Clad in black with their hands clenched around small red-and-white Polish flags, about 300 people took their mourning to Chicago's streets today to honor the deaths of their country's president, Lech Kaczynski, and dozens of others killed in a plane crash Saturday.
The large crowd was mostly silent, except for a few sobs, marched for three miles today from a Northwest Side park to St. Hyacinth Church, a Polish basilica.
"I feel like I lost somebody very close," said Janina Michalczuk, 56, who moved from Poland to Chicagoabout 30 years ago.
She held a picture of Jesus from a recent mass pamphlet in one hand and a small collection of purple irises from her garden in another.
Kaczynski and some of the country's highest military and civilian leaders were among the 96 people who died Saturday when the presidential plane crashed while coming in for a landing in thick fog in western Russia.
Russian and Polish officials said there were no survivors on the plane, which was taking the president, his wife and staff to events marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre of thousands of Polish officers by Soviet secret police.
As a slice of Chicago's large Polish community people hustled from Chopin Park to the church, 3636 W. Wolfram St., they walked along Milwaukee Avenue, a staple of businesses in the Polish community. People inside laundromats, flower shops, hardware stores and delis came outside and stood in silence to pay their respects.
Renata Olbinska, 32, who moved to Chicago six years ago for the "American dream," dabbed her eyes as she questioned why Poland has been mirred in tragedy.
"We are the country that suffers the most," Olbinska said. "I hope that this day will be remembered".
She called for President Obama to declare a national day of mourning.
Kaczynski was planning a return trip to Chicago in a few weeks for the Polish Constitution Day Parade. In September 2007, Kaczynski delivered a speech to a foreign policy group and met with business leaders in Chicago, a city believed to have the largest Polish population outside Warsaw.
Chicago Tribune
