WARSAW ~ LUBLIN ~ KRAKOW May thru October -- from $2195* Experience a unique and incredible journey through Poland spanning 1000 years of Polish Jewish history and culminating with the reawakening of Jewish life in Poland today. Prior to WWII, Poland was home to the largest and most vibrant Jewish community in Europe. It was referred to as the epicenter of Jewish learning and culture for hundreds of years. More than sixty years aer the Holocaust, Poland is once again home to a Jewish community proud of its heritage and culture. Join us as we explore the past, encounter the present and look ahead to the future! DAY 1: Departure to Warsaw DAY 2: Arrival in Warsaw We will be met by a representative of the Taube Center for Jewish Cultural Renewal and our tour guide at the Frederic Chopin International Airport. We will begin with a bus tour of Warsaw, including segments of the Royal Route, giving us an introduction to Poland’s rich history. (on our way from the airport we will see...) • The Royal Castle, Castle Square and the Barbican • Monument of King Zygmunt III Wasa • Krakowskie Przedmiescie • Presidential Palace and Warsaw University • Copernicus and Mickiewicz Monuments • Nowy Swiat and Embassy Row (Aleje Ujazdowskie) • Lazienki Park • Aleja Szucha 25 • Constitution Square and Marszalkowska Street • Palace of Science and Culture Check-in at the Westin Hotel in the early afternoon. The hotel is located in the city center close to Warsaw’s only surviving synagogue. (For details about the Nozyk Synagogue, please see Day 3.) A free evening in the Old Town Market Square. Recommendations for restaurants will be made available upon request. DAY 3: Warsaw Guided tour of Jewish Warsaw, including sites and monuments representing Polish Jewry’s rich legacy and commemorating the fate and resiliency of the Jewish people, rising from the ashes to remember and rebuild. Nozyk Synagogue: Meeting with a representative of the Jewish community/Chief Rabbi of Poland and an introduction to Jewish Poland. The Nozyk Synagogue was dedicated in 1902. It is Warsaw’s only surviving synagogue of the more than 300 prayer houses, shtiebels and synagogues that existed before WWII and it currently serves Warsaw’s Jewish community. Jewish community offices, a youth club, a kosher canteen, the Prof. Moses Schorr Educational Center and a variety of Jewish organizations are housed in adjacent buildings. Warsaw also has a Reform congregation Beit Warszawa and a Chabad-Lubavitch center. The Esther Rachel & Ida Kaminska Yiddish Theater, which still offers musical performances in Yiddish, is located quite near the synagogue. There is a plaque on the All Saints’ Church on Grzybowski Square opposite the Yiddish theater, honoring the more than 6,000 Polish Righteous Among the Nations, who risked their lives to save Jews during the war. This church was situated at the very edge of the ghetto. Jews were hidden in the church and were often smuggled through it onto the “Aryan” side. Korczak Orphanage: Site of the original orphanage run by Dr. Janusz Korczak (born Henryk Goldszmit), renowned educator and author, before it was moved into the Ghetto. Krochmalna and Pereca Streets: Poland was the birthplace of Yiddish literature, culture and theater, as well as of numerous Nobel Prize winners and outstanding individuals in many fields. Among the many who have contributed to Jewish and world culture are Isaac Bashevis Singer (who lived on Krochmalna) and Itzhak Leib Peretz who lived on the street now named for him. Warsaw Ghetto Monuments: The first ghetto memorial, dedicated by Polish Jews in 1946, resembles a manhole cover, recalling the underground’s use of the city sewers as hiding places and as escape and smuggling routes. It is located close to the Monument to the Heroes of the Ghetto, a copy of which stands in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The massive two-sided monument was sculpted by Natan Rappaport and unveiled in 1948 on the fifth anniversary of the Ghetto Uprising. Nearby stand a tree and a commemorative marker honoring “Zegota,” an arm of the Polish Government in Exile and Europe’s only organization specifically tasked with aiding and rescuing Jews during the Holocaust period. Thousands of Jewish lives were saved thanks to the extraordinary, clandestine efforts of Zegota. Across from the Rappaport Monument is the site of the future Museum of the History of Polish Jews, scheduled to open in 2012. We will have a brief presentation by a member of the Museum’s staff. Zygielbojm Memorial and the Route of Martyrdom and Resistance: A memorial to Szmul Zygielbojm, a Bund representative to the Polish Government in Exile in London, who committed suicide after trying – in vain -- to persuade the Allies to save the Jews of Europe. The Route of Martyrdom and Resistance includes markers naming representatives of the different groups active in the Warsaw Ghetto resistance. Mila 18: The site of the command bunker of ZOB, the Jewish Fighting Organization during the Warsaw ghetto uprising in April 1943. Discovered by the Germans on May 8, 1943, the leaders of the uprising, Mordechai Anielewicz, Arie Wilner and many others, took their own lives. Two monuments honor their memories and mark their common grave. Ghetto Wall Marker No. 21: In 2008, the City of Warsaw, in cooperation with the Jewish Historical Institute, erected 21 vertical markers and a series of plaques inlaid on the ground indicating the borders of the Warsaw ghetto. Umschlagplatz Monument: A monument erected in 1988 resembling a freight car used to transport Jews to the death camps stands on the site from which more than 300,000 Jews were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp. Scenes from the film “The Pianist” were filmed just a short distance up Stawki Street. The Jewish Cemetery: Established in 1806, the Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa Street is one of the largest active Jewish cemeteries in Europe. There are more than 250,000 graves here, including those of rabbis, writers, poets, artists, actors, politicians and community members. A special guided tour will be provided. The Lauder-Morasha School: Building on the success of a Jewish kindergarten created by a small group of parents in 1989, the primary school was established in 1994 and the middle school in 1999. The school, the first under Jewish auspices in Warsaw since 1949, teaches students and their families about Jewish culture, heritage and tradition. Meeting with the school’s principal. The Museum of the Warsaw Uprising: The Warsaw Uprising started on August 1, 1944. The 63-day battle, which included some Jewish fighters, ended with over two hundred thousand casualties and the near-complete destruction of the city. Praga: We will take a short bus tour of the Praga district. Located on the right bank of the Vistula River, Praga was home to many of Warsaw’s poorer Jews prior to World War II; the Brudno Cemetery and several pre-war Jewish community buildings remain today. The district is now being revitalized, having survived the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 under Soviet occupation. We will be joined by a member of the Praga Museum’s staff. The Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute (JHI): The Institute is housed in the former Institute for Jewish Studies and Main Judaic Library which was connected to the Great Synagogue of Warsaw, blown up by the Nazis on May 16, 1943 as a symbol of the “destruction” of Europe’s largest Jewish community. The Institute was set afire, but survived. Established in 1947, the Institute houses the largest repository of information about Polish Jewry, in its archives, library and art collections. The Institute’s most precious holding is the Ringelblum Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto which documents Jewish life during the war. A presentation by a member of the Institute’s staff. The Jewish Genealogy and Family Heritage Center provides consultations, research and guidance, offering visitors from Poland and from around the world a unique opportunity to explore their own Polish roots and to discover their own family’s history. Presentation by the Center’s staff. By special invitation: Guests from the Jewish community and Polish cultural and political circles will join us for dinner and discussion. Optional: Concert at the National Opera. DAY 4: Depart Warsaw for Lublin. Pulawy and Kazimierz Dolny: Picturesque medieval shtetls, often recalled in as mythic in the popular imagination. Located on the Vistula, Kazimierz Dolny is one of the most beautifully situated towns in Poland. As if untouched by time, it has preserved its 17th-century Renaissance charm and character. A popular myth relates that the king for whom the town is named had a passionate love affair with a young Jewish woman, Esterka.. Naleczow: A famous Polish spa town known for its healing waters. During the afternoon, we will visit Lublin and sites of Jewish interest including: Remnants of the Lublin Ghetto • The Old Cemetery: The renowned “Seer of Lublin,” a beloved Hasidic rebbe known for his extraordinary intuitive powers, is buried in this cemetery. • Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva: “The Yeshiva of the Sages of Lublin,” built by Rabbi Meir Shapiro in 1930, was the largest and most modern center of traditional Jewish study in Europe prior to 1939. Its beit midrash and mikveh were renovated in 2007 by the Warsaw Jewish Community. It is now used by the small Jewish community in Lublin and by visiting groups. We will have a brief meeting with a member of the Jewish community. • Brama Grodzka -- “City Gate”: The city gate linked the Old Town of Lublin with the city’s Jewish quarter.. The gate is testament to the fact that for a long time Poles and Jews lived side by side in relative harmony. We will have an opportunity to meet with members of the “Grodzka Gate -- NN Theater,” known for their innovative educational programs.