Second Gentleman Pool Reports of January 29, 2023

SGOTUS travel pool report #1 - Jewish Quarter walking tour

Good morning from Krakow, where it's 25 degrees with snow flurries and we have yet to see the sun.

It's our last day here in Poland before we head to Berlin for the second leg of the trip. We're touring Krakow's Jewish Quarter before heading to Gorlice, the city where the Second Gentleman's family is believed to have lived before coming to the US .

The tour began at 9am at Wolnica Square, which used to be Market Square of Kazimierz. After Kazimierz became part of Kraków, the town hall lost its function and fell into disrepair. It was later adapted for the needs of a school of trade and commerce, and later a general school for Jewish youth.

SGOTUS & Amb. Brzezinski listened as Edyta Gawron explained the significance of the town hall's eastern wall, which commemorates the welcoming of Jewish refugees to Poland, during the reign of Casimir the Great (Kazimierz Wielki), as they were persecuted in other parts of Europe.

A bit of background on Kazimierz, per SG's office:
Kazimierz and Krakow were once two different towns, at the beginning of the 19th century, the cities had merged, and Kazimierz had become a district of Krakow. This area of Kazimierz, called Oppidum Judaeorum, became one of the major centers of Polish Judaism, inhabited by some of the best Jewish scientists, writers, artists, and craftsmen. Kazimierz was the center of Jewish life in Kraków for over 500 years, before it was systematically destroyed during World War II.

The group moved through each stop on the tour (copied below), listening and asking questions as Gawron explained the historical significance of these sites both before and after World War II.

Pool broke off with the Second Gentleman at the Remuh Synagogue, a 16th-century Jewish temple and the smallest of the historic synagogues in the area. Inside, SGOTUS met with a rabbi who was born in Germany but raised in Brooklyn.

"I'm from Brooklyn!" SGOTUS remarked. "And here we are together."

The Second Gentleman's walking tour of Kazimierz included the following stops:

o Jewish Congregation of Krakow (and Judenrat during WW2) at the corner of Krakowska and Skawińska Streets.

o Piłsudski Bridge: The Bridge is the site of the deportation of Jews from the center of Krakow and Kazimierz towards the ghetto in Podgórze.

o Bożego Ciała Street, towards Józefa Street.

o Courtyard of Józefa 12 (between Józefa and Meiselsa Str.)

o Nowy Square (discussing Jewish life before WW2 and the remnants of it)

o Estery, Józefa and Izaaka Street: On these streets there is a mural commemorating Jewish figures from the past, Jagiellonian University located in the heart of Jewish quarter.

o Szeroka Street: On Szeroka Street there are several notable places including the Holocaust Memorial of Krakow and the Old Synagogue.

o Holocaust Memorial of Krakow is a small memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.

o The Old Synagogue was an Orthodox Jewish synagogue. It is the oldest Medieval synagogue building still standing in Poland, and one of the most precious landmarks of Jewish architecture in Europe.

o Remuh Synagogue and Cemetery

External Participants:

o Douglas Emhoff, Second Gentleman

o U.S. Ambassador to Poland Mark Brzezinski

o U.S. Consul General in Krakow Erin Nickerson

o Edyta Gawron, assistant professor at the Department of Jewish Studies, Jagiellonian University

o Dr. Ewa Węgrzyn

o Mr. Tadeusz Jakubowicz

o Ms. Helena Jakubowicz

We're now holding in the press vans before the two-hour ride to Gorlice.

SGOTUS travel pool report #2 - Gorlice

Pool arrived in Gorlice at 1:04 pm CET after a two-hour ride through the snow-covered hills in the Polish countryside. He met the mayor and other community leaders and received a tour of historic sites.

The mayor greeted SGOTUS, telling him "welcome home."

SGOTUS said he was "a little emotional" about the visit to his ancestors' home but that he was looking forward to it.

Pool was taken inside City Hall where SGOTUS participated in a roundtable and toured a Photo exhibition of Jewish life in Gorlice. During the roundtable he said he only learned of his family connection to the city last year when he looked at the ship records at Ellis Island. His great-grandfather arrived in 1902 and his great-grandmother came in 1904, records show.

"If they did not come to the United States, I would not be here," as Second Gentleman representing the US, he said.

SGOTUS went on a walking tour of the city and gave brief remarks at a monument commemorating the Holocaust of Gorlice Jews. He placed a stone at the memorial before speaking to press.

Asked about the visit, he said it was "very positive." "Everyone wants to know where they come from," he said.

Asked about how he plans to talk about the visit to Gorlice with his family, he said: "A lot of tears."

SGOTUS choked up, pausing to compose himself before adding: "I'm looking forward to that."

More details on today's visit:

Meeting at Gorlice City Hall with the Mayor of Gorlice and other Civil Society Representatives:

• SGOTUS

• Erin Nickerson, United States Consul General, Poland

• Rafal Kukla, Mayor of Gorlice

• Łukasc Balajewicz, Deputy Mayor of Gorlice

• Łukasz Połomski, Historian

• Edyta Danielska, Educator and Member of the Sądecki Shtetl Association

• Tomasz Pruchinski, Religious Expert
Tour of Photo Exhibition of Jewish Life at City Hall
This exhibit displays photos that have been found through their archives of what Jewish life was like prior to the war.

Participants

• Rafal Kukla, Mayor of Gorlice

• Łukasc Balajewicz, Deputy Mayor of Gorlice

• Łukasc Balajewicz, Historian
Walking Tour of the Jewish Quarter of Gorlice
The walking tour of the Jewish Quarter of Gorlice will include:

1. City Hall Building

2. The site of the former synagogue (now a bakery)

3. Monument commemorating the Holocaust of GorliceJews.
Participants

• Łukasc Balajewicz, Deputy Mayor of Gorlice

• Łukasc Balajewicz, Historian

Sidur Przechodniów
The Second Gentleman will visit Sidur Przechodniów, which is meant to commemorate the Jews of Gorlice. The monument is the shape of the Star of David and was built in front of the gate of the Jewish cemetery.

Garbacz Memorial
The Second Gentleman will visit the Garbacz Memorial. On August 14, 1942, the Nazis shot dead about 700 Jews, from Gorlice and Bobowa, in the Garbacz forest. This site is a mass grave where they are buried.

Additional Background on the Second Gentleman's Family:

Records indicate that Gorlice is the last known town where the Second Gentleman's great-grandmother was before she fled what is now Poland. Records also indicate his great-grandfather spent time in this town as well. They fled persecution around 120 years ago and settled in the United States.

The research shows that the Second Gentleman's great-grandmother had several siblings and records indicate some members of her family were killed in the Holocaust.

SGOTUS travel pool report #3 - More Gorlice / airport

After the tour finished pool was pulled back into the motorcade. We briefly stopped so the Second Gentleman could take a picture of the home at an address associated with his great-grandmother.

On background as a White House official:

The records we have indicate that there is an address in Gorlice associated with the Second Gentlman's great-grandmother's family. While driving in Gorlice, the motorcade stopped at this address and the Second Gentleman got out and took a picture to share with his family at home.

The motorcade then stopped at the Sidur Przechodniow memorial, where SGOTUS was all smiles as he again met up with the mayor. He told the mayor his tour was "incredible," and he met a lot of community members. He said people inside the house he stopped to take a picture at waved at him and he waved back.

The motorcade moved to the Garbacz Memorial, the final stop in Gorlice. The memorial is a mass grave site for about 700 Jews from Gorlice and Bobowa who were shot and killed by Nazis in August 1942.

The memorial, a large cement rectangular block enclosed by a gate with the Star of David at the entrance, is tucked behind a cemetery on a hilltop in the Garbacz forest. SGOTUS arrived at the mass grave at 3:26 CET. He took a deep breath as he entered and stood off to the side as he listened to his tour guide. He placed a stone at the foot of the memorial plaque, stepped back and bowed his head. A somber Emhoff stood and looked around in silence, appearing to take in what happened around him. He took another deep breath before stepping off the memorial.

Pool was ushered back to the press vans and we're rolling for the airport at 3:35pm.

SGOTUS travel pool report #4 - Berlin

We were wheels down at Berlin Brandenburg Airport at 7:20 pm local time. It's windy and 34 degrees.

SGOTUS deplaned at 7:28 pm local time and walked over to US Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann. The two held hands as they spoke and briefly hugged before SGOTUS got into his vehicle.

We're rolling for the RON at 7:33pm.