24 FT.COM/MAGAZINE APRIL 4/ 52020
turnedsour.And inPoland the
biggest fight wasoverthe cause of
thecrash.BoththePolishandtheRussian
officialinvestigationsblamed
human errors in thick fog,which
ledtotheplane diverging from the
correctapproachpath, clipping a
treewithits left wing and, fatally
stricken, careering into the scrub-
land.Incockpitrecordingsobtained
byPolish media, the Tupolev’s
systems canbeheardrepeatedly
warning the pilots to pull up for the
final 25 seconds of the flight.Offi-
cials from PiS,however,dismiss
thesereportsasfalseandclaimthey
wereinfluencedbythe Kremlin. In
theyearsfollowing thecrash, fig-
uresonthePolish right put forward
avariety of theoriesfor the cause of
the tragedy,ranging from artificial
fog toathermobaricbomb.Some
hintedthat Tusk’sgovernment was
toblame;othersthatMoscow’shand
laybehind thecatastrophe.And
when,afterabriefperiodofco-oper-
ation withPoland, itbecame clear
Russiawould notreturn the wreck-
age of the Tupolev,their suspicions
that the crash was no accidentwere
onlymagnified.
Duda says:“In thispart of the
world, due to our historicalexpe-
rienceswiththe SovietUnion and
later withRussia,weareusedtoa
situation whereMoscowtends to
put the blame on thepeople when-
everatragedyoccurs,rather than
on the authorities...Wecan saythat
accusingthepilotsforthisdisasteris
almostaproverbial[explanation].
“Itisnevertheresultofanattack,
it is nevertheresult ofatechnical
defect,or an instrument that is
producedwithinacertain country,
it is alwaysthe fault of the pilots.
And actuallythe [dissemination
of the] information that it was the
fault of the pilotsbeforeany sort of
verification proceduretookplace,
beforeanykindofinvestigationwas
conducted, isreallysomething that
isfrightening.”
Overthenextfewyears,theclaim
that Smolensk was no accident
becameacoretenetofPiS’smessage.
One of the most visible manifesta-
tionswasmonthlycommemorations
thatbegan to takeplace outside the
Presidential Palace on Krakowskie
Przedmiescie, an elegantboule-
vard running through the heart
ofWarsaw.Initiallyspontaneous
expressions of grief, the gatherings
became increasinglypolitical, with
Kaczynski’sspeechesactingasaral-
lying call to the party faithful–and
attractingnoisycounter-protests.
Formanyobservers,these
monthlyrituals playedakeyroleinkeepingPiS’ssupporters united
duringtheparty’syearsinthepolit-
icalwilderness,andhelpedpavethe
wayfor itsreturn topowerin2015,
when DudabeatKomorowski in
the presidential election,beforePiS
oustedCivic Platforminaparlia-
mentaryvotefivemonthslater.
Polityka’sLipinskibelievesthe
partybuilt“sortofareligion”around
Smolensk.“Theycreatedsomething
that is morethanpolitics,which is
rootedverydeeplyintheidentityof
manypeople.Manypeoplevotedfor
them notbecause of the social pro-
grammesbutbecause theyidentify
withthosewhodiedinSmolensk.”
After PiSreturnedtopower,it
launcheditsowninvestigation and
shutdownthewebsitewiththefind-
ings of the investigations under
the previous government.Within
monthsithaddecidedtocharge
fiveofficials fromthe previous gov-
ernmentwith negligence in the
arrangementsforthedoomedflight.
Italsoorderedtheexhumationof
thebodiesofall those whoperished
inSmolenskinanefforttoshedfur-
ther light on the disaster.Someof
the victims’familieswelcomedthe
movesasachance to gain closure,
andwereappalledwhen it emerged
thatinsomecoffins,bodypartsfrom
different corpseshadbeenmixed
up.Inone particularlyshocking
case,bodyparts from sevenother
peoplewerefound in the coffin of
Admiral Andrzej Karweta. “I have
huge bitterness towards the [pre-
vious] government,which did not
look out forthesafety of someone
whowastakingcareoftheirsafety,”
his widowMaria said in an emo-
tionalpressconferencein2017.
Despite the horror,theexhuma-
tions did not conclusivelyprovethe
plane hadbeenbrought downbyJaroslawKaczynski speakstoPiS
supportersafter last October’s
parliamentaryelection inwhich
the partyretaineditsmajorityPolishpresidential staffer Marcin Wierzchowski, who was required
to identifythe body ofLech Kaczynski after the crash◀photographs of him consoling
Tuskwerepraisedbypoliticalfig-
ureswho hithertohadviewedthe
Russian leader as lacking warmth
and affection. “Wedid notexpect
thisgentle,kindapproach,thisper-
sonal involvement from Putin,”
WitoldWaszczykowski, deputy
head ofPoland’sNational Security
Bureau, said at the time. “Naturally
it will haveapositiveimpactonthe
relationshipbetweenourcountries.”
Russia declaredan official dayof
mourning,adecision typicallyonly
taken for the death of itsownciti-
zens,andKatyn,a2 007 Polish film
about the massacre, was screened
onRussia’smaintelevision chan-
nel at prime time.Months later,
Russia’sparliament passedawater-
shedresolutionthatadmittedSoviet
leaderJoseph Stalin hadpersonally
approvedtheexecutions.
“Wecan senseRussiansolidar-
ity atevery step of the way,”Jerzy
Bahr,thenPoland’sambassador
inMoscow,saidinthe daysafter
the accident.But the goodwill soon‘Iranintotheforest.
Andafteraround
10 0metresIsaw
thecrashsite.
Thewreckedplane,
scatteredbodies.
Totalpulp’MarcinWierzchowskiAP;GETTYIMAGES