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| Eastern Europe Moscow & St. Petersburg Budapest/Vienna/Bratislava/Prague Ukraine/Belarus Uzbekistan Spain Morocco Ancient Civilizations Turkey Catalonia/Provence Alsace/Paris/Provence Israel |
Eastern Europe
Warsaw  Krakow Auschwitz Vilna Kovno Prague Budapest
The major sites of East Central European Jewish history | |
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| Take your group on a fascinating tour of the most culturally and historically rich cities in Europe. You will learn the history of Warsaw, from medieval times to present day, and explore the city's important role in Jewish life for over 200 years, partly through a tour of its extensive cemetery which reflects the many political and cultural currents that ran through the city until the heroic 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1945. | |
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Today, Warsaw, with its synagogue, youth groups, Jewish publications and historical institute, Jewish day school, and projected Jewish museum, is experiencing a modest Jewish renaissance.
The journey continues to Krakow, once Poland's royal capital. The group will visit its 15th century synagogue, the oldest remaining syangogue in Poland and its Museum of Jewish History. A day long excursion to the former concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau creates an experience no one will never forget. |
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| The tour proceeds to the enchanting city of Prague with a walking tour of the old Jewish quarter. The group will visit the Altneu synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Europe that is still in use, the Jewish cemetery with graves dating back to the 15th century, and the State Jewish Museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Judaica. Visit to Theresienstadt (Terezin), the Nazis' "model camp for Jews. | |
| In Budapest, you will visit The Dohanyi Temple, Europe's largest, magnificently restored synagogue, Jewish schools and the former ghetto area where Raoul Wallenberg saved thousands during World War II. Continue the experience in Budapest with a visit to the the beautifully restored Castle Hill quarter including St. Matyas Cathedral and Fisherman's Bastion which commands a panoramic view of Budapest. |  |
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Vilna, capital of Lithuania and known today as Vilnius, was known as the 'Jerusalem of Lithuania.' For several centuries it was a major center of both Rabbinic learning and of modern Hebrew and Yiddish culture. The former ghetto area, surviving synagogue and cemetery poignantly remind us of the tragedy which befell Lithuanian Jewry during the Holocaust.
Outside the beautiful city of Kovno (Kaunas), another center of Jewish life and learning, is the well-preserved "Ninth Fort" where thousands of Jews were murdered in 1941-44.
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| In each of these cities, arrangements can be made to meet with representatives and leaders of the local Jewish communities allowing for a dialogue and understanding of the present day conditions and problems facing Jews living in these areas. | |||||||
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