The presidential plane carrying 96 passengers had troubles with landing on the small airport in a thick fog. The officials were heading for the celebration of the memory of Polish soldiers who were killed by the Soviet Union during World War II.
“We wanted to buy a Polish flag, but all of them are sold out,” said Wieslaw Bargiel from Williamsburg who walked along Manhattan Avenue with his wife Edyta on that sad Saturday, 10 hours after the tragedy. “We wanted to emphasize the fact that we are Polish and we care.”
Almost every house, apartment building and business office in the Polish neighborhoods in Greenpoint had a white and red flag with a black ribbon hanging out of the windows. The three Polish language newspapers that are based in New York published special editions about the plane crush that were sold out two hours after delivery to convenient stores and newsstands. A scheduled concert of the famous Polish band “Perfect” was cancelled, and Catholic churches in Polish neighborhoods conducted special services.
“When I heard the news I was crying,” said Zofia Chocko, a daughter of Polish immigrants who was born in Greenpoint, where she still lives. “I don’t understand why it happened. It’s terrible.”
“We lost the people who fought for the democracy in our country,” said Bozena Drabot of Greenpoint, who, as many other Poles, heard the news from family members in Poland.
“Unlike our children in Poland we are supporting the Law and Justice Party and president Kaczynski, who was its leader.”
“Today it doesn’t matter if we are from the left or the right side of the scene,” said her husband Ryszard Drabot. “It’s a huge loss for the country because we lost its first citizen, the president.”
When Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria came to Greenpoint in September 2007 to participate in a mass in St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic church, thousands of Poles gathered in front of the church to show their support for the president.
The same church performed special religious services on the day of the tragedy.
“Lech Kaczynski was the father of our country, and he took the best care of it,” Marek Sobczak said during the service on Saturday.
“My daughter began to cry hysterically in the church. We couldn’t stop her,” said Zofia Baczkowska. “We’ve been living in New York for 16 years, but we are still attached to the country.”
The many American friends of Iwona Hejmej, who came from Poland seven years ago, came to offer condolences.
“One of my American neighbors said it reminds him of what he felt after the assassination of John F. Kennedy,” said Hejmej, who lives in Ridgewood, Queens. “I got phone calls from my friends from Serbia, the Czech Republic and Great Britain.”
“Our children with a grandson came for breakfast and we ate it in silence,” said Wieslawa Zuber, who decided to take a walk outside instead of watching the Polish television channel that was constantly showing the news about the plane crash. “My grandson asked me to stop crying, but I couldn’t,” she added, drying her eyes with the tissue.
