Doug Emhoff visits Europe to raise awareness of the Holocaust and fight anti-Semitism: NPR

On this International Holocaust Remembrance Day, government officials from various countries gathered at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to remember the victims and honor the survivors.

Among them, for the first time, was the first Jewish wife of an American president or vice-president.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is traveling to Krakow, Poland and Berlin this week to promote both Holocaust awareness and the Biden administration’s efforts to combat anti-Semitism.

His trip will include a stop at Oskar Schindler’s factory, a Shabbat dinner with a local Jewish community, a meeting with Ukrainian refugees, a panel discussion with interfaith leaders, and visits to several museums and other historic sites.

And it’s more about listening and exchanging ideas than offering specific policies, senior administration officials told reporters on a call Wednesday. Emhoff — whose great-grandparents fled persecution in modern-day Poland in the early 19th century — has been at the forefront of the Biden administration’s efforts to combat growing anti-Semitism in recent months.

«The visit certainly has special meaning … for him, for our administration, for American Jews and, frankly, for Jews around the world,» an official said. «And we don’t lose sight that it’s a pretty amazing time for him to come back as a Jewish American, as a first second gentleman … and to work on those issues.»

Solemn scenes from a day of remembrance

A day after arriving in Krakow, Emhoff headed about 40 miles west of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Memorial to tour the concentration camp site, including a gas chamber and crematorium.

Emhoff, wearing a yarmulke, laid a wreath at the rebuilt Death Wall, where guards executed thousands of prisoners between 1941 and 1943.

Emhoff repeatedly wiped away tears, tugging at the crown ribbons, which read «of the people of the United States.» After visiting the ruins of Birkenau, Emhoff placed a stone on the ground, in accordance with Jewish tradition.

He and Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, joined Holocaust survivors and other officials at a ceremony commemorating the 78th anniversary of the concentration camp’s liberation .

“As we reflect on history, we know that the bigotry that fueled the Holocaust did not end when the camps were liberated,” Emhoff and Lipstadt wrote in a joint op-ed published Friday in the Jewish Telegraphic. Agency.

«Anti-Semitism may be considered one of the oldest forms of hatred, but its insidious impact and profound dangers are not relegated to the past.»

Biden administration concerned about role of social media

Antisemitism is increasingly visible in the United States these days, with entertainment, sports and political figures publicly promoting conspiracy tropes and theories, and the number of hate incidents recorded in the United States. against the Jews continues to increase.

More than 85% of Americans believe in at least one anti-Jewish trope, according to results from an Anti-Defamation League survey released earlier this month. Twenty percent of Americans believe in six or more of these tropes, the highest level measured in decades.

“Modern technology and the internet, with social media in particular, allow ideas to spread with unprecedented speed,” said a senior administration official.

The Biden administration seeks to combat rampant anti-Semitism, including pushing back against Holocaust denial and misinformation. Emhoff’s trip is part of those efforts.

In December, Biden created a task force made up of representatives from more than 20 federal agencies, dedicated to combating anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of bias-based discrimination.

The group holds weekly meetings, reviews actions taken by other countries and works to develop and implement a national strategy, officials said.

Emhoff hosted a White House roundtable on anti-Semitism with a dozen Jewish community leaders in December, saying it was “just the start of this conversation.”

“As long as I have this microphone, I will speak out against hate, bigotry and lies,” Emhoff said during the panel discussion.

Since then, he has also met with the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism and spoke with Jewish students at Arizona State University during a visit to the state.

On Thursday, Biden issued a statement recalling the Holocaust and reminding people of the hatred that exists today.

“Throughout our country we see swastikas on cars, anti-Semitic banners on bridges, verbal and physical attacks on Jewish businesses and American Jews — even Holocaust denial,” he said. declared. «It’s despicable. It goes against everything we value as Americans. And each of us must speak out against this poison.»

On the program: meetings and memorials

On Friday evening, Emhoff will attend a Shabbat dinner in Krakow with members of the Jewish community.

Events scheduled for Saturday include a visit to Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory Museum (Schindler is famous for saving over 1,200 Polish Jews by employing them in his factory during World War II), a panel on anti-Semitism and a meeting with Ukrainian refugees.

On Sunday, Emhoff will tour Krakow’s Jewish quarter and visit historic sites in the southern town of Gorlice before heading to Berlin.

On Monday, he will take part in a meeting with other representatives of anti-Semitism at the Museum of the Topography of Terror and will visit this museum as well as the Museum of Jewish Life. Later, he will meet German community leaders and government officials at a dinner hosted by US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann (whose late father escaped Nazi Germany).

Emhoff will conclude his trip on Tuesday with a panel discussion with Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious leaders, then meet with Ukrainian refugees at the Oranienburgerstrasse synagogue. as well as visiting memorials dedicated to victims of Nazi persecution and meeting Holocaust survivors.