Second Gentleman Pool Reports of January 31, 2023

SGOTUS travel pool report #1 -- interfaith roundtable/historic synagogue

Hello from East Berlin, where we are on our fifth day in Europe with no sun. We depart for the U.S. this evening.

SGOTUS's first engagement this morning was an interfaith roundtable organized by the Central Council of Jews in Germany. It was hosted at the Leo Baeck House. Baeck was a German rabbi and scholar who survived the Holocaust.

SGOTUS arrived at 10:05 a.m. CET and was introduced by Abraham Lehrer, the elected vice president of the Council. Lehrer noted that 2021 marked 1700 years of Jewish life in Germany.

SGOTUS delivered remarks at the start of the event, which was attended by leaders from the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim communities in Germany. He was also joined by Amb. Deborah Lipstadt and Amb. Rashad Hussain.

Some SGOTUS quotes from his remarks about interfaith coalition building:

"There's a real chilling connection between antisemitism and these other forms of hate. And let's be clear, a threat to any community is a threat to all communities."

"While I've been in Europe, I've spent a lot of time reflecting. Reflecting on a dark, difficult history of the Holocaust, but also the challenges that we face right now. I've met with leaders, community members to discuss the bold actions that we need to take collectively to combat antisemitism and hate in all its forms. I'm very encouraged by the discussions."

Press was then escorted down the block to the Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue, where we waited while the roundtable wrapped up. The synagogue was built in the mid-19th century, and part of it was destroyed by Allied bombing in WWII. A local reporter told pool that a German police officer protected the synagogue on Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom in 1938. He was later persecuted by the Nazis and, after the war, was honored by the Berlin Jewish community.

SGOTUS arrived at 11:15 a.m. and received a tour of the synagogue, which used to be called The New Synagogue. Before the war, it had room to seat more than 2,000 congregants. Most of it is now a museum. A small congregation meets on the top floor. SGOTUS arrived on the top floor for a meeting with several Ukrainian refugees. When he sat down, he asked them to tell him about their experience since the war began. Press was then escorted from the room at around 11:40 a.m. Press split off from SGOTUS for lunch.

EVENT ONE

Event: Interfaith Roundtable

Location: Leo Baeck House, Jewish Cultural Council Berlin

The Second Gentleman will participate in a roundtable with Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faith leaders on the importance of interfaith collaboration in combating antisemitism. He will hear directly from faith leaders about their efforts to combat hate. He will also speak about the Biden-Harris Administration's commitment to build coalitions and counter antisemitism and hate in all its forms.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany was founded in Frankfurt in 1950 and is the umbrella organization representing the interests of Germany's Jewish population. This meeting is the first of its kind to be hosted by the council with all three major religions (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) represented.

Participants include:

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff
• Dr. Deborah Lipstadt, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism
• Rashad Hussain, Ambassador at Large, State Department Office of International Religious Freedom
• Clark Price, Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy Berlin
• Abraham Lehrer, Vice-President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany (Host)
• Daniel Botmann, Chief Executive Officer of Central Council of Jews in Germany
• Burak Yilmaz, young educator, social worker and author
• Imam Kadir Sanc?, imam and cofounder of the House of One in Berlin
• Dr. Jörg Lüer, Executive Director of the German Commission Justitia et Pax
• Father Nils Petrat, Catholic priest from the Paderborn Archdiocese
• Prelate Anne Gidion, Plenipotentiary of the Evangelical (Protestant) Church in Germany
• Johann du Maire, advisor to Prelate Gidion
• Zsolt Balla, Lead Rabbi of the German Military and Lead Rabbi of the State of Saxony
• Rabbi Gesa Ederberg, rabbi of the Oranienburger Strasse Synagogue, Berlin
• Dr. Rebecca Seidler, Chair of the Liberal (Reform) Jewish Community of Hannover

Additional background: Prior to his trip, the Second Gentleman marked Religious Freedom Day by welcoming 15 new American citizens in a naturalization ceremony at the White House. In 2022, he also hosted college students of different faiths from around D.C. to the Vice President's Residence to mark Rosh Hashanah and joined Ambassador Rashad Hussain for a fireside chat at the Muslim Jewish Council's Ramadan celebration. Mr. Emhoff also hosted the first two Vesak celebrations at the White House with staff and Buddhist leaders.

EVENT TWO

Event: Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue Tour

Location: Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue

The Second Gentleman will visit Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue to learn more about Jewish life in Berlin and meet with the Synagogue's leader Rabbi Gesa Ederberg. The New Synagogue on Oranienburgerstrasse in Berlin was built in the mid-19th century as the main place of worship for Berlin's Jewish community. Today, it is home to the museum and cultural center Centrum Judaicum; it also has a small sanctuary where religious services are offered. During its most active years it was the largest Jewish place of worship in Germany.

After the tour, the Second Gentleman will meet with Ukrainian refugees to hear about their experiences and how the Synagogue's community has supported them.

Participants of the tour include:

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff
• Rabbi Gesa Ederberg
• Jess Earle, Head, Education and Communication, Museum of the New Synagogue -- Centrum Judaicum Foundation on Oranienburger Strasse
• Hannelore Altmann, Member of the Board, Jewish Community Berlin

Participants of the meeting with Ukrainian Refugees include:

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff
• Eyal Dali
• Daria Starodubtseva
• Anatoli Botea
• Elena Katarzhniuk
• Gergel Boguslava

SGOTUS travel pool report #2 -- Berlin Holocaust memorials

SGOTUS's last stops of the day were at Berlin's Holocaust memorials, which are spread across a few blocks of Berlin near the Tiergarten and Brandenburg Gate. The first one, around 1:30 p.m., he visited was the Memorial to the Victims of the Nazi 'Euthanasia' Murders. Press did not get out of the car for the short stop (it's quite rainy in Berlin), but a WH official said he laid a rose at the memorial.

The second stop was the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism. SGOTUS got out of the motorcade around 1:50 p.m. and walked through the Tiergarten to the memorial, a small reflecting pool surrounded by tiles with the names of concentration camps. Behind it was the Reichstag. SGOTUS also laid a rose here.

Next he went to the Memorial to the Persecuted Homosexuals under National Socialism; pool remained in the car. His final stop, at 2:10 p.m, was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial. It is composed of 2,711 unmarked steel slabs of various heights in a massive grid pattern. He placed a wreath at the foot of one of the slabs before going inside the adjacent underground museum to meet with five Holocaust survivors. The meeting is closed press, and pool is holding outside. When he's finished he will gaggle before we head to the airport.

Some background info on the stops, per a WH official, below. (The background info in previous email was also from a WH official.)

Event: Visit to Memorials
Location: Memorial to the Victims of the Nazi 'Euthanasia' Murders; the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism; the Memorial to the Persecuted Homosexuals under National Socialism, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial.

The Second Gentleman will visit four memorials in the heart of Berlin to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and underscore the importance of combatting antisemitism and hate of all kinds. The Holocaust Memorial is a memorial in Berlin dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide of World War II. The Memorial to the Victims of the Nazi 'Euthanasia' Murders at the historical site of the planning headquarters, in Berlin's Tiergartenstrasse 4, commemorates the murder of tens of thousands of patients from sanatoriums and nursing homes as well as "racially" and socially undesirable people. The Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism is dedicated to the memory of the 220,000 – 500,000 people murdered in the Porajmos – the Nazi genocide of the European Sinti and Roma peoples. The Memorial to the Persecuted Homosexuals under Nazi Socialism is intended to honor the homosexual victims of National Socialism and at the same time "set a constant sign against intolerance, hostility and exclusion towards gays and lesbians".

After the tour of the memorials, the Second Gentleman will meet with five Holocaust survivors to hear their stories. He will re-emphasize the importance of Holocaust remembrance and education.

Participants for the tour of Memorial to the Victims of the Nazi 'Euthanasia' Murders:

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhof
• Juergen Dusel, Federal Commissioner for Matters concerning Persons with Disabilities

Participants for the tour of the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism:

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff
• Mehmet Daimagueler, Commissioner against Antiziganism and Sinti and Roma Life in Germany

Participants for the tour of the Memorial to the Persecuted Homosexuals under National Socialism

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff
• Philipp Braun, Representative of Federal Lesbian and Gay Federation
• Christopher Schreiber, Representative of Berlin-Brandenburg Lesbian and Gay Federation
• Alexander Scheld, Representative of Berlin-Brandenburg Lesbian and Gay Federation

Participants for the tour of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, also known as the Holocaust Memorial:

• Second Gentleman of the United States, Douglas Emhoff
• Uwe Neumärker, Director, Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

SGOTUS travel pool report #3 -- gaggle and Holocaust survivor meeting

Press was escorted to wait in the lobby of the information center at the Holocaust memorial while SGOTUS met with five Holocaust survivors. Press came downstairs around 2:45 p.m., not long after his meeting started.

SGOTUS spoke with the survivors for an hour. Afterward, he gaggled with press and took 3 questions. In his remarks, he shared his reflections on meeting the survivors. One of them, who moved to Ukraine after the Holocaust, is now a Ukrainian refugee in Germany after Putin's invasion last year. He reflected that another, a 101-year-old woman, has now had to live with memories of the war for eight decades. One spoke about the importance of educating young people, and another talked about antisemitism she has faced since the Holocaust. WH did not share the names of the survivors.

Some SG quotes:

"You're really struck by what you see in all these museums and what we saw in Auschwitz and all the mass murder and violence, but to them, you hear these stories of survival. And a lot of it was a twist of fate, or just some luck, a non-Jewish stranger, deciding on a whim to do something that then led to a life, well lived and long lived."

Re question about his meeting earlier with Ukrainian refugees:

"The main message was, Don't forget us. They are so appreciative of the support from the United States, the government, but also the people of the United States, the people of Germany, the government of Germany. We were in Poland, and we met Ukrainian refugees there, and the message was the same. Please keep supporting us on kind of the human side because this is about human beings."

Re timing for completion of the national action plan on antisemitism:

"I don't have a date yet because I want it to be right, and I want it to be good. And so sometimes, if you do things too quickly, you're gonna miss things."

Noted he is speaking at the UN soon (Feb. 9).

Motorcade departed at 4 p.m. SGOTUS made an OTR stop en route Brandenburg Airport.

The Second Gentleman made a stop at Rausch Schokoladenhaus, a chocolate shop in Berlin. He purchased a chocolate heart for the Vice President.

SGOTUS was greeted at the plane by Chargé of the US embassy in Berlin. (Name to come in next email.)

Wheels up shortly from Berlin Brandenburg Airport. We will be stopping for a refuel in Shannon.

SGOTUS travel pool report #5 -- arrival at JBA

SGOTUS flight from Berlin (via Shannon) landed at JBA at 11:56 p.m.