News

Doug Emhoff visits Europe to raise Holocaust awareness and fight antisemitism : NPR


Second Gentleman of the United States, Doug Emhoff, lays a wreath in memory of Holocaust victims at the old Auschwitz site on Friday in Oswiecim, Poland.

Omar Marques/Getty’s photo


hide captions

switch captions

Omar Marques/Getty’s photo


Second Gentleman of the United States, Doug Emhoff, lays a wreath in memory of Holocaust victims at the old Auschwitz site on Friday in Oswiecim, Poland.

Omar Marques/Getty’s photo

This International Holocaust Remembrance Day, government officials from many countries are gathering at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to remember the victims and honor the survivors.

Among them was the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president of the United States.

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

His trip will include a stop at Oskar Schindlerfactory, a Shabbat dinner with the local Jewish community, a meeting with Ukrainian refugees, a roundtable with interfaith leaders and visits to several museums and other historical sites.

Senior administration officials told reporters in a phone call on Wednesday that it was more about listening and exchanging ideas than making any specific policy. Emhoff – whose great-grandparents fled persecution from present-day Poland in the early 19th century – has been at the forefront of Biden administration policy. efforts to tackle anti-Semitism are on the rise in recent months.

“The visit certainly has special meaning… for him, for our administration, for American Jews and frankly, Jews around the world,” an official said. know. “And we don’t forget that it was a pretty incredible moment when he came back as an American Jew, as a first second gentleman… and dealt with these issues. .”

Biden administration concerned about role of social media

Anti-Semitism is increasingly clear in the United States these days, with celebrities in entertainment, sports, and politics openly promoting ludicrous pranks and conspiracy theories, and the number of documented hate crimes against Jews. Thailand is growing. steady climb.

More than 85% of Americans believe in at least one anti-Semitic joke, according to one study Anti-Defamation League Survey released earlier this month. Twenty percent of Americans believe six or more such jokes, the highest it has measured in decades.

“Modern technology and the internet, especially social media, allow ideas to spread at an unprecedented rate,” said a senior government official.

The Biden administration is seeking 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 with representatives from more than 20 federal agencies dedicated to combating anti-Semitism, anti-Islamism and other forms of biased discrimination.

Officials said the group is holding weekly meetings, reviewing actions other countries have taken, and working to devise and implement a national strategy.

Emhoff hosted a roundtable at the White House on anti-Semitism with dozens of leaders from the Jewish community in December, saying it was “just the beginning of this conversation.

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

Since then, he has also met with the Bipartisan House Anti-Semitism Task Force and talk to Jewish students at Arizona State University during a state visit.

On Thursday, Biden issued statement remember the Holocaust and remind people of the hate that exists today.

“Across our country, we are seeing swastikas on cars, anti-Semitic banners on bridges, verbal and physical attacks against terrorists,” he said. Jewish business and Jewish Americans – even Holocaust denialism”. “It’s despicable. It goes against everything we value as Americans. And each of us must speak out against this poison.”

On the itinerary: meetings and memorials

One day after arriving in Krakow, Emhoff came out on top about 40 miles west to Auschwitz-Birkenau State Memorial for a tour that includes wreath-laying and candle-lighting ceremonies.

Then he attended the 78th anniversary about the liberation of the concentration camp, along with a number of survivors and several government officials, including Deborah Lipstadt, the United States special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism.

On Friday night, 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 famously saved over 1,200 Polish Jews using them in his factory during World War II), a roundtable 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 participate in a meeting with other anti-Semitism envoys at the Terrain Museum of Terror, and tour both that museum as well as the Museum of Jewish Life. He will then meet with German community leaders and government officials at a dinner hosted by the US ambassador to Germany, Amy Gutmann (the late). Father escaped the Nazis).

Emhoff will conclude his trip on Tuesday with a roundtable with Jewish, Muslim and Christian faith leaders, then meet with Ukrainian refugees at the Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue as well as visit a memorial dedicated to the victims of Nazi persecution and meet Holocaust survivors.

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button