a
lot, as the church is something that
brings Poles in Iceland together. This
was acknowledged by local people
and the President and Prime Minis-
ter of Iceland, who also attended the
ceremonies. It was an important sign
of support and of honouring those
who died.”
Many have asked the same two
questions, even though Poles them-
selves have been reluctant to look for
answers yet. Why did the plane crash?
Who is responsible for the tragedy in
Smolensk? Poles are still in a griev-
ing phase. They think that the answer
doesn’t matter, since answers won’t
bring back those who have died. But
why were they all travelling together?
Perhaps when they were on board to-
gether, they believed themselves were
all too important for something to
ever go wrong.
A more practical question for now
is how Polish politics will change,
especially with the coming presiden-
tial election on June 20. Will sympa-
thy for Lech Kaczynski be translated
into votes for his party? Will his twin
brother Jaroslaw play on people’s sen-
timents at a time of mourning? And if
he does so, is that ethical of him?
Says Anna: “It is easier for us in
Iceland to cope with this drama and
get back to our normal lives. But I can
imagine that in Poland the mourn-
ing will continue for quite some time.
The media just won’t let things be
normal again.”
Only time will tell how Poles vote
and how quickly daily routines re-
turn. No matter what the investiga-
tion reveals about the causes of the
crash, there is one simple conclusion
for now. If you can’t imagine some-
thing happening, that doesn’t mean it
won’t happen. Poles have just learned
this to be true. I hope Icelanders
won’t be next.
14
News | Poland
A Mourning Community Of Poles
Reactions to the Smolensk tragedy
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 07 — 2010
Tannvernd barna
News | Kreppa In The International Eye: May
As was pointed out by the Financial
Times this month, Iceland has now been
ordered to repay those mythical 3.8 bil-
lion Icesave Euros. On May 26, the EFTA
Surveillance Authority published a let-
ter to the effect that Iceland is in breach
of cross-border bank deposit scheme
rules and under obligation to pay the
minimum € 20,000.00/depositor back to
Great Britain and Holland. Iceland has
been given two months to reply. Or else.
Not surprisingly, this letter comes on
the back of the recent election of Brit-
ain’s David Cameron. The pressure is on
again, and in a big way, especially after
it was made clear in last weekend’s mu-
nicipal elections that the Social Demo-
crats are on the way out. Chuckling at
the state of Iceland’s municipal politics,
the Wall Street Journal said, “Voters
here blew a loud raspberry at Iceland's
political establishment.” You can almost
see Jón Gnarr sticking out his tongue.
Alabama’s Daily Mail commented: “Ice-
land’s economy has been in the toilet
and its septic tank is backing up.”
Meanwhile, media across the globe
sniggered quietly at Jóhanna Sig-
urðardóttir’s statement on RÚV: “This
is a big shock, a crash landing for the
four political parties.” As has been re-
cently evidenced by volcanic pressure
metaphors, sooner or later something
has to give. Honestly, don’t tell me she
couldn’t see that one coming. Perhaps
not. A week earlier, in an article penned
by Jóhanna herself in Bloomberg, she
stated confidently that since Iceland
was first into the economic crisis, Ice-
land would be the first out. I’ve heard
that one before. Talk about counting
your bridges.
An impending Euro crash—inevi-
table according to some economists—
will surely elicit sufficient evidence to
show that joining the EU will not solve
all of Iceland’s problems. Tony Barber,
Financial Times’s Brussels bureau chief,
noted that recent EU austerity measures
will do little to help the inevitable: “Any
assessment of the economic impact of
a sovereign default of these economies
[in particular Spain, Greece and Por-
tugal] through trade linkages or GDP
size misses the point…The economies
are too intertwined...” He suggests that
ramifications of a default would run
rampant across the global financial sys-
tem. Estimations of the debt of these
three countries run higher than 2 trillion
Euros! Really then, how could anyone
see an advantage in joining the EU? I’d
go for the Best Party’s free towels at the
swimming pools any day.
To put it mildly, legislators have a
tendency to forget or ignore inconve-
nient truths. It’s not even a matter of one
eye shut. The earth, our scientists tell
us, is an ever-changing, shifting thing.
The living mantle which created conti-
nents out of the once single Gondwa-
naland are now defined under a system
of nations by delineation: walls, barbed
wire fences and imaginary dotted lines.
People were gob-smacked at the eco-
nomic fallout caused by Eyjafjallajökull,
but furious at the lack of planning and
foresight of their governments. Oh, and
by the way, they don’t just erupt in Ice-
land. Volcanoes in Guatemala, Ecuador
and Vanuatu all appear to be saying:
Yes, there is more to this than meets the
eye. Wink, wink. Cough, cough.
On the 27th, Discovery News re-
vealed that scientists have now uncov-
ered a dark secret lingering in Iceland’s
volcanic ash clouds. “The ash cloud is
its own living, electrifying beast. And,
an additional [until now, unknown]
hazard to aircraft.” According to BBC
News, in the aftermath of Eyjafjal-
lajökull, the European Space Agency is
finally pulling its fingers and planning
to equip its newest satellite with special
volcanic ash detectors. No one thought
of that earlier?
It appears to take a hell of a lot of
Crisis to get governments to pay atten-
tion to anything at all. Now where did I
leave that eruption button?
Oh, The Pressure,
The Pressure!
KATARzyNA GROWIEC
PIOTR PAWLOWSKI
“Just because you imagine
something cannot happen
doesn’t mean that it will
not. Early in the morning
of April 10, a plane with
96 Polish passengers
on board crashed near
Smolensk in Russia, as
it attempted to land in
deep fog. There were no
survivors.”
“An impending Euro
crash—inevitable
according to some
economists—will surely
elicit sufficient evidence
to show that joining the
EU will not solve all of
Iceland’s problems.”
Viking hotel
Viking restaurants
Viking live entertainment
Viking Souveniers
For booking and further information:
Tel.: (+354) 565-1213
vikings@vikingvillage.is - www.vikingvillage.is
Strandgata 55 Hafnarfjordur
MARC vINCENz
There is a great big community of Poles in Iceland. We are very happy to represent it in our
paper, and would like to do more of it. So if you are a Polish-Icelander, drop us a line at
editor@grapevine.is and pitch your article ideas. Other folks should of course pitch their ideas
too - we strive to be an inclusive publication.