Itinerary
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Tuesday, July 15 – Arrival in Warsaw. Introductory meeting in the late afternoon and dinner together at a local restaurant. Overnight in Warsaw.
Wednesday, July 16 – 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 Jewish 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 Warsaw 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.
Friday, July 18 – Crossing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Line. We travel to Białystock. On the way, we will read stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer as we stop briefly in his hometown of Radzimim 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. We continue heading east to the beautiful town of Tykocin, the Pearl of the Baroque. We visit the Baroque fortress synagogue and take a peek at what is left of the town’s Jewish cemetery. Overnight in Białystok.
Saturday, July 19 – Białystok and “Ordinary Men.” In Białystock we will recount the rich history of the Jewish community. 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 20 – 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. In the late morning, we turn our attention to the significant Jewish presence that made the city one of the most important Jewish centers in the Diaspora. We will stop at the Jewish cemetery to see the grave of Rabbi Yitzhak Yaacov, the famed “Seer of Lublin,” and visit the synagogue and former yeshiva, one of the most famous in the Jewish world. At the end of the day we will make a brief stop at the deadly Majdanek labor camp. Overnight in Lublin.
Monday, July 21 – Death Factory. We leave Lublin and travel (conditions permitting) northeast to Wlodawa where we will view its beautiful synagogue and recount the Jewish history of the town. At Sobibor death camp (one of five in Poland) we will focus on the role of Franz Stangl, a seemingly ethical man who became slowly compromised as a Nazi bureaucrat and oversaw the murder of hundreds of thousands of Jewish people. In the city of Chełm, we will discuss the rich folklore associated with the town and recall the tragic Chmielnicki massacres of 1648 to 1669 and the literary contribution of Y. L. Peretz. Overnight in Zamosc.
Tuesday, July 22 – “The Ambiguity of Good.” First thing we will walk through beautiful Zamosc, which has retained its original layout and 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 review the life and 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 Bilgorji, the town associated with Isaac Bashevis Singer. Overnight in Rzeszow
Wednesday, July 23 – A City of Saints and Kings. In the morning we explore the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Cracow especially its connection with Pope John Paul II and how the Polish experience with Communism and the culture of Cracow shaped his pontificate and his teaching. Sites include the impressive Market Square, Wawel Castle, Jagiellonian University, Nowa Huta’s New Ark Church, and more. Dinner with an evening of Polish folklore. Overnight in Cracow.
Thursday, July 24 – Jewish Cracow. We begin the morning by walking through the Jewish Quarter of Cracow 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 Schindler factory and other sites associated with Oscar Schindler’s wartime activities in Cracow (the Jewish ghetto and the Plazow labor camp). We will discuss Schindler and highlight the moral ambiguities of his character. Overnight in Cracow.
Friday, July 25 – Free Day. Cracow is considered one of the most stunning cities in all of Europe. This day will be set aside for shopping, further sightseeing, and visiting the nearby Wieliczka salt mine (optional). Overnight in Cracow.
Saturday, July 26– “Planet Auschwitz.” We spend 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 both Eli Wiesel and Victor 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 27 – Full Circle. After a relaxing morning at our hotel/spa, we travel back to Warsaw leaving at noon, and 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 Łodz, recalling once again the bravery of Jan Karski and hearing something of the fate of Poland’s second-largest ghetto. Tour ends at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport by 17:30 (second drop-off stop at the Central Train Station).
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