„They sacrificed their lives fourteen years ago, but those who sacrificed that life were many more. It was a total of 96 people”

— Jarosław Kaczyński said in a speech at Krakowskie Przedmieście, crowning the celebrations of the 14th anniversary of the Smolensk catastrophe.

The President of the Law and Justice party recalled the figures of his late brother and sister-in-law.

They sacrificed their lives fourteen years ago, but there were many more who sacrificed their lives. It was a total of 96 people. These people flew to Smolensk to pay homage, as we have said many times today, to the victims of Katyn. This place, which is a symbol of a crime, a great crime, which took place not only at Katyn, but also at many other points. A crime which involved the perpetration of an act of genocide against a not insignificant part of the Polish elite, particularly in terms of the military elite. It was a planned crime that had a purpose. It was not done for fun. It was done so that Poland could not rise again as an independent state, so that Poland would be radically weakened. Here the German occupiers and the Soviet occupiers went hand in hand. On the one hand, German crimes, taking the same course of action especially in the first period of occupation, and on the other (…) Russian crimes

— he said.

Poland was destined to be gone. But there were also those who, a few decades earlier, wanted to look at the affairs of our country and our part of Europe somewhat differently. They believed that Poland should exist in some form, only as a very small, economically underdeveloped state that would be subordinate to others. In this case it was primarily the Germans. But history has played out in such a way that more than once these large neighbouring states have acted together. What remedy could the Poles have for this?

Such a remedy is the strength of the nation, its unity, its patriotism, its own self-confidence, and on the other hand it is the strength of the state. If one wants to describe in brief the course of action taken by my late brother, it was an attempt, not only to rebuild Polish patriotism, that is, the strength of the Polish nation, but also to build the strength of the Polish state. This was something Poland needed. It was needed like nothing else. But it greatly annoyed those who may have already accepted Poland as some kind of political entity, but only in this edition of a weak, subordinated state, living with the complexes of its nation

— he said.

„Lech wanted to change the mentality of that part of the Polish people who had given up on our chances. Lech Kaczyński reached out here to certain resources. The resources that Polish history had brought. On the one hand, the most distant resource, which he knew from his own experience, was Solidarity”

— recalled Jarosław Kaczyński, explaining that it was precisely for this reason that the late President Lech Kaczyński honoured democratic opposition activists from the communist era, and recalled the heroes of „Solidarity”.

„Solidarity was supposed to be forgotten. At the beginning of the new era in 1989 or 1990, there were slogans saying that the banners of „Solidarity” had to be hidden, and this meant that this tradition of fighting for workers’ and employees’ rights, but also the tradition of fighting for Poland, should be discarded

— indicated the leader of the Law and Justice party.

But Lech also turned to deeper resources. From the times of the fight against communism, the armed struggle. To the tradition of the Cursed Soldiers, the tradition of the Home Army, the tradition of fighting during World War II

— said the politician.

Going wider, deeper. He also referred to everything that was strong, patriotic, resolute in our history. He simply wanted to change the mentality of that part of the Polish people who, as it seemed, had given up on our chances, our opportunities, our faith in our own nation. Not necessarily through their own fault, and very often through no fault of their own. Such an image of Polish reality was forced upon them, both during the communist era and later, after 1989

— he added.

This is where a conflict arose with those who, in the most direct way, could be described as post-communists and those who wanted to maintain this post-communism, as this specific system that arose in Poland after 1989.

— Jarosław Kaczyński emphasised.

„Yes, it was a tragedy, but it was a coup”.

This was certainly one of the reasons for this tragedy, this coup, because one has to use the word ‘coup’ here. Yes, it was a tragedy, but it was a coup

— the President of the Law and Justice party pointed out.

There was also another element, another aspect of Lech Kaczyński’s policy. On the one hand, it was an attempt to weaken our most dangerous opponent, i.e. Russia. The idea was to surround Russia so that it could not terrorise with this energy weapon, but also so that it would simply have less money for armaments, for building up its power and the aggression that results from this power

— he added.

He did it really with a lot of skill, a lot of success. He tried to consolidate our part of Europe, the central Europe

— he assessed.

Russia’s big problem

Here, too, he acted with some effectiveness. All together, and certainly such important moments as the case of the aggression against Georgia and the intervention of my sainted memory brother played a great role here

— stated the President of the Law and Justice party.

These matters played a fundamental role in our enemies’ decision that this politician should no longer function and that this should be the final solution

— he added.

Stalin used to say: ‘no man, no problem’. Lech Kaczyński was a problem. A big problem for Russia and not only for Russia. And that is why he had to go

• assessed Kaczyński.

Announcement of the Great March on 10 May

The President of the Law and Justice party encouraged those gathered to look at the current reality. As he added, the purpose of the Smolensk catastrophe anniversary celebrations is not only to honour the dead, but also to uphold the policy of the late Lech Kaczyński.

To uphold all that he aspired to. And all this is being rejected today. The authorities of 13 December, of the 13 December Coalition, reject this policy in an extremely consistent manner. In fact, in all its aspects

— assessed the head of the largest opposition party.

Our goal, which will also be the realisation of the testament of Lech Kaczyński and all those who worked with him and supported him, his wife, all his co-workers and friends, is to oppose what is happening today in our country

— he pointed out.

What is happening both in the sphere of law, which is in fact no longer in force and the Constitution is practically no longer in force in Poland today, but also to a great extent in the economic and social spheres.

In the economic sphere, everything that bothers the Germans is rejected. I said recently that Tusk is very reliable here. There is somehow no special ability or willingness to carry out the tasks he has undertaken for Polish society. However, when it comes to the German ones, one can say: he is on fire

— added the Law and Justice leader.

But it is not only about relations with Germany, but about something much more important. It is about Poland being able to truly develop. So that Poles can have a good life. So that we can finally put aside our complexes. So that we can be strong. Because there really is a territory in this part of Europe of ours, there is room only for a strong state and a strong nation

— he said.

And this message I spoke of at the beginning must be upheld. And here there must be no divisions between Polish patriots. We must go together. We must go together in a great march

— remarked the former Deputy Prime Minister.

The President of the Law and Justice party announced a Grand March for 10 May, but, as he pointed out, the phrase is meant more figuratively as well

What is important is our constant endeavour to ensure that what is happening in Poland today is just a fatal incident. And an incident that will never happen again in Poland. So that we can return to this path that Lech Kaczyński once showed us and be able to say: ‘Yes, there is a strong Polish state, a strong Polish nation’; ‘The bad time is over, it is our time, the Polish time’,”

— he added.

‘Not because we want to subjugate someone or live at someone else’s expense, but because we have the right and we have to be a great nation. And let us remember that this is also the purpose of our meeting today

— he stressed.

„It was Putin’s coup”

Jaroslaw Kaczynski pointed out that today many journalists, asking him questions, claim that the committee of Antoni Macierewicz did not present evidence for the assassination.

Well, it did present evidence! It was an assassination. We must know about it and have the courage to speak about it. Because a great many in Poland know this very well. And some, not a few, knew from the very beginning. Only either business, or precisely the lack of determination, courage, did not allow them to speak about it.

— stressed the Law and Justice leader.

And that is why we must speak about it today. It was a coup. It was Putin’s coup, and as for the involvement of others, maybe that is still ahead of us so that we know it fully. But I repeat: this is part of the task, a very important one. But the main one is a strong nation, a strong Poland. A united our part of Europe. United not in the sense of building some superstate, but an alliance, with a serious role for our state, our nation

— he added.

Let us go down this road, but first we must defeat those behind the sign that has already meant a great deal in Polish history for more than 40 years, but today has taken on a new meaning. We must overcome those from 13 December

— he concluded.

After Jarosław Kaczyński finished his speech, the participants began to chant: „We will win.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. We will win

— finally addressed the audience, the President of the Law and Justice party.

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