Poland 2025 Information

Day 1

Tuesday, June 10- Travel Day!

Day 2

Wednesday, June 11- Krakow

• Witamy - welcome to Poland! We land in Krakow and are met by our local guide.
• Today we tour the famous Wawel Castle, once home to the kings of Poland and now one of the country’s premier art museums. Below the castle, we see the Kraków Dragon (Smok Wawelski), the symbol of the city that breathes fire into the sky.
• We head to Market Square to visit St. Mary's Church and the Renaissance Cloth Hall.
• Later, we check into our hotel and refresh before our welcome dinner.

Day 3

Thursday, June 12- Oświęcim and Krakow

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we travel to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous Nazi concentration camp where over one-million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

• After our docent-led visit through Auschwitz, we tour Birkenau, witnessing the ruins of its destructive machinery spreading as far as the eye can see. Our visit concludes with a brief memorial service.

• We return to Krakow and over dinner at our hotel, we reflect on today’s experience.

Day 4

Friday, June 13- Krakow

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Today we begin with a Jewish heritage tour of Kazimierz, the old Jewish district. We see the Old Synagogue, a massive fortress-like building erected in the 15th to 16th centuries that now houses a Jewish museum, then visit the Tempel Synagogue and the Remuh Synagogue as well as its centuries’ old cemetery.

• Across the Vistula River, adjacent to the Jewish Ghetto Memorial, we stop by Aptekapod Orlem, the “Under the Eagle” Pharmacy Museum. We hear the story of Tadeusz Pankiewicz who was recognized by Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations.”

• Tonight, we join members of the JCC (Jewish Community Center) Kraków for Shabbat worship and dinner. Jonathan Ornstein, Executive Director of the JCC Kraków, updates us on their exciting projects and programs here in the heart of Galicia.

Day 5

Saturday, June 14- Wieliczka and Krakow

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Today, we travel outside the city center to explore the fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Wieliczka Salt Mines, which are over 700 years old. It features an extensive network of underground tunnels and chambers all carved from salt. Highlights include stunning salt sculptures, a chapel adorned with intricate carvings and a subterranean lake.

• In the Galicia Museum, we enjoy a lecture by Prof. Edyta Gawron, a local historian from Kraków University, as she speaks about Judaism in Kraków.

• We return to Kraków for a leisure evening and dinner on own.

Day 6

Sunday, June 15- Wodzislaw and Warsaw

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• This morning, we depart Krakow and travel to Warsaw. En route, we stop at the memorial in Wodzislaw. Between September and October 1943, approximately 400 Jews were executed by the Nazis near this site.
• Upon arrival in Poland's capital, we visit the POLIN Museum (The New Museum of the History of Polish Jews). The Hebrew word Polin means either Poland or “rest here” in English and is related to a legend of the arrival of the first Jews in Poland. The museum sits on the site of the former Warsaw Ghetto and features a multi-media narrative exhibition about the vibrant Jewish community that flourished in Poland for a thousand years.

• Outside the POLIN Museum we see the Rappaport Monument to the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

• After an included dinner together, we check into our hotel.

Day 7

Monday, June 16- Treblinka and Warsaw

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, our Jewish heritage tour begins at the Umschlagplatz, where thousands of Warsaw Jews were gathered for final transport to Treblinka. They are memorialized by the 400 names engraved on the walls. We also see the Jewish Resistance Bunker at Mila 18.
• Next, we drive to Treblinka, one of the most notorious Nazi extermination camps during the Holocaust, located in occupied Poland. Unlike Auschwitz, Treblinka was almost exclusively a death camp, designed for the systematic killing of people upon arrival. Very few survivors lived to tell their stories. We visit the Treblinka Museum, as well as the Treblinka II Extermination Camp memorial site and the Treblinka I Penal Labor Camp.

• We return to Warsaw.
• OPTIONAL AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES: We set out for a tour of the Royal Castle, which once served as the official residence of the Polish monarchs and a seat of the Polish Parliament for centuries.

• Evening is at leisure with dinner on our own.

Day 8

Tuesday, June 17- Warsaw

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we engage in a discussion with a representative from the Forum for Dialogue, an organization dedicated to inspiring connections between Jews and non-Jews in Poland.

• At the Jewish Historical Institute, we explore the Ringelbaum Archives.
• Our exploration of Jewish Warsaw begins at the Nożyk Synagogue, founded in 1900 and the only surviving synagogue in Warsaw post-WWII.

• We see the Footbridge of Memory that divided the Jewish Ghetto, then continue to the site of the Ghetto Wall fragment.

• This afternoon is at leisure for exploring, shopping or relaxing.
• As night falls, we gather together for a lovely farewell dinner, as Rabbi Schiftan leads us in closing discussion where we share our takeaways and experiences from this meaningful journey. We meet with Bet Polska to learn about the rebirth of reform Judaism in Poland

Day 9

Wednesday, June 18- Travel Day!