April 10, 2010
UNITED STATES HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM MOURNS DEATH OF POLISH PRESIDENT AND OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum expresses its shock and sadness at the tragic plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his delegation on Saturday April 10, 2010. The delegation was travelling to the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the World War II Katyn massacre, which took the lives of thousands of Polish officers who were murdered by the Soviet security forces in the Katyn forest in April 1940.
The delegation included several important partners of our museum: Tomasz Merta, Deputy Minister of Culture; Janusz Kurtyka, President of the Institute of National Memory; Andrzej Przewoznik, Secretary General of the Council for Protection of Monuments in Poland and Mariusz Handzlik, Secretary of State in the Presidential Chancellery.
“Since its creation the Museum has worked very closely with many Polish officials and institutions on issues of Holocaust commemoration and education,” said Museum Director, Sara J. Bloomfield. “We mourn the loss of President Kaczynski and our colleagues with whom we worked so closely over the years. Their loss will be felt by all those who are committed to Holocaust memory. We will miss them, and we extend our deepest condolences to their families and to the people of Poland.”
