Above: Rachel is greeted on the Poniatowski Bridge and escorted into Warsaw.
Source: Swiatowid, "Dzielna Amazonka w Warszawie" ("Brave Amazon in Warsaw"), August 25, 1928, p. 4. Opens on page 1; go to page 4. (Jagiellonian Digital Library).

Above: Same photo, cropped differently.
Source: Gazeta Poranna, "Znakomita amazonka francuska p. Dorange wjeźzdźa do Warszawy...." ("The distinguished French horsewoman Miss Dorange arrives in Warsaw...."), August 27, 1928, p. 3. Opens on page 1; go to page 3. (Jagiellonian Digital Library)).

Above: Rachel with some of the same people as in the bridge photos. The three photos show that Rachel was greeted by at least nine riders plus more people on foot. This photo is by Witold Pikiel, 1889-1943.
Source: Tygodnik Illustrowani, "Raid konny Rachel Dorange" ("Rachel Dorange's horse ride"), August 25, 1928, p. 640 (via Wielkopolska Digital Library).

Above: Poniatowski Bridge and the Vistula River circa 1920 (detail). Postcard (no. 97) published by Ruch.
Source: "Warsaw Priest Poniatowski Bridge World War II (316)," one.bid (auction site). The reverse side of the postcard has stamped postmarks with Nazi insignia but the card is obviously much earlier than World War II.

Above: The Poniatowski Bridge: Renovated small towers as of 2013 (detail). One of the bridge's distinctive towers is visible in the top two photos. Originally built between 1904 and 1914, the bridge had several spans destroyed in both World War I and World War II. A reconstruction and beautification program was initiated in 2004.
Source: Photo by Adrian Grycuk (own work), August 15, 2013 (Wikipedia).

8. Bucharest, 1928 (continued)

Warsaw to Krakow (Map 10-11)

The failure of officials from the French legation to greet her when she arrived in Warsaw would have been particularly galling. This was compounded when they and other dignitaries also failed to show up for her farewell when she left Warsaw on August 22.

"A few of us from the sports and journalistic circles have gathered to bid farewell to this charming enigma. However, we look in vain for representatives of the French colony, the consulate, and Polish sports and military organizations." (Wieczór Warszawski)

Nowy Dziennek also reported the absence of French officials:

Today at 10 a.m., Miss D'Orange-Poméranc left Warsaw. The representatives of the French legation were not present at the farewell."

In this case, however, the reference to "Miss D'Orange-Poméranc" is the smoking gun. It reveals that the rumour about Rachel being Jewish had followed her to Warsaw. Clearly, this was the reason why certain members of the local establishment shunned her, just as their counterparts had in Bucharest.

Newspapers helped to spread the rumour. On August 23, the day after Rachel left Warsaw, a Gazeta Poranna Dawniej article stated that "The Jewish newspaper "Nasz Przegl─àd" reports that Mademoiselle DΓÇÖOrange is originally from Czernivtsi and that her real surname is Pomeranc." The report not only presented the rumour as fact but even went so far as to deny that Rachel was French.

Two days later Naprzód, the organ of the Polish Socialist Party, elaborated on the rumour by giving her a "well-known" Jewish family.

"The Famous Horseback Rider D'Orange – A Jewish Woman From Chernivtsi.

"The famous sports­ cavalrywoman, Miss D’Orange, who is currently traveling through Europe on horseback, comes from a well-known Jewish family in Chernivtsi, and her real name is Pomeranc. Upon her arrival in Chernivtsi, the civil and military authorities gave her a reception."

On August 31 Nowy Dziennik largely reprinted an admiring article about Rachel that had been published two days earlier in Jeździec i Hodowca (Rider and Breeder). Nowy Dziennik could not resist inserting a line of its own:

"The brave horsewoman is, as we have already reported, Jewish, and her real name is Rachel Pomeranc (D'Orange)."

Rachel's supposedly Jewish name was still news on September 13 when Głos Narodu announced "Miss Dorange-Pomeranz in Prague."

There seem to be no reports of Rachel attending banquets or other social events while in Warsaw, which may be additional evidence of her being snubbed. It was these events that Rachel especially looked forward to, and not receiving invitations to them would have been bitterly disappointing to someone as sensitive to slights as she was.

Painful experiences leave sharper memories than pleasurable ones, so a single snub would have cancelled out all the adoring fans who greeted her, and all their bouquets. However, If Rachel was bothered by the absence of French and other officials at her departure, she did not show it.

Although she was capable of being angry and upset she did not allow her emotions to spoil enjoyable moments for very long. Wieczór Warszawski described the scene at the Konopnicki tattersall:

"The tattersal on Shucha Avenue is bustling with unusual activity. In front of the stable gate, grooms and stablehands are jostling – and in the corner of a stall decorated with Polish-French banners, stands Mademoiselle Dorange, a wild horsewoman, who in a moment is to set off on the long journey via Krakow to Paris....

"Miss Dorange, with a motherΓÇÖs tenderness, tends to her little horseΓÇÖs stall. She places a cloth under the saddle ΓÇö so heΓÇÖll suffer less from chafing. She adorns his head with flowers. 'Allons Huppé! YouΓÇÖll be as fine as a lady!'

"The stable resounds with the loud voice of the energetic Frenchwoman:

"'Oh! la la. Do you know what happened to me? A real tragedy. My dresses were ruined at the dry cleanerΓÇÖs. I wonΓÇÖt let them get away with this. WeΓÇÖll go to the police right away. They have to sort this out. What a dress! Worth two thousand francs! Oh! Mon Dieu! If only I had hold of the owner right now!'

"A capricious woman, for whom the issue of a dress is very, very important. For a long time yet, she remains angry, gesticulating and casting murderous glances, but finally she calms down.

"'IΓÇÖm a terrible woman! I canΓÇÖt stay angry for long. IΓÇÖll kill, but IΓÇÖll apologize.'

"'Come on, Michel!' she said to Mr. Lipczynski. 'WhereΓÇÖs your provisions? Where are your straps? And my talisman. WhereΓÇÖs my talisman? I got it in Linz from some old man. Five chestnuts on a string. He swore theyΓÇÖd bring me money and fame.'

"'Michel! Run to the post office and mail these letters,' commands Miss Dorange, handing Mr. Lipcynski a hundred postcards and letters.

"'And now sign my notebook,'she says to us, handing us a modest, oilcloth-bound little book, full of autographs and dedications in German, Romanian, and Polish.

"'Come on, Huppé! Let's go!' says Miss Rachela cheerfully, buttoning up her ash-gray trench coat. She tucks a light bowler hat into her black handbag and, waving her riding crop, leads the flower-covered Huppé out of the stable. He looks incredibly weary today.

"'Farewell to you all, my dear ones,' says Miss Dorange. and throws herself into the arms of the doyen of Polish writers, Jawornicki. Having kissed the fresh Sarmatian face of the tall gentleman, with the same effusion she kisses Mr. Konopnicki and Mrs. Grabowska. She avoids the ladies, as she fears 'painted kisses.'

"Enchanted by the directness and simplicity of the charming young lady, we bid her farewell with heartfelt shouts of Bon voyage!"

Jawornicki was Antoni Jawornicki, a prominent Polish architect in the 1920s who specialized in designing sports facilities.