Poland declares two days of mourning after ex-PM dies
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
12.02.2019 13:30
Two days of national mourning have been declared in Poland following the death of former Prime Minister Jan Olszewski.
Polish President Andrzej Duda signs a book of condolence for the late Jan Olszewski in Warsaw on Monday. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
On Friday and Saturday, flags on public buildings will be draped in black and lowered to half-mast. Entertainment events will be cancelled.
On Friday, the former prime minister's coffin will lay in state in a government building. Saturday’s funeral ceremony at Warsaw’s Military Powązki Cemetery will be preceded by a mass at the city’s St. John’s Cathedral.
Olszewski will be buried with full military honours. The funeral will be attended by President Andrzej Duda.
Olszewski served as prime minister from December 1991 to June 1992. His Cabinet was formed after the country’s first democratic elections following the collapse of communism in 1989.
As a teenager Olszewski participated in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against Poland’s Nazi German occupiers.
A lawyer by education, he defended anti-communist dissidents in political trials during the communist period.
He died last week at the age of 88.
(mk/gs)