IT WAS an affecting sight: a brother hunched over the coffin of his twin, whispering a silent prayer; a daughter weeping over the coffin of her father.
The heartbreaking images of Lech Kaczynski’s final homecoming reminded mourning Poles yesterday that Saturday’s fatal plane crash in Russia was not just a national disaster but also a family tragedy.
President Kaczynski, his wife Maria and 96 delegates died instantly when their aircraft crashed in western Russia on Saturday morning.
Yesterday afternoon, Warsaw came to a standstill for Mr Kaczynski’s return with full military honours. As the hearse containing his coffin wove through Warsaw’s old town, onlookers crammed 10 deep to catch a glimpse.
Some applauded, some threw flowers and many wept as the coffin reached the presidential palace. A short walk away, far from the crowds, the president’s former neighbours looked on at the growing collection of candles burning in front of the Kaczynski family home.
Before the cream-coloured apartment block, beside official portraits, a family photo showed a beaming Maria Kaczynska beside a relaxed, smiling Lech Kaczynski as he cradled their daughter Marta’s baby.
The sight was too much for Jadwiga Boguszewska, a neighbour returning home. “I saw Maria when I went shopping. We knew each other to say hello to and she was always asking after the family,” said Ms Boduszewska, holding back tears.
The Kaczynskis were missed too at Mass in their local church yesterday, named after Fr Jerzy Popieluszko, the priest murdered by the communist secret service in 1984. “Mr Kaczynski was just here the other day, he and his brother were regulars for years and were always approachable for a chat,” said Boleslaw Krawczyk, a church official in his 70s.
His friend Stanislaw Cegielka said he was feeling utterly confused by the pace of the tragedy. “No one knows how to react,” he said.
The feeling of disorientation extended across the Polish media yesterday. Black-bordered newspapers contained strained editorials of lost-for-words leader writers. Blanket television coverage, interrupted only for black -and-white montages of the first couple, has left journalists emotionally exhausted. Yesterday, the country’s leading news anchor admitted live on air yesterday: “I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to say at a time like this.”