**The following itinerary is subject to change. 

Tuesday, July 14 – Arrival in Warsaw. Introductory meeting in the late afternoon and dinner together at a local restaurant. Overnight in Warsaw.

Wednesday, July 15 – Jewish Warsaw. We will discover something about Jewish life before WWII by visiting the Jewish cemetery and the only functioning synagogue in Warsaw. We will also visit Polin, the stunning museum of Jewish life. In the afternoon, we turn our attention to the tragic events that took place during World War II while visiting sites in what was the Warsaw Ghetto. At the Jewish Historical Institute, we learn of the activities of Emmanuel Ringelblum and see something of his famous archive that chronicled every aspect of life in the ghetto. Time permitting, we will discover the fate of Warsaw’s small Hebrew Christian (Anglican) community during the years of the German occupation. Overnight in Warsaw.

Thursday, July 16 – Poland Resurrected. We will explore the Warsaw city center and come to a better understanding of Polish history and the political/cultural context of what was once the largest and most important Jewish city in the world. Visit to the Warsaw Uprising Museum to learn about the Polish experience and self-understanding of its suffering in WWII and other times in history. Discussion about the Polish influence on Jewish culture and identity. Overnight in Warsaw.

Friday, July 17 – Crossing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Line. On our way to Białystok, we continue to tell the story of Jewish life in Poland. As we pass Radzimim, the hometown of Isaac Bashevis Singer, we read an account of his childhood growing up in pre-WWI Poland, and focus on the 1920 war between Poland and the Soviet Union. At the Treblinka death factory, we will learn the fate of the Jews of Warsaw. At this small site 900,000 Jews were murdered and there were only 30 known survivors. The survivors’ testimonies will help us better understand the horror of this place. We continue heading east to the beautiful town of Tykocin, the Pearl of the Baroque, and illustrate how Jews were given cultural autonomy and a significant degree of self-government as they served the Polish nobility. We visit the Baroque fortress synagogue, walk along the Narew River to the town square and peek into the Baroque Holy Trinity Church. Overnight in Białystok.

Saturday, July 18 – Białystok and “Ordinary Men.” In Białystok, we recount the rich history of the Jewish community here. We visit the site of the Great Synagogue, which the Germans burnt down in 1941 with 3,000 Jewish people inside. We will be introduced to Michael Sopocko and Sister Faustina and why the visions of the Divine Mercy became one Polish response to the horrors of Nazi occupation and Soviet oppression. On the way to Lublin, we recount some of the activities of Hamburg Police Battalion 101. We’ll stop at Miedzycez, a town that was once 80 percent Jewish, and recount the life and death of the Jewish community there. If time permits, we will briefly stop in Kotz, the hometown of Mendel Morgenstern (the famed Kotzker Rebbe), and visit the site where Battalion 101 executed Poles. Overnight in Lublin.

Sunday, July 19 – Magical Lublin. In the morning, we will discover something of the strategic importance that Lublin played throughout Central Europe’s history while admiring its walls, castles, and churches. Also, we turn our attention to the significant Jewish presence that made the city one of the most important Jewish centers in the Diaspora. The subject of study as a form of worship and religious obligation will be introduced. We will stop at the Jewish cemetery to see the grave of Rabbi Yitzhak Yaacov, the famed “Seer of Lublin.” We visit the synagogue and former yeshiva, one of the most famous in the Jewish world. At the end of the day, we stop at Majdanek, a labor/death camp. Overnight in Lublin.

Monday, July 20 – Revolt against Death. We leave Lublin and travel (conditions permitting) northeast to Włodawa, where we will view its beautiful synagogue and describe how Jews in this borderland were influenced and challenged by the different ethnic groups of Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Here we will explain the way this Polish Jewish community was organized and how it relates to the “Imitation of God.” At Sobibor death factory (one of five in Poland), we start by examining the role of Franz Stangl, a seemingly ethical man who became slowly compromised as a Nazi bureaucrat, overseeing the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people. Here, the largest prisoner revolt of WWII took place when 300 Jews escaped in October 1943. As we pass the city of Chełm, we will discuss the rich folklore associated with the town and recall the tragic Chmielnicki massacres (1648–1669) and the literary contribution of Y. L. Peretz. Overnight in Zamość.

Tuesday, July 21 – “The Ambiguity of Good.” We begin with a stroll through beautiful Zamość, which has retained its original layout, fortifications and buildings that combine Italian and central European architectural traditions. Before we leave the area, we will visit the site of a former Soviet prisoner of war camp, one of many where the Germans starved 3 million Soviet soldiers to death. We then stop at the Belzec death factory where 500,000 Jews were murdered (only two were known to have survived). At the museum, we recount the life and question the activities of Kurt Gerstein, “God’s Spy” in the SS. In nearby Jozefow, we recount how Battalion 101 was initiated into the “Final Solution.” Time permitting, we will visit Biłgoraj the town associated with Isaac Bashevis Singer. Overnight in Rzeszów.

Wednesday, July 22 – A City of Saints and Kings. In the morning, we explore the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Krakow, especially its connection with Pope John Paul II and how the Polish experience with Communism and the culture of Kraków shaped his pontificate and his teaching. Sites include the impressive Market Square, Wawel Castle, Jagiellonian University, Nowa Huta’s New Ark Church, the historic paintings of Jan Matejko and more. Dinner with an evening of Polish folklore. Overnight in Kraków.

Thursday, July 23 – Jewish Kraków. We begin the morning by walking through the Jewish Quarter of Kraków, visiting the Alta Shul (the oldest synagogue building still standing in Poland), the cemetery, and the Jewish Museum of Galicia. In the afternoon, we will briefly visit the Jewish Community Center, the Oscar Schindler factory and other sites associated with his wartime activities in Kraków (the Jewish ghetto, Plazów labor camp). We will discuss Schindler and highlight the moral ambiguities of his character. Overnight in Kraków.

Friday, July 24 – Free Day. Kraków is considered one of the most stunning cities in all of Europe. This day will be set aside for shopping, further sightseeing, and/or visiting the nearby Wieliczka salt mine (optional). Overnight in Kraków.

Saturday, July 25 – “Planet Auschwitz.” We spend much of the day in the Auschwitz (Oświęcim) area. We will have a guided tour of the concentration camp followed by the Birkenau death factory three kilometers away. We also will briefly visit the area where the Buna labor camp once stood, one of many around the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex. Here, Eli Wiesel and Viktor Frankl were slave laborers for German chemical firms. We will also visit the nearby Fountain of Tears by Israeli sculptor Rick Wieneke. It is a powerful exhibition described as a dialogue of suffering between the Crucifixion and the Holocaust. Overnight in Łask.

Sunday, July 26 “Polin: there we rested.” After a relaxing morning at our hotel/spa, we travel back to Warsaw stopping in Zdunska Wola to meet Kamilla Klauzinska, a Polish woman who is recovering the Jewish history of her town. If time permits, we will travel through Łódź, recalling once again the bravery of Jan Karski and hearing something of the fate of Poland’s second-largest ghetto. Tour ends in Warsaw at the Chopin Airport by 17:30 (second stop at the Central Train Station).