Suburban Poles light candles for Kaczynski

Poles around the suburbs and around the world lit candles Tuesday night in memory of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and the other 94 people killed in last weekend's plane crash in western Russia.

"The country lost so much. It's still a shock to us," said Jolanta Harrison, of Long Grove, who lit a candle and placed it in her living room window. "You just wonder what's going to happen in the future."

Harrison is the principal of Emilia Plater Polish School in Schaumburg, one of 42 Polish schools in the Chicago area. She said Wojciech Seweryn - the Chicago artist also killed in the plane crash - was scheduled to visit the school this weekend.

"It's just very, very sad," she said.

Kaczynski's flag-covered casket arrived at the presidential palace Tuesday, and was placed next to his wife's, as tearful mourners lined up to pay their condolences.

Some Polish-Americans say Tuesday's candle lighting is also appropriate to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre. When the Soviet army invaded Poland at the beginning of World War II, members of the Russian secret police executed 20,000 Polish officers. Seweryn's father was among those killed, and he designed the Katyn Massacre monument in St. Adalbert Cemetery in Niles. The monument has served as a gathering spot to many Polish residents who come to mourn the president.

Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report.