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Program Outline

Day 1: IT’S TIME
  • Depart the US for your journey to Poland.
OvernightFlight
Day 2: WELCOME TO POLAND
  • *Welcome to Poland!* At Krakow International Airport, your driver will be waiting to greet you and drive you to the hotel for check-in.
  • 5:00 p.m. You will meet your fellow travelers, expert educator, and local tour guide.
  • You are going to begin your journey by checking out the beating heart of Krakow, the Main Market Square. The very best of vibrant modern street life combined with medieval architecture, this market is a rare and beautiful treat.
  • Your first evening in Poland, you will enjoy delicious Polish cuisine in a welcome dinner followed by a traditional Klezmer music concert.
OvernightRadisson Blu Hotel, Krakow
MealsDinner
Day 3: PATH OF MEMORIES
  • Begin your day by meeting Dr. Edyta Gawron, who heads the Center for the Study of the History and Culture of Krakow Jews at Jagiellonian University. She will share fascinating insights into the complex relationship between Jews and their Polish and Ukrainian neighbors.
  • The Kazimierz Jewish Quarter has been the heart of Jewish life in Krakow for 500 years and is now one of the city’s most attractive and Bohemian areas. You will see Poland’s oldest standing synagogue, the Altshul; the Rema Synagogue, one of the few synagogues in Krakow still active today; the Rema Cemetery, where many renowned rabbis are buried; the Tempel Synagogue, a Reform synagogue before the war and today a key venue in the revival of Jewish culture in the city.
  • You will then walk the tragic path taken in 1941 by thousands of Krakow Jews – across the bridge from Kazimierz to the site of the Podgorze ghetto. Your guided visit will include:
    The Ghetto Heroes Square, including the memorial to the Jews that were deported from here.
    The Under the Eagle Pharmacy, a pharmacy inside the ghetto run by Tadeusz Pankiewitz, a Polish-Catholic pharmacist who saved many Jews.
    The Oscar Schindler Factory Museum, which tells the story of Krakow and its residents under Nazi occupation from 1939 to 1945. The museum is located in the enamel factory owned by Schindler and his wife Emilie, which they used to protect over 1,000 Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.
  • Visit the Galicia Jewish Museum, with its powerful photographs of Jewish life in Polish Galicia.
  • Return to the hotel.
  • Experience authentic Krakow cuisines and culture on a tasting tour as you discover the best local foods and markets.
OvernightRadisson Blu Hotel, Krakow
MealsBreakfast, Dinner
Day 4: EUROPEAN JEWRY: DESTRUCTION AND REBIRTH
  • You will visit the Auschwitz–Birkenau complex, the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination centers, where over 1.1 million people lost their lives. You’ll reflect on the personal stories of some of the Jews held and killed here and read powerful accounts from survivors.
  • Boxed lunch en route.
  • It’s time to process everything you have experienced at the Oswiecim Synagogue, where you will meet with Tomasz Kuncewicz, director of the Oswiecim Jewish Center.
  • Return to Krakow with time to freshen up before Shabbat.
  • (Optional) Kabbalat Shabbat services at a local synagogue.
  • Enjoy Shabbat dinner at the Krakow Jewish Community Center with members of the local community and JCC director Jonathan Ornstein.
OvernightRadisson Blu Hotel, Krakow
MealsBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5: FROM KRAKOW TO WARSAW
  • You will visit the Auschwitz–Birkenau complex, the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination centers, where over 1.1 million people lost their lives. You’ll reflect on the personal stories of some of the Jews held and killed here and read powerful accounts from survivors.
  • Boxed lunch en route.
  • It’s time to process everything you have experienced at the Oswiecim Synagogue, where you will meet with Tomasz Kuncewicz, director of the Oswiecim Jewish Center.
  • Return to Krakow with time to freshen up before Shabbat.
  • (Optional) Kabbalat Shabbat services at a local synagogue.
  • Enjoy Shabbat dinner at the Krakow Jewish Community Center with members of the local community and JCC director Jonathan Ornstein.
OvernightRadisson Blu Hotel, Krakow
MealsBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: THE WORLD THAT WAS AND THE
  • You will visit the Auschwitz–Birkenau complex, the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination centers, where over 1.1 million people lost their lives. You’ll reflect on the personal stories of some of the Jews held and killed here and read powerful accounts from survivors.
  • Boxed lunch en route.
  • It’s time to process everything you have experienced at the Oswiecim Synagogue, where you will meet with Tomasz Kuncewicz, director of the Oswiecim Jewish Center.
  • Return to Krakow with time to freshen up before Shabbat.
  • (Optional) Kabbalat Shabbat services at a local synagogue.
  • Enjoy Shabbat dinner at the Krakow Jewish Community Center with members of the local community and JCC director Jonathan Ornstein.
OvernightRadisson Blu Hotel, Krakow
MealsBreakfast, Lunch, Dinner