KRAKOW, Poland (AP) — Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, described being deeply moved by a “solemn and sad” visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, saying Saturday it was an important part of his work to combat anti-Semitism. by the Biden administration.
Emhoff told reporters he will never forget his emotional visit to the site on Friday, where he watched children’s shoes and human hair being removed before they were killed at the Nazi German death camp. Around 1.1 million people were killed there during World War II, around 90% of them Jews.
Friday was the 78th anniversary of the liberation. from the camp on January 27, 1945, with the celebrations being joined by the second gentleman. He laid a wreath at an execution wall and listened as survivors remember what they suffered there.
He followed that visit with other events that gave him the opportunity to learn more about the tragic fate of the Jews in Europe. On Saturday he visited the Oskar Schindler enamel factory in Krakow, where he saw an exhibition on “Schindler’s List,” the 1,000 Jews saved by the German industrialist during the Holocaust.
On Saturday night he joined a Shabbat dinner with members of the Krakow Jewish community, a chance to see how Jewish life is growing again in central Europe as well.
Emhoff is the first Jewish spouse of a President or Vice President of the United States. He is on a six-day tour of Poland and Germany aimed at promoting the Biden administration’s work in combating anti-Semitism. He described anti-Semitism as a growing problem around the world and in the United States.
He denounced the “so-called” leaders who have been using anti-Semitism to further their agendas and those who do not have the courage to confront them at a time of murderous attacks on Jewish communities, hateful threats and anti-Semitic lies.
“People used to be afraid to say these ugly epithets and lies out loud. Now they are literally yelling at them. We are witnessing an epidemic of hate in the United States and internationally,” Emhoff said at the start of a round table on anti-Semitism held at the Jewish Museum of Galicia.
He did not cite any specific incident. But in recent months, former President Donald Trump has hosted Nick Fuentes, a white supremacist who denies the Holocaust, at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida; rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, expressed his love for Adolf Hitler in an interview; basketball star Kyrie Irving appeared to promote an anti-Semitic film on social media; A neo-Nazi troll is clamoring to return to Twitter as new CEO Elon Musk grants “amnesty” to suspended accounts.
