Tears for Poland

As Poland mourns the sudden death of President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash in western Russia on Saturday, the news has prompted a flood of sympathy from the rest of Europe.

In Germany, the death of the 60-year-old Polish president was met with shock and sadness. Coverage of the tragedy, which killed 97 people, including President Kaczynski's wife and dozens of the country's ruling elite, dominated Sunday's newspapers.

In Berlin, home to thousands of Polish immigrants, the outpouring of grief was especially strong. After the news broke on Saturday, mourners carrying the red and white Polish flag created makeshift memorials of candles and flowers on many streets.

The Berliner Morgenpost ran the headline "Berlin mourns with Poland the victims of Smolensk." The paper said there would be a moment of silence at the Brandenburg Gate, followed by a memorial service for the victims of the plane crash.

In an editorial, the Tagesspiegel am Sonntag called Kaczynski's untimely death "a dagger in the heart." The Berlin-based newspaper paid tribute to his legacy, while acknowledging the often difficult relationship he had with fellow European heads of state.

"This little man quite often drove Angela Merkel and many other European leaders to the edge of reason with his mix of provinciality, unpredictability and cunning," an editorial stated. "Yet this little man, he actually did something very big in Poland."

Meanwhile, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper concentrated on the "cynical twist of fate" that the crash occurred en route to the Katyn memorial service to commemorate Poles massacred by Soviet troops in World War II.

"The big moments in recent Polish history are almost all tainted with blood," the paper said.

The daily Bild am Sonntag ran the headline "Poland, we are crying with you," on the front page. Inside, the paper devoted its first eight pages to the tragedy, including a full-page picture of the crash scene.

In their online coverage of the tragedy, Bild.de quoted the Polish ambassador to Germany, Marek Prawda, who openly wondered about the future of the Polish politics.

"A big part of the Polish political class is no longer there," Prawda told the paper. "It raises the question of how we will move on… We are going to need a long time to come to terms with this."

smh/AFP/bild.de,Tagesspiegel, Berliner Morgenpost

Editor: Kyle James