Tragodie fur Polen

Polens President, sein Frau und viele andere sind gestern in Smoleńsk ums Leben gekommen.

Tragedia ostateczna, niepotrzebna

Tysiące myśli walczyły mi w głowie z pustką oszołomienia, gdy koleżanka w pracy obwieściła mi przerażonym głosem, że para prezydencka zginęła w katastrofie samolotowej. Potem: sekretariat, Internet, gazeta.pl - nie działa, rp.pl - nie działa, myśl - przeciążenie polskimi użytkownikami, bbc.co.uk - działa, to fakt, nikt nie przeżył na pokładzie prezydenckiego Tupolewa, lecieli nim najwyżsi rangą urzędnicy i politycy. Kto dokładnie?

Sucker punch in Smoleńsk

President of Poland Lech Kaczyński, his wife, scores of high-ranking state officials and other Polish citizens perished yesterday in the upsetting plane crash near Smoleńsk. The cataclysmic event came without warning at 8.56 on Saturday morning and broke Poles' hearts like no other tragedy in living memory has ever done. I had just finished the first lesson in Profi-lingua and opened the door to the teacher's room when a colleague of mine broke the news to me, hysterically, other teachers stunned and paralysed, close to tears and speechless. I was utterly dazed and struggled to come to terms with not only with the catastrophe itself but also with how to go about it with my students who had already been alarmed and, consciously or unconsciously, expected me to react somehow.

The Times on Katyn.

New Republic's Jonathan Kay compared the crash to one high-profile American accident in Croatia that killed US trade representative among many others.

James Fallows of the Atlantic indicated the role of the accident chain, rather than a single cuase.