GORLICE, Poland — It’s impossible to truly process what it means to visit a site of mass murder — especially when you’re traveling with a White House entourage. On his first visit to Poland, the country from which his family fled antisemitism more than a century ago, second gentleman Doug Emhoff was flanked by members of the Secret Service and Polish security and trailed by a handful of traveling journalists and up to 50 local ones I had not met Emhoff before joining this six-day trip to Poland and Germany but what you’ve heard is true: The man is thoughtful Yet it is one thing to be personable while on the campaign trail and quite another to do so while processing the horrors of the Holocaust “It’s quite overwhelming,” Emhoff told me Sunday morning as we tried to warm ourselves at Cheder a bustling coffee shop and cultural center in Krakow’s historic Jewish quarter before returning to the bone-chilling Polish winter and Moroccan-style kneeling cushions adorned the hardwood floors “It’s all part of the story of unraveling,” Emhoff added “about what happened in my own family’s past.” It’s easy, two years into the Biden-Harris administration, to forget that Emhoff first made a name for himself as an entertainment lawyer, not as a politician’s spouse and accidental spokesman for liberal and Jewish issues. Emhoff told me that his wife Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden — who has often said it was the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville where marchers chanted “Jews will not replace us,” that sealed his decision to run — had both encouraged him to to make antisemitism a key part of his work When I asked if he’d spent much time thinking deeply about the issue before he became the White House’s leader on it Emhoff said: “I think all Jews think about antisemitism.” But for “people in my age,” he added “it wasn’t as in your face as it is now.” he was out with people who didn’t realize he was Jewish “There have been times when I didn’t say anything and I wish I had,” he continued I’m gonna keep speaking out as much as I can.” It’s hard to imagine now, watching Emhoff forcefully and personally call out antisemitism past and present in clear and concise language “My great-grandparents fled persecution in Poland 120 years ago so many others were not,” he said at an antisemitism roundtable Saturday at the Galicia Jewish Museum it is important for me — and for all of us — to put a spotlight on the history of Jews in Europe,” he said “We know that in some cases knowledge about the Holocaust among young people is vague or nonexistent We must find new ways to remember and educate the next generation about the horrors of the Holocaust To remember the stories of those that perished And work to ensure ‘never again.'” For many American Jews, Poland is all about the past. It was, of course, a thriving center of Jewish life for centuries. On the eve of the Nazi occupation in 1939, 3.3 million Jews lived here By the end of the war, according to Yad Vashem according to the North American Jewish Data Bank though there has been a revival of Jewish life here in the years since The Polish government’s record on reckoning with the Holocaust is troubling, especially under its current right-wing leadership, which enacted a law in 2021 restricting restitution claims by Jews and others who had property stolen by the Nazis at the Auschwitz concentration camp and the factory where Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews from extermination the emphasis placed on the non-Jews who suffered during the war After Shabbat services at the Chabad of Krakow on Friday night I asked people what it’s like to live as a Jew here now told me she does not experience much antisemitism day to day but that there is a broad sense that the Poles were only victims of the Nazis I found Krakow’s small Jewish community — estimates range from 200 to 1,000 or so but that was before the flood of refugees from Ukraine — to be a shining example of living Jewish values On a bustling block near the old Jewish quarter of Kazimierz the Krakow JCC is impossible to miss: Rainbow umbrellas reminiscent of umbrella street in Jerusalem A bright sign in Ukrainian greets the nearly 500 refugees who come to the community food pantry and clothing bank each day It is this work in particular that makes me most hopeful for the Jewish future — not just in Poland told me that the Holocaust survivors who belong to the JCC had asked that their dues be devoted to helping Ukrainian refugees Emhoff spoke with a survivor who spent three years hiding in the Polish forests as a young boy He told Emhoff that “the trauma of these young children fleeing violence in their homeland” reminded him of his own past meeting the Ukrainian refugees hit me pretty hard,” Emhoff told me later “I think it’s a great lesson to bring back home.” We only had time for a quick conversation — I was initially allotted a scant five minutes a town of about 30,000 people two hours southeast of Krakow This was the most emotional part of the trip so far He got to see the house where his family likely lived He met with the mayor and other community leaders and visited the Garbacz Memorial to the Jews who perished in the Holocaust — likely including some of his own relatives The White House said Emhoff learned of his roots in Gorlice only last year His great-grandmother and great-grandfather both likely lived here and records indicate his great-grandmother had several siblings and that some members of her family did not survive Asked how he would describe the visit to his parents “probably a lot of tears.” But he said the pilgrimage was “definitely positive,” adding: “Everyone wants to know where they come from.” “I think we need to express that pride and talk about who we are and show who we are,” he said “And get people to understand that and don’t be “You can’t live with fear,” he continued “No matter how much you think things might be bad And that’s one of the things I keep saying Follow Laura on Twitter for real-time updates photos and videos from the second gentleman’s trip Laura E. Adkins is a senior director at Jewish Women International and the former opinion editor of the Forward. Email her or follow her on X. @laura_e_adkinsLaura.Elizabeth.Adkinsadkinsdebate The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected] I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward American Jews need independent news they can trust At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S rising antisemitism and polarized discourse This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up Copyright © 2025 The Forward Association The second gentleman wants a big-tent message that unites the Jewish community Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff sat in this medieval city’s historic Jewish quarter at a trendy coffee shop called Cheder the Hebrew word for a traditional Jewish primary school Bookshelves crammed with Jewish volumes in Polish English and Hebrew covered the walls from floor to ceiling.  But the room was not filled with Jewish boys studying together: That Emhoff is a Jew likely made him unique among the patrons of the café Church bells rang across the city as he sipped coffee inside Poland was for centuries the beating heart of Jewish life in Europe and half of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust were Polish what few Jews remained in Poland mostly fled first to displaced persons camps in Europe and then to Israel Krakow has experienced a moderate rebirth of Jewish life fewer than 10,000 Jews live in this country that once was home to one of the most vibrant and diverse Jewish communities in history.  the first Jewish spouse of a president or vice president to visit in order to viscerally understand what happens when antisemitism is taken to its most extreme He was in the middle of a five-day swing through Poland and Germany to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day go — go see what I saw,” Emhoff told Jewish Insider on Sunday two days after an emotional visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on the 78th anniversary of its liberation who learned recently that his great-grandmother was from Poland spoke powerfully throughout the trip about his family’s connection to the country and their luck in getting out decades before the war Emhoff has emerged as a visible advocate for the Jewish community and a figurehead in the national fight against antisemitism Attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in the U.S. as well as online hate directed at members of the Jewish community have recently increased to levels not seen in decades Emhoff has something that policymakers in Congress and state capitals do not: a direct line to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Emhoff was careful to only characterize his role as that of a listener but certainly not that of a policymaker.  he offered a window into his approach to the issue articulating a big-tent vision for combating antisemitism that requires building a broad base of support across party lines while avoiding some of the more contentious questions around antisemitism like the place of anti-Zionism or Islamist extremism.  who is known to have Biden’s ear on policy matters Emhoff was joined in Europe by Deborah Lipstadt, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism and a longtime Emory University professor. Lipstadt has spoken for years about the diverse forms that antisemitism takes: on the political right and the political left and, particularly in Europe over the past decade prefers to avoid getting into those details.  when asked whether he intends to focus on more specific forms of antisemitism like jihadism or anti-Zionism “There are certain aspects that we’ve discussed in terms of security funding and how to address particular issues but I’m really right now just focused on listening and then trying to figure out the best way to deal with it.” which includes examples of when criticism of Israel crosses the line into antisemitism.  “I’m just focused on antisemitism,” Emhoff told JI.  He recently met with Hillel students at Arizona State University for a conversation about antisemitism and said his takeaway was “the students really want to feel a part of a broader coalition in dealing with hate and dealing with other issues,” Emhoff explained “where they want to be there for other groups that might be facing issues whereas they want those groups to help them.” A 2021 study from the Anti-Defamation League and Hillel found that antisemitic incidents on college campuses increased significantly in the wake of the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Hamas with many Jewish students feeling ostracized from broader campus social circles because of their views on Israel Nearly a quarter (24%) of respondents said others had “assumed [they] hold particular views on Israel or Israeli policy because [they] are Jewish,” and 10% reported they “felt unwelcome in a campus organization because of actual or perceived support for Israel as a Jew.” “We didn’t really get into it that much when asked whether he and the students discussed how debates around Israel play into their feeling unwelcome in coalitions “My message to them was the same to everyone I just really want to hit the issue of antisemitism and talk about that Hours after Emhoff wrapped up his visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau a Palestinian terrorist killed seven Israelis as they were leaving a Friday night prayer service in Jerusalem after a Saturday morning tour at the Oskar Schindler Enamel Factory in Krakow He said he had spoken about it with his wife on the phone These were people who were just praying in a temple and were murdered in cold blood,” he told reporters “It’s something that we need to just stop And that’s why we’re doing this work And that’s why I’m gonna continue to do this work But it’s also — we stand with the people of Israel on this We’re committed to the security of Israel.” Emhoff attended a convening on Monday of antisemitism envoys in Berlin he heard from representatives from European nations that have been dealing with surging antisemitism for many years.  he also met in Krakow with Jewish and interfaith leaders about tolerance and antisemitism.  “It was a real good lesson,” he told JI of the Krakow roundtable that “no matter where you land politically it’s committed towards [fighting] the scourge of antisemitism.” He pointed to specific ideas that they discussed and mobilizing educators and historians.  It’s no small feat that in his two years as second gentleman especially given that he did not come into this job expecting to be famous for being Jewish “I never would have thought that this would be my path as second gentleman working on the safety and security for Jewish Americans and Jews around the world that that would really become my cause and my mission,” he said at the Monday event also took on the trappings of an emotion-laden roots journey something uniquely personal for the spouse of a president or vice president His last stop before departing to Berlin was Gorlice the town where his great-grandmother was believed to have lived before she fled to the U.S “Welcome home,” Gorlice Mayor Rafal Kukla said to Emhoff when he stepped out of his car Emhoff placed a stone — a Jewish mourning custom in lieu of leaving flowers — at a small Holocaust memorial in the town square.  “Everyone wants to know where they come from but to see the violence that happened here and all over Europe to disrupt what were ordinary lives,” Emhoff told reporters “These were ordinary people just living their lives but because of propaganda And that’s why we have to do this work And that’s why I’m doing everything I can on behalf of our administration to make sure that we push back so this does not happen again.” Emhoff had not yet told his parents he was coming to Gorlice but said there would “probably [be] a lot of tears” when he next spoke to them Copyright © 2025 · All Rights Reserved · Jewish Insider The politics and business news you need to stay up to date delivered each morning in a must-read newsletter Enter your email to gain access to our exclusive contentDon’t worry if you are already subscribed you won’t receive our newsletters twice Mar 24, 2021 | History, Society A Polish town has erected a memorial to the Jews that made up almost half of its population before bring wiped out in the Holocaust The monument is part of a broader local project on Jewish history funded by the local authorities and Poland’s foreign ministry is located in front of the Jewish cemetery which was itself a site of executions of Jews by the German Nazi occupiers during World War Two that were in 2015 excavated from under the floor of a former synagogue in the town “[This] is a place of remembrance of our neighbours people who have irretrievably disappeared from Gorlice,” said the town’s mayor “A place created so that the memory of our common history and the terrible events of World War Two will never perish.” “It is also a history lesson that once almost half of the inhabitants of our city were of Jewish origin and there are not many traces of them left,” the mayor added including many successful businesses and a flourishing intelligentsia The late 19th century saw some anti-Jewish riots conditions for Jews in Gorlice “were very favourable” a website run by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews Over 150 Jewish tombstones used for road construction in WW2 unearthed in Polish town After the German invasion in September 1939 Jews in Gorlice – like in the rest of occupied Poland – found themselves in ever-worsening conditions and from 1941 the community was required to live in a ghetto created in the town with some Jews murdered in Gorlice itself and others sent to the gas chambers of Bełżec from a pre-war population of 4,500-5,000 Jews around 30 Jewish families returned to the town the town’s Jewish cemetery was cleaned up and a new fence was erected around it a plaque honouring the murdered Jewish community was installed at another former synagogue and in 2016 an ohel (a structure built around a Jewish grave) at the grave of Rabbi Baruch Halberstam was renovated which was erected outside the grounds of the cemetery to respect Jewish religious custom is called “Sidur of the Bystanders – Lantern of the Absent” (a sidur is a Jewish prayer book) The fragments of Jewish headstones hung around it were recovered ahead of the demolition of a former synagogue in Gorlice in 2015 The mayor expressed satisfaction that they have now found “found a dignified place” adding that all work was carried out in cooperation with Poland’s Jewish community and the conservator of monuments The memorial has been built within the project “Gorlice: Past/Future – Jewish history saved” which is part-funded with a grant of 105,000 zloty (€23,000) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs entitled “Traces of the Absent” Repairing the world: The Olympic athlete restoring Poland’s Jewish heritage Main image credit: Urząd Miejski w Gorlicach (press material) Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications , , Karol Nawrocki even suggested that the state security services were involved in creating the scandal , , The 1,200 square metre national symbol was unfurled on the beach in Międzyzdroje , , The proportion of Poles saying the US has a positive influence on the world has also fallen to its lowest recorded level Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions cultural analysis and political commentary He is committed to the promotion of deeper knowledge and understanding of Poland He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor of European Studies at Oxford University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Executive Director of Taube Family Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org The second gentleman toured Jewish sites and met with leaders across Poland and Germany on a trip that he says left a mark on him BERLIN (JTA) — For second gentleman Douglas Emhoff the final hours of a five-day working trip to Poland and Germany brought everything into focus It was here in the underground information center in Germany’s central Holocaust memorial that Emhoff sat down with several survivors including two who had recently fled war-torn Ukraine One of them “was saved in the Holocaust as a young baby settled in Ukraine and then just had to flee again And she was taken in by Germany,” Emhoff said in remarks immediately following the meeting “It was a real emotional and intense way to finish the trip.” special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism Poland; to the nearby memorial and museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau; and to the Polish village of Emhoff’s ancestors It was all intended to feed into the design of a “national action plan against antisemitism” that Emhoff is working on with Lipstadt and others The second gentleman has made combating Jew hatred his main focus since entering the White House touring college campuses to talk on the subject and leading events with Jewish organizations aligning with International Holocaust Remembrance Day took Emhoff’s efforts onto the international stage — and brought him back to his ancestral Jewish roots Emhoff’s two days in Berlin were a whirlwind Germany’s commissioner of Jewish life Felix Klein and other leaders he and Lipstadt took part in an interfaith roundtable hosted by the Central Council of Jews in Germany before visiting a historic synagogue in former East Berlin and meeting with members of the community He also visited three Holocaust memorials in the city center: one dedicated to Sinti and Roma victims of the Nazis and finally Germany’s massive Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Germany’s commissioner on Jewish life Felix Klein and Katharina von Schnurbein the European Commission Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life Speaking this morning to the small gathering of Muslims Christians and Jews hosted at the Central Council headquarters Emhoff said he could not help thinking of his grandparents who had escaped persecution in Poland and settled in the United States “They found opportunity and freedom,” he said their great-grandchild is the first Jewish spouse of a United States president or vice president who is working to combat hate and antisemitism told the guests that interfaith relations between Jews and Christians are generally good and that the groups have developed channels of communication “in case of heavy disputes.” Relations with Muslims function well on the grassroots level “but it is quite difficult with heads of some organizations because a lot of them still have connections to antisemitic or antidemocratic organizations.” Participants in the round table commented afterward on the “positive atmosphere.” “I was very impressed by the young Muslim man [Burak Yilmaz] who is organizing trips for young Muslims to visit Auschwitz,” said Rabbi Szolt Balla who serves a congregation in Leipzig and is rabbi for the German Armed Forces “It was a very good and productive thing to meet in this circle,” he added Emhoff told reporters the purpose of the trip was to share best practices and feed ideas into the “national action plan” that he is working on with Lipstadt Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain and White House Liaison to the American Jewish community Shelley Greenspan “We are going to put our heads together and talk about what we learned and then put it into the pipeline so we can come out with the most effective national plan,” Emhoff told reporters after the day’s meetings He added that he would be addressing the United Nations in early February Emhoff’s last official act here was his meeting with survivors He changed his schedule “just in order to meet with them and listen to their stories,” said Rudiger Mahlo Germany representative of the Conference for Jewish Material Claims Against Germany who had survived a Nazi mass shooting operation in her village during World War II told Emhoff how she had to flee Ukraine last year without a change of clothing She is one of the Ukrainian Jews whom the Claims Conference brought to Germany last spring The fact that former Holocaust victims were now seeking refuge in Germany was not missed Emhoff speaks with 101-year-old Margot Friedländer during a meeting with Holocaust survivors in Berlin about violence and oppression and here in Europe all these years later these things are still happening through this unjust unprovoked war,” Emhoff told reporters after the final meeting of the day From people like Tartakovska “you hear these stories of survival A non-Jewish stranger deciding on a whim to do something “I was also struck: One woman” — German Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlaender — “was 101 years old Imagine living with those memories for 80 years Those are the kinds of things I take back with me,” Emhoff said JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent I accept the Privacy Policy the Orthodox Clergy Association of Houston and Southeast Texas held a special town hall gathering at Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church to discuss “The Silent Holocaust: The Persecution of Christians in the Middle East and What We Can Do About It.”  Approximately 300 members of the Orthodox Church in America the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the local Coptic and Syriac dioceses—including 16 priests—participated.  Also in attendance was James Cargas Among the four speakers was Hieromonk Bashar [al-Shamany] of the Syriac Orthodox Church who spoke about the current situation in the Middle East.  Father Bashar’s family are currently among the thousands of scattered refugees.  He gave a moving presentation in Arabic during which he said of the scattered refugees “the scorched earth is their bed and the cold winds are there blankets.” The Mission of The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) the local autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of Christ to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” Founded in 1794 — Granted Autocephaly in 1970 Copyright The Orthodox Church in America™ (OCA™)© 1996–2025 who organised a trip to Auschwitz for young adults said: 'I thought everyone’s grandpa had been through the Holocaust'","publisher":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","name":"The Jewish Chronicle","url":"https://www.thejc.com","description":"Founded in 1841 Rosa Doherty is social affairs correspondent for the Jewish Chronicle said: 'I thought everyone’s grandpa had been through the Holocaust' Rosa Doherty 2 min readWhen Natalie Meltzer was younger she would listen in horror to her grandfather’s stories about how he managed to survive six concentration camps sister and younger brother at the age of 12 as they boarded a train to Belzec sister Gitel and brother Joseph were murdered while his brother Sanek was shot by an SS Officer whilst searching for food for the family outside the ghetto in Gorlice “He was the sort of person who often talked about what happened to him,” Mrs Meltzer said It was hearing her grandfather’s stories which inspired her to set up an initiative designed specifically to teach young Jewish adults about the Holocaust “It wasn't covered on the curriculum the same way as it is now and I think there is a lack of awareness for Jewish people my age It is important they engage in what happened,” she said under the guidance of the Holocaust Educational Trust she and more than 60 young Jewish adults from across went to Poland to visits sites of the Holocaust When the 35-year-old mother of two was growing up she “didn’t know anything different I thought everyone’s grandpa had been through the Holocaust.” Despite always knowing about what happened that she managed to visit Auschwitz for the first time “I had meant to go with him while he was alive but it never happened Ever since then I’ve wanted to do something that helps to keep his memory alive and educates people about what happened to him and others.” During the groups visit to Płaszów she spoke to the delegation about her grandfather’s story “It was incredibly moving to return to the site where my grandfather was so cruelly imprisoned,” she said “I was so nervous I just wanted to tell everyone his story and make sure everyone was aware of what happened.” During his time at Plaszow Mr Balsam was selected by the camps commandant to be a shoeshine boy It was a job that kept him "relatively" safe and the commandants fondness of him also saved him from death Mrs Meltzer said that while he was imprisoned there Mr Balsam met many Nazi officials including high-ranking Nazi Heinrich Himmler head of the SS and a chief architect of the genocide “It felt overwhelming to be standing in the same place my grandpa had been,” she said The group was also joined by Leslie Kleinman Mrs Meltzer said: “Having Leslie with us was incredibly powerful Nothing is more moving than going into Auschwitz with a survivor and leaving with them again.” She said she hoped the trip would be the first of many which HET will run with young adults “They already educate school children so well but it is important that we as young adults know so that we can educate our children It is our responsibility as there are fewer survivors to do that."  Ms Pope visited Auschwitz along with others in the group While Ms Pope did not publicise her presence on the trip she did use Instagram to recommend that people make the same visit under the guidance of the Holocaust Educational Trust Mrs Meltzer said: “It is important as many people try to educate themselves as possible While the trip was mostly Jewish adults we had others with us who weren’t chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: “Grandchildren of survivors and their friends have taken it upon themselves to deepen their learning about our shared history “Seeing the sites where the Holocaust took place allows people to learn about the darkest depths of human hatreds in a way they cannot from books and films.” Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe BERLIN — It is one thing to acknowledge the dark parts of your country’s history I’ve spent the past six days traveling through Poland and Germany with Doug Emhoff as he’s toured sites of Holocaust atrocities and engaged in a series of conversations about rising antisemitism whether walking through the soggy woods in Gorlice Poland — where Emhoff has family roots — or down the immaculate streets of Berlin I tried to make sense of what had happened here It may sound trite: We know what happened, and it was bad. The Holocaust decimated European Jewry. Six million Jews, and millions of non-Jews I witnessed two dramatically different ways of dealing with these facts Poland was home to some of the deadliest concentration camps during the Holocaust but its approach to remembrance makes the brutal nature of the Nazi regime feel distant and foreign the horrors of the past are an inescapable part of the present Berlin especially makes open acknowledgement of the sins of the past There are abundant memorials to victims of the Holocaust and markers of past Nazi sites throughout the city where leaders from across Europe discussed strategies to combat antisemitism German authorities have worked to be painstakingly honest about how their society arrived at a point at which the Holocaust was possible which sits on the site of the former SS headquarters a gripping visual timeline of Nazi rule takes visitors through the dramatic escalation of nationalist frenzy and calculated violence during the 1930s and 1940s What struck me most deeply was the efficient organization of it all: this was no accidental genocide Of the estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Jews that reside in Berlin an estimated 90% emigrated from the former Soviet Union Virtually no descendants of the Jews who thrived here before the Nazi reign of terror remain you feel as if you’re standing in the clearly defined and omnipresent shadow of those who came before you There are plenty of markers of the country’s dark past — well-preserved concentration camp sites buildings bearing Hebrew writing yet lacking any Jews At a Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration in Birkenau I felt that lack of self-awareness acutely While the ceremony itself was held outside the press and translation room was set up in an outbuilding room equipped with ovens Seeing a coat rack casually set up next to them filled me with rage and they weren’t the ovens used to burn the bodies of those murdered in the camp But their significance as a symbol is unmistakable — as is the callousness of treating the room that houses them as just another space to store extra stuff It felt as if the officials in charge wanted the credit and gravitas that accompanies Holocaust remembrance without grappling with the gravity of what actually happened in this place as Emhoff prepared to fly back to the United States The once-opulent synagogue was partially destroyed by Allied bombing on Nov The vast majority of what was formerly the main sanctuary was destroyed: Only rows of columns and an expanse of gravel remain The space in which today’s 100 or so congregants pray The synagogue’s dual functions — monument to the past committed set of contemporary worshippers — make it a particularly emotional memorial to Germany’s once-thriving Jewish community When we teach younger generations about the Holocaust we usually focus on the brutality: the humiliation That’s the focus I saw in Poland: a sense that it’s honorable to remember these terrible things so long as remembrance doesn’t extend to an admission of culpability that better understands what the real point of remembrance is once a seat of vibrant Jewish culture and life now preserved in a perpetual state of violent incompleteness Laura E. Adkins is a senior director at Jewish Women International and the former opinion editor of the Forward. Email her or follow her on X. The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected] że Regionalny Zespół Taneczny „Pogórzanie” otrzy.. Wielkimi krokami zbliża się Festiwal Światła w Gorlicach 2025 – największe tego typ.. a to oznacza tylko jedno – święto naszego miasta że projekt Miasta Gorlice otrzymał 30 000 zł dofinansowania z.. Od poniedziałku (10.03) rozpocznie się II etap prac przy Rynku - roboty prowadzone będ�.. Wniosek o wypłatę refundacji podatku VAT w 2024 r. Klauzula informacyjna RODO Jak wypełnić wniosek o zwrot podatku VAT "Nowe" Świadczenie pielęgnacyjne na zasadach obowiązujących od 1 stycznia 2024 r Wniosek o ustalenie prawa do świadczenia pielęgnacyjnego na zasadach obowiązujących od 1 stycznia 2024 r. Załącznik  do wniosku o ustalenie prawa do świadczenia pielęgnacyjnego na zasadach obowiązujących od 1 stycznia 2024 r. Załącznik do wniosku o ustalenie prawa do świadczenia rodzicielskiego Zaświadczenie naczelnika urzędu skarbowego Informacja dotycząca ochrony danych osobowych - RODO (należy dołączyć do składanych dokumentów) Oświadczenie dla strony (do wykorzystania przez interesantów) Oświadczenie dotyczące formy wypłacania świadczeń Oświadczenie o wspólnym wychowywaniu WYPEŁNIONE WZORY WNIOSKÓW NA ŚWIADCZENIA Poniżej znajdują się wypełnione wzory wniosków na świadczenia rodzinne oraz alimentacyjne Strona współfinansowana ze środków Ministerstwa Administracji i Cyfryzacji This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025 audio and/or video material shall not be published rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use The AP will not be held liable for any delays errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing cleaning shoes for Joseph Müeller and ended up a Windermere boy Tash Mosheim Israel's day of commemoration for the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust one individual’s story stands out for its extraordinary tale of survival a Jewish boy who went from shoeshine to a Nazi commandant to a Buchenwald survivor from London is now writing a book based on his hours of testimony to Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation "I feel it is my duty to dedicate part of my life to Holocaust education We need to make sure that we never forget - in the hope that one day we learn from the past and take action." Poland on August 15 1929 to Moses and Adela Harry described himself as a ‘lobbus’ - a mischievous person full of chutzpah When the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939 Harry’s parents decided to leave the country They loaded as many belongings as they could onto their horse and cart Harry’s father and eldest brother got onto the train as the rest of them threw up their belongings Then without warning the train started moving away travelling too fast for Harry's father and brother to jump off Harry and the rest of his family rushed to the next station hoping to find them where they worked in the mines throughout the war but when they returned to their bread mill They took as much flour as they could carry and were ordered not to return approximately a year after the Nazis invaded Harry and the family were at his cousin’s house trying to keep some sort of ‘normal’ life with a family meal grabbed the rabbi and his son outside where they were shot dead on the spot Harry and his family were forced to move from their home into the ghetto established in Gorlice where they had to share one house of two rooms it was merely three streets where all the Jews were forced to live One afternoon Harry was walking with his older brother through the town square and one Gestapo officer came over and put his hand on his brother’s shoulder He took out his revolver and shot him dead The Nazi officer screamed at Harry and told him to disappear having to leave his brother’s body on the road He later found out that this was who had told the Gestapo they were Jewish boys walking without a yellow star he had to tell his mother her son had been murdered Sanek Balsam – Harry’s brother who was murdered in Gorlice ghetto to go and clear the snow from the roads for 12 hours a day but was happy to work outside the ghetto as it gave him an opportunity to bring back bread the Nazis started shouting on megaphones and shooting their rifles in the air They were ordering everyone to come to the streets Harry and his family ran downstairs and hid in the cellar the shooting had stopped but the Nazis were still shouting as they knew many people were still hiding They screamed that everyone had two hours to leave their hiding spots and if found they would be killed instantly The deportations from the ghetto had begun Everyone was rounded up and separated into groups of 100 Harry was standing with his family when he was pulled out of the group but they had no choice but to carry on moving with the crowd Forty cattle wagons were filled that night with over three thousand Jewish people They were taken to Belzec and sent straight into the gas chambers on arrival Harry was left in a group of 30 - 40 young boys Killing and shooting became a normal daily event Harry’s name was called out for deportation after an overnight journey in a cattle car The villa Harry lived in at Plascow in 1944 The guards were waiting and told them to throw any jewellery and money they had onto a pile As people started throwing their possessions found he still had money on him and shot him on the spot They stood in line waiting for the commandant of the camp He was furious when he realised there were many young boys in the group he only wanted men who could be put to work He ordered all of the boys to be kept separate Harry was one of the smallest and got shoved to the front where Müeller was standing Müeller walked past and grabbed him out the line to the front He started begging with him that he’d done nothing wrong There were two young Jewish prisoners working in the office The boy was dictating something to the girl but Harry was Polish so he didn’t understand The girl and boy explained to him that he was to become his putzer Harry ran up to him and asked him to sit down take his boots off and he would clean them Realising he had nothing to clean them with he ran outside into the camp He found an old Jewish cobbler to help him and when returned Mueller said he knew he had “picked the right boy for the job.” Harry with a bowl used by the prisoners found on the site Auschwitz Birkenau Whilst Harry lived as Müeller’s shoeshine boy for the next few months he witnessed the atrocities carried out in the camp There were parties and frequent visits from Oscar Schindler Amon Goeth and other high-profile Nazis like Heinrich Himmler Harry saw the multiple suitcases Müeller had hidden under his bed filled with Jewish people’s jewellery He frequently took food and medicine into the camp for several Jewish prisoners Then Mueller was relieved of his duty as commander and the decision was made by the SS to move the prisoners Harry laying a memorial for the British Board of Deputies of British Jews digging trenches for the anti-aircraft in freezing conditions with barely any food He was then taken to Czestochowa where he worked in an ammunition factory for a few months In December 1944 he was transported again to Buchenwald for five weeks where he was given a striped prison uniform to wear and they had to stand in the snow for seven hours a day In January 1945 he was moved by lorry to Rehmsdorf this time an oil refinery that had been bombed by the Allies the guards rounded up all the prisoners and started marching them by foot with no food or water Prisoners who could not walk fast enough or had no more energy and stopped for a moment They walked from Germany into Czechoslovakia for three weeks in what is now known as the 'Death March' When they started in Rehmsdorf there were approximately 3000 prisoners when they arrived at the concentration camp Theresienstadt Harry had only been in Theresienstadt for a few days when he became very ill with typhoid Harry with Russian soldiers after being liberated but he had no family and could not return to his home country It took several months for the British government to agree to take in 1000 Jewish children and they were no longer children after the loss pain and suffering they had been subjected to buses were waiting to take them to begin their rehabilitation in Windermere They were there for four months and described it as ‘paradise’ he and some of his friends were taken to a youth hostel in Loughton Harry was contacted by the Red Cross and found out that his father and brother were alive They were reunited in a displaced persons camp in Germany from where his father and brother were leaving to go to Israel ‘The Boys’ had become Harry’s family and he didn’t want to leave them or the new life he had started Harry reunited with his father Moses and brother Danny Harry Balsam came to England the day before his 16th birthday and built a new life He had to learn a new language and culture but he became a successful businessman Harry passed away on October 2 2003 at the age of 74 This story is part of The Shoeshine Boy by Natalie Meltzer Yom Hashoah 2023 Holocaust remembrance Survivor The unraveling of the Russian armies that began with the breakthrough at Gorlice-Tarnow in May 1915 accelerated in the months that followed as the German Eleventh Army under General August von Mackensen  (below) launched a series of major offensives supported by the Austro-Hungarian Second The new attacks widened the gap in the Russian lines and forced the Russians to withdraw again and again in what became known as the Great Retreat Kings Academy Imperial War Museum Click to enlarge However Mackensen still had plenty of manpower to continue the offensive: on June 13 he launched an all-out assault along a 31-mile front aided by the composite Austro-German Südarmee (South Army) By June 15 the Russian Third Army was reeling back allowing Mackensen to turn on the Russian Eighth Army After a six-day battle the Central Powers recaptured Galicia’s capital Lemberg (today Lviv in western Ukraine) on June 22 while the Russian Eleventh Army joined the general withdrawal Meanwhile in Petrograd the blame game was heating up. On June 26 Minister of War Vladimir Sukhomlinov (below, left) resigned amid allegations of incompetence stemming from the string of defeats as well as the critical shortage of artillery shells, which he had totally failed to remedy; he was succeeded by Alexei Polivanov (below right) who would himself be removed in March 1916 due to the animosity of the Tsarina egged on by the sinister holy man Rasputin Wikimedia Commons [1,2] There would be no respite for exhausted Russian soldiers Mackensen launched the biggest offensive yet attacking in a surprising new direction that forced the Russians to accelerate the Great Retreat Falkenhayn and the overall commanders on the Eastern Front Paul von Hindenburg and his brilliant chief of staff Erich Ludendorff met to consider options for the next stage of the campaign Thus far the Austro-German advance had followed a straightforward west-to-east direction more or less dictated by the need to pursue the withdrawing Russian armies However the liberation of most of Galicia opened up a new possibility: Mackensen’s chief of staff Hans von Seeckt pointed out that they could now exploit a gap between the Russian Third and Fourth Armies to attack north into Russian Poland capturing the important rail hub at Brest-Litovsk and cutting off the Russian First and Second Armies defending Warsaw further to the west To fill the gap left by the Eleventh Army they would also transfer the Austro-Hungarian First Army across the rear of the advancing Eleventh and Fourth Armies while Army Detachment Woyrsch took over the First Army’s lines Military History Online At first advance units of the German Eleventh Army faced virtually no resistance as they crossed north into Russian Poland on June 29 supported by the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army on its left flank By July 2 however the Russian Third Army had rumbled into action launching a fierce counterattack against the Eleventh Army’s advancing right flank along the Bug River while Mackensen’s forces also encountered elements of the newly formed and short-lived Russian Thirteenth Army (above Russian troops in a temporary defensive position) described a nighttime battle along the Zlota Lipa river on July 1-2: Richert was lucky enough to survive the charge on the Russian trenches although the terror and confusion continued: To deal with the threat to Mackensen’s right flank 1915 Falkenhayn formed a new composite Austro-German army the Army of the Bug (named for the Bug River area where it would operate) commanded by Alexander von Linsingen He also gave Mackensen direct control over the Austro-Hungarian First and Fourth Armies who found himself and his officers increasingly sidelined by the imperious Prussians of the German general staff Conrad’s position wasn’t helped by the embarrassing (but temporary) rebuff of the Austro-Hungarian Fourth Army by the Russian Fourth Army near Krasnik on July 6-7 Le Theatre de mon Cerveau The Central Powers commanders also faced growing logistical difficulties as their advance took them further away from their rail supply lines and deeper into territory where the retreating Russians had destroyed the railroads as well as most – but not all – sources of food (above Richert recalled hungry German troops finding scraps of food in an abandoned Russian trench: “In their trench were still pieces of bread left lying around and we eagerly consumed them Many soldiers pulled the grains from the green heads of wheat in order to overcome their pangs of hunger.” After pausing to move up supplies and reinforcements the Central Powers returned to the attack on July 13-16 with advances by the Austro-Hungarian First and Fourth Armies and the Army of the Bug setting the stage for the main push by the Eleventh Army on July 16 Elsewhere Army Group Gallwitz attacked south from East Prussia while the Ninth Army and Army Detachment Woyrsch tied down the Russian Second and Fourth Armies near Warsaw the new offensive opened with a huge artillery bombardment described the furious barrage unleashed by the German guns on July 13: by July 19 Mackensen’s main force had advanced up to seven miles along a front stretching 20 miles west and south of Lublin Meanwhile to the east the Army of the Bug and the Austro-Hungarian First Army had established bridgeheads across the River Bug clearing the way for further advances towards Chelm another key transportation junction on the way to the main objective of Brest-Litovsk (below Histomil The Central Powers’ advance slowed somewhat in the face of fierce Russian resistance beginning July 20 but it still posed a clear threat to the rest of the Russian forces to the west prompting the Russian commander on the northwestern front to order the evacuation of Warsaw on July 22 This was the first step towards the final Russian withdrawal from all of Poland leaving thousands of square miles of scorched earth in its wake Indeed, the fighting inflicted a heavy toll on the region’s inhabitants, as hundreds of thousands of Polish peasants abandoned their homes to flee with the retreating Russian armies into what are today Ukraine and Belarus. Ironically the German advance also destroyed the livelihoods of German settlers who had lived throughout the region for centuries Richert recalled the scene in one small settlement:  Not everyone fled: some Polish peasants decided to stay behind and take their chances with the conquering Germans and Austrians as Richert discovered when he wandered into a peasant hut he believed to be empty only to find a terrified woman with her child he was a co-religionist – and happily for him However most interactions probably weren’t quite so friendly; for one thing the Germans and Austrians while still hoping to woo the Poles to their side couldn’t conceal their racist disdain for “backwards” Slavs Although few Poles welcomed the occupiers with open arms as Jablonska’s comment indicates they weren’t necessarily afraid of arbitrary acts of violence either in marked contrast to the capricious barbarity of Nazi German troops in the Second World War In fact most rank and file soldiers were probably too tired and hungry to expend much energy on oppressing the locals beyond requisitioning any food they might have By mid-July some German troops had marched over 200 miles in the previous two months and the advance was set to continue unabated through the hot Eastern European summer Imperial War Museum History Place As the Central Powers pushed deeper into Russian territory on the Eastern Front to the south the Allies suffered another defeat on the Italian front where chief of the general staff Luigi Cadorna flung his armies against well-entrenched Austrian defenders at the First Battle of the Isonzo As its name indicates this was just the first of twelve battles along the Isonzo River most employing massed infantry charges that produced huge casualties for minimal gains (below Maxicat The main Italian war aim was capturing the port city of Trieste and the first attack was accordingly carried out by the Italian Second and Third Armies under General Frugoni and the Duke of Aosta against the Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army under Svetozar Boroević von Bojna entrenched on the high ground above the Isonzo River The attack would focus on the defensive positions above Tolmein (Tolmino in Italian now part of Italy; as a result much of the fighting would take place in rough craggy terrain at elevations over 2,000 feet Cadorna doesn’t seem to have benefited much from the lessons learned by Allied generals at painful cost over almost a year of war on the Western Front but he at least understood the value of prolonged artillery bombardments to soften up the enemy’s defenses Thus the opening week of the First Battle of the Isonzo was devoted to heavy shelling which however failed to break up the massive barbed wire entanglements in front of the Austro-Hungarian trenches Conditions were made worse be heavy rains that turned hillsides into slippery cascades of mud which somehow had to be scaled beneath Habsburg machine gun and rifle fire Relakjoe The big infantry charge sent 15 Italian divisions forward along a 21-mile front on June 30 but despite a numerical advantage of almost two-to-one the assault failed almost completely gaining a single bridgehead across the Isonzo through a huge expenditure of blood and ammunition (above Euronews On July 2 the Italians launched another attack towards the Carso (Karst) Plateau a strategic elevated plain riddled with pits and caves and managed to capture Mount San Michele on the western edge of the plateau A third attack against the Doberdò Plateau advanced less than a mile; elsewhere the Italians were pushed out of their hard-won positions in the hills above Gorizia it was all over; the Italians had suffered 15,000 casualties compared to 10,000 for the Austro-Hungarians With every hour that passed the Habsburg defenders were receiving reinforcements and digging in deeper (below Histomil However none of this deterred Cadorna from launching another offensive again relying on overwhelming numerical superiority and using substantially similar tactics in the Second Battle of the Isonzo from July 18-August 3 The Italians scored some modest successes in this battle but as so often in the First World War it proved a Pyrrhic victory See the previous installment or all entries.  © 2025 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved He also covers online and traditional media for MediaPost Mental Floss may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.",{"type":"bo","value":"lb"},"AR_1",{"type":"bo","value":"ld"},"This article contains affiliate links to products selected by our editors as well as products provided to Mental Floss for review purposes d) {\n h = h[d] = h[d] || {\n q: [],\n onReady: function(c){ h.q.push(c) },\n };\n d = o.createElement(u);\n d.async = 1;\n d.src = n;\n n = o.getElementsByTagName(u)[0];\n n.parentNode.insertBefore(d \"https://www.datadoghq-browser-agent.com/us1/v5/datadog-rum.js\" Initialize Datadog RUM and then measure TTFB/FCP\n window.DD_RUM.onReady(function() {\n // 3a Initialize RUM\n window.DD_RUM.init({\n applicationId: 'f3f16add-4ebf-4aad-9bb4-adb13da4d17e',\n clientToken: 'pub53fad8ec1eea29e2f92980d95072da2f',\n site: \"datadoghq.com\",\n service: \"voltax-sites-www.mentalfloss.com\",\n env: \"prod\",\n sessionSampleRate: 100,\n sessionReplaySampleRate: 0,\n trackUserInteractions: true,\n trackResources: true,\n trackLongTasks: true,\n defaultPrivacyLevel: \"mask-user-input\",\n });\n\n // 3b Measure TTFB & FCP once the page fully loads\n window.addEventListener('load' {\n ttfb: ttfb,\n fcp: fcp,\n });\n\n // Optional: log them to console for debugging\n console.log('[Datadog RUM] TTFB:' The unraveling of the Russian armies that began with the breakthrough at Gorlice-Tarnow in May 1915 accelerated in the months that followed Kings Academy \nWhile hardly a blitzkrieg of the type unleashed on the Soviet Red Army in the Second World War the Austro-German advance through Poland and Galicia in May-September 1915 was methodical and relentless following a cyclical pattern with occasional pauses to consolidate and regroup First punishing artillery bombardments blasted apart Russian defensive works (top a German 30.5 centimeter gun on the Eastern Front) followed by massed infantry charges that captured huge numbers of prisoners (below German uhlans escort Russian prisoners); then the Russians would withdraw to a new line of trenches further back their pursuers would bring forward the heavy artillery Imperial War Museum \n Click to enlarge Meanwhile in Petrograd the blame game was heating up. On June 26 Minister of War Vladimir Sukhomlinov (below, left) resigned amid allegations of incompetence stemming from the string of defeats as well as the critical shortage of artillery shells, which he had totally failed to remedy; he was succeeded by Alexei Polivanov (below Wikimedia Commons [1,2] Military History Online Le Theatre de mon Cerveau Histomil Imperial War Museum \nWhile many Polish peasants fled voluntarily, that wasn’t the case for hundreds of thousands of Jews, as the Russians – angered by the fact that the Jews obviously preferred German rule and collaborated with the German military – continued their policy of forcible mass deportations into the Russian interior (below witnessed the arrival of Galician Jews who were confined to camps before being shipped onwards to Siberia:  History Place Maxicat \nAfter Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary on May 23 the Austrians immediately withdrew to strong defensive positions built along foothills and mountainsides over the preceding months in expectation of an Italian attack giving up a small amount of low-lying territory in return for a huge tactical advantage Over the following weeks four Italian armies crept forward cautiously until they reached the Austrian defenses in what became known – rather inaccurately – as the “Primo Sbalzo” or “first leap” (it was less of a leap and more of a crawl) The advance then halted until the disorganized Italians could complete their mobilization and bring up artillery and shells Relakjoe Euronews Histomil See the previous installment or all entries.