April 18 marks exactly ten years since the president and his wife were buried in a crypt in the historic Wawel Castle in the southern Polish city of Kraków, the resting place of kings and national heroes.
On April 10, 2010 a plane carrying the presidential couple and 94 others, including top political and military figures, crashed near the western Russian city of Smolensk, killing all those on board.
To mark a decade and help preserve the memory of those who lost their lives in the tragedy, Polish Radio has released two CD albums including invaluable archival material.
Throughout Saturday various Polish Radio channels are airing snippets from one of the albums, entitled Lech Kaczyński - A Testimony, which consists of five CDs and offers a selection of the president’s key speeches about Polish politics and international events.
“Sound recordings contained in the Polish Radio archives are so valuable that we have decided to preserve them on CD but also to let our listeners and all those interested hear the late President Lech Kaczyński’s voice and message,” Polish Radio CEO Agnieszka Kamińska said on Saturday
The collection also features statements and homilies delivered during a memorial service in Warsaw on April 17, 2010 as well as a recording of an April 18, 2010 concert at Polish Radio’s Concert Hall with works by composers Andrzej Panufnik and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki.
Krzysztof Czabański, head of the National Media Council, which oversees national broadcasters Polish Radio and Polish Television, as well as the state-run PAP news agency, said: “These CD albums aim to commemorate and collect the most valuable sound clips available covering President Lech Kaczyński’s vast political legacy."
He added: “Similarly, in 2008, to mark an anniversary of the Katyń massacre, Polish Radio paid homage to the victims by releasing a CD album featuring its archival materials.”
Source: Radio Poland