Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Poland Holds Memorial Service for Plane Crash Victims VOA News 17 April 2010 Tens of thousand people attend a national memorial service in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, 17 Apr 2010 Photo: AP Tens of thousand people attend a national memorial service in Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, 17 Apr 2010 Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in the Polish capital Saturday to pay tribute to President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other people killed in last Saturday's plane crash in Russia. A four-hour memorial service is being held in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square. It will be followed by an overnight vigil for Mr. Kaczynski and his wife. Earlier Saturday, the country paused when sirens wailed and church bells rang at (0656 UTC) the exact time the plane crashed in the western Russian city of Smolensk. Besides Mr. Kaczynski and his wife, government leaders, military officials and other dignitaries were killed. Mr. Kaczynski and his wife will be buried Sunday after a state funeral in Krakow. Dozens of world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, plan to attend. The president's family has insisted the funeral take place, despite fears the cloud of ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland will prevent many leaders from attending. The plane carrying the Kaczynski entourage crashed while trying to land in Russia for a memorial service honoring 22,000 Polish military officers and others executed by the Soviets in the Katyn forest in World War II. Saturday's crash near Smolensk also killed the chief of Poland's armed forces, the director of the central bank and the deputy foreign minister. Others who perished include 90-year-old Ryszard Kaczorowski, who was the last president-in-exile while Poland was under communism, and iconic labor leader Anna Walentynowicz.  Her firing from a job as a crane operator in Gdansk in 1980 touched off the strike that led to the founding of the Solidarity trade union and the eventual unraveling of communism in Poland. She was 80. Interim President Bronislaw Komorowski says the date for Poland's presidential election will be announced next week. Pope John Paul celebrated a mass in Pilsudski Square during his first pilgrimage to Poland as pope in 1979. .