Arrival at Chopin Airport in Warsaw. After arrival, we will begin our journey at Warsaw Jewish cemetery, one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. We will see the mosaic of pre-war Jewis life. There are many beautiful matzeivot (tombstones), decorated with graphics and poems tha describe the individual. We will also visit the graves of some leading 19th and 20th century Jewish personalities, including the Netziv and R. Chaim Soloveitchik, Y.L. Peretz, and others.
READ MOREWe will see Warsaw Ghetto Wall, a remnant of the wall surrounding the Warsaw Ghetto and describe the difficulties of life in the ghetto, and how Jews coped with them. Heroism Walk in the Ghetto area: A short walk that includes monuments to some of the leading personalities in the ghetto, including Janusz Korscak, R. Yitzhak Nissenboim, and Emmanuel Ringleblum. Visit the site of Mila 18, the headquarters of the Jewish Fighting Organization led by Mordechai Anilewicz. The iconic and impressive Rappaport Monument, the first major monument built anywhere to the Shoah, and
copied at Yad Vashem, stands proudly opposite the POLIN museum. We will visit POLIN Museum, Winner of the prize as Best Museum in Europe in 2016, the permanent exhibit chronicles the entirety of Polish Jewish history, from the earliest settlements through the Communist and post- Communist eras.
After breakfast, we will visit Tykocin, a typical shtetl where Jews settled in the 1500's, it also has a beautiful Baroque synagogue with colorful prayers adorning the walls. During the visit we will listen to the story of the Jewish community. From there we will continue to Lupachowa Forest. We will learn about the horrible massacre and the destruction of the Tikocyn community by the Nazis. Over 3000 Jewish were murdered. We will see the mass graves that are used as testimony of what happened there.
READ MOREAfter that we will drive to the death camp Treblinka which was the final destination of the Great Deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto. Excepting Auschwitz, more Jews were murdered here than in any other place on earth. We will visit the memorial and discuss the German plan for the destruction of Polish Jewry. When the tour ends, we will drive to our hotel in Warsaw.
Close thisAfter breakfast we will visit the Jewish Historical Institute, founded in the interwar years, this is one of the few public Jewish buildings to survive the war. During our visit, we would see Its collection that includes the Ringleblum archives, the largest archival project of the Shoah, and more. We will continue to Nozyk Synagogue. That synagogue is one of the hundreds of synagogues which operated in Warsaw 1939, and this is the only one who survive the war. Currently, that synagogue is consider as the center of Jewish life in Warsaw.
READ MOREDuring our visit we will meet with the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich . We will Drive to Lublin and will visit the NN Theatre, founded in the 1990's by an avant-garde theatre group, it has evolved into the most important research center in the world on pre-war Lublin Jewry. We will be guided here by Piotr, a Polish Catholic who speaks fluent Yiddish. Then we will visit Yeshivat Chochmei Lublin. We will learn about the premier yeshiva in Poland in the interwar years, founded by R. Meir Shapiro, who also created the Daf Yomi. We will do Torah study there and join our voices to those of the students who are no longer there.
Close thisAfter breakfast we will visit Majdanek. The camp is located on the outskirts of Lublin and is one of the six death camps among the thousands of German camps. The camp stared as a work camp and later converted to a death camp. After that we will visit at Majdanek: A pilgrimage site – there we will find the grave of R. Elimelech of Lizensk, who brought the Hasidic movement to Poland in the late 1700’s. The Hasidic movement flourished in Poland and dominated religious Jewish life in Poland before the war.
READ MOREFrom there we will go to Markowa. Markova was a small farming village which includes the home of the Ulma family, righteous Gentiles who paid with their lives for hiding Jews during the German occupation. When the tour will over, we will continue to our hotel in Lancut.
Close thisAfter breakfast we will visit Tarnow. Tarnow is a city of 50,000 that before the war half of whose inhabitants were Jews. We will see the remnants of Jewish life, and recent attempts to memorialize them. Fron there we will visit at Zbilitovska Gora which is the site of mass graves of both Poles and Jews, including a grave with 800 Jewish children. After that we will go to Krakov for preparation Kabbalat Shabbat in our hotel in Krakov
After breakfast we will attend in a Morning services with the local community and a Kiddush at Galicia Museum. After that we will go to a Walking tour of Kazimierz which is the Jewish quarter in Krakov : we will see the Alta Shul, the Bet Midrash Koveah Itim L'Torah, the Isaac Shul, the Temple, and visit the JCC to hear about their work with elderly survivors as well as Ukrainian refugees – and the creation of the first Jewish pre-school in Krakow since the 1940’s.
READ MOREfrom there we will perform a Minha at Remah synagogue. After that we will take a Shabbat rest and go to Seudah Shlishit the at hotel, and Havdalah. For those who are interested we will go to a Walking tour of Wawel Castle: the
home of Polish kings. And to the Old Town Square: one of the largest and most beautiful market squares in all Europe. After that we will go back to our hotel in Krakov.
After breakfast we will visit Auschwitz-Birkenau. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest killing center of the Shoah, where an estimated 1.1 million people were murdered, including 1 million Jews. During our visit we will learn about the history of the camp. How he formed and destroyed, we will listen to the story of the many Jewish communities that we’re murdered over there, and we will visit the museum and see personal Jewish belongings such as bags, shoes, documents and more. After the tour we will go back to our hotel in Krakow
After breakfast we will visit Ghetto Heroes’; Square which is located just outside what was the Krakow Ghetto. There we will witness a haunting art installation of empty chairs which is located next to the famous pharmacy at the entrance to the ghetto. From there we will continue to a watch at Schindler Factory. Durning the Shoah, Oscar Schindler saved 1200 Jews in his factory. We will tell his story and discuss others who saved large numbers of Jews during the Shoah. From there we will go to Bais Yaakov Teachers Seminary, that founded by Sarah Schnirer, which was a pioneer in Jewish education for women.
READ MOREFrom 1917, when she founded the first Bais Yaakov school, it grew to tens of thousands of students by the 1930’s. after that we will continue to our final destination, the Remah synagogue and cemetery that was built by the father of the Remah, this also served as the yeshiva of this towering 16th century rabbinic figure. Also buried here are other luminaries, such as the Tosfot Yom Tov and the Bach. After that we will go to our closing dinner and later we will go to the airport.
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Guide: DR. David Bernstein
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