New York City - What would have been the Fifth Annual Concert in memory of the late Pope John Paul II became a memorial for the tragic victims of Saturday's plane crash that claimed the lives of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria Kaczynska and 94 others who were part of Poland's political and military elite.

Portrait on view draped in black. (James Edstrom)

Ironically, the group was on its way to the commemoration ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the atrocious Katyn Massacre during which the Soviets murdered 20,000 of Poland's generals, military leaders, journalists and members of the intelligentsia. The plane crash took the lives of not only the President but the representatives of the country's highest authorities, high-level military and civilian leaders, the official delegation and all the crew.

Edward, Cardinal Egan the former Archbishop of New York, presided over the ceremony with the recently appointed Consul General of the Republic of Poland Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka. Thousands - many of them carrying the red and white Polish flag - packed the magnificent Cathedral. Cardinal Egan led the congregation in prayer saying, "The Polish community has not only all the prayers of the Archdiocese of New York but throughout the country."

The grief stricken Consul General sadly commented, "I have lost so many dear friends and colleagues." As a Secretary of State prior to her consular appointment it is likely she would have been on the plane with the President as well. Then she and Deputy Consul Marek Skulimowski began to read the names of all those who perished, drawing sobs from the audience as many learned for the first time the names of friends and loved ones on the list.

After a moment of silence Father Marek Rudnicki led the assemblage in traditional Polish prayers. Following the prayers, Senator Charles Schumer stepped up to the podium on the High Altar to share his words of sympathy. "First I want to give praise to Pope John Paul II for his message of peace and reconciliation. All of us in New York, indeed, in the United States share the pain of the Polish community. President Kaczynski was a great friend to America." Schumer is revered in the Polish American community for his efforts to spur legislation to open the doors further for Polish immigration.

Cardinal Egan.

Not surprisingly, New York State, in particular, areas such as Brooklyn, Riverhead and Southampton, has the greatest concentration of Polish residents outside of Poland. Sitting behind Senator Schumer in the second row was Witold Sulimirski of Southampton, a prominent figure in Polish-American cultural and philanthropic activities.

Then began the original planned program of readings and music with the other worldly sounds of Olivier Messiaen's, "Apparition of the Eternal Church" played by world renowned organist Krzysztof Latala a native of Cracow, Poland.

Emmy award winning journalist Rita Cosby, a first generation Polish American then spoke about her late father, an ex-POW resistance fighter who came to America after World War II and is the subject of her new book from Simon & Schuster, "Quiet Hero: Secrets From My Father's Past." She recalled when she met President Kaczynski she told him her father had not been back in 65 years and the President then said ' Tell him it's time to come home' and indeed he finally did." She continued that the President and his wife were not only great leaders but friends who touched all of us."

For the remainder of the evening, Latala played selections of works by Bach, Chopin, Surzynski, Gigout and others. In between selections Cosby and Maja Komorowska, the revered Polish star of stage and screen read from three writings of John Paul II which gave comfort to those gathered.

Meantime, thousands of miles away in Poland, the president and his wife lie in state at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw and thousands upon thousands are marching past the biers and leaving flowers. Due to this air crash tragedy the duties of the Head of State have been temporarily assumed by the Speaker of the Sejm Bronislaw Komorowski who has declared national mourning in Poland through April 16.

The Polish Consulate in New York City.

In New York, thousands have signed the Books of Condolences at the Polish Consulate on Madison Avenue and 37th Street – newly arrived immigrants, rabbis, third, fourth and fifth generation Polish Americans. The first person to sign the book was the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. Days later the crowds still come to pay their respects to a much respected leader who will be sorely missed.

The growing list of heads of state who will attend the state funeral on Sunday, April 18 in Poland is most impressive and indicates the esteem held for the late President and The Republic of Poland. Among those conformed to pay their condolences at the services are President Barack Obama and Russian President Dimtry MedvedevPrince Charles, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Germany will be represented by both Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, will attend along with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Kaczynski's closest ally, will be among the other European heads of state and government attending. Other presidents due to attend are Heinz Fischer of Austria, Romania's Traian Basescu, Bulgaria's Georgy Parvanov, Slovakia's Ivan Gasparovic, Croatia's Ivo Josipovic, Slovenia's Danilo Turk, Latvia's Valdis Zatlers, Lithuania's Dalia Grybauskaite and Estonia's Toomas Hendrik Ilves. India will send Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna and South Korea will send Prime Minister Chung Un-Chan.