Lithuania and Poland Community and Culture Mission* June 17 through 26, 2018 *Subject to change
SUNDAY, June 17 Arrivals today or earlier Afternoon at leisure
Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square Vilnius
7:30-9:00 p.m. Welcome dinner at hotel with the head of Lithuanian Jewish Community - Faina Kukliansky
MONDAY, June 18 Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square Vilnius 7:30-9:00 a.m. Breakfast and briefing – with scholar-in-residence and with partisan Fania Broncovskaja 9:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Morning walking tour with Fania Broncovskaja Full Day Jewish City tour of Vilnius including a walk with a survivor of WWII ghetto. Tour includes the Small Ghetto, Big Ghetto, Old Jewish Cemetery, numerous historic monuments, and Vilnius Choral synagogue, archeological discussion of Great Synagogue.
12:00-1:15 p.m. 1:30-2:30 p.m. 3:00-5:00 p.m. 5:00 pm 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Lunch Choral Synagogue with Simonas Gurevicius Free time to shop and explore Lithuania’s Cathedral Square optional- Jewish Public Library and cultural center At leisure Dinner on own 1
TUESDAY, June 19 Breakfast at leisure . 8:30-10:00 a.m. Transfer to Kovno
Kempinski Hotel Cathedral Square Vilnius
10:00-11:30 a.m. Kovno Ghetto Walking Tour Drive to Kaunas center via Viliampole (Slobodka - Jewish suburb of pre-war Kaunas and the site of the ghetto during WWII. The pre-war Jewish Real and Schvabe gymnasiums, Laisvės aleja the boulevard for pedestrians, the main Kaunas street. Tour to Slobodka (Vilijampole), a Jewish suburb of pre-war Kaunas and the site of the ghetto during WWII. The Great Action at Demokratu street. The Old Jewish cemetery.
Stop near Kaunas Castle. Walking to Town Hall square and Vilnius Street. A walk in the Old Town with its art galleries and cozy cafes.
The oldest Yeshiva is in Kono Slitvka- not open but to view outside
12:00-2:00 p.m. Sugihara House and lunch at Perkuno Namai Restaurant Sugihara Museum. On April 18, Chiune Sugihara museum was opened after renovation. Visitors of the museum saw the cinema chronicle about life in Kaunas in 1939-1940, to got acquainted with Japanese diplomat Chiune Suhgihara’s work in Lithuania and with the history of “Visas for Life”. Part of the audiovisual exposition was comprised of narratives by Jewish war refugees about their life in Lithuania, way to salvation and the first steps after emigration. Exhibition was also supplemented by copies of documents from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2:30-3:30 p.m. Kaunas Synagogue The Kaunas Jewish community currently has more than 400 members. The community is actively involved in the following: Organizing Jewish holidays and marking important Jewish dates. 4:00-5:30 p.m. Tour Fort IX A stronghold constructed in the late 19th century. The Ninth Fort (Devintas Fortas in Lithuanian) is a stronghold in the northern Šilainiai elderate of the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, making a part of the Kaunas Fortress, constructed in the late 19th century. When the city was controlled by the Soviets, the stronghold was used as a prison and way-station for prisoners being transported to the Gulag. After the Nazis occupied the area, they used the fort as their place of execution for Jews, captured Soviets, and others. 7:30-9:00 p.m. Dine arounds-intimate dinners with guests in four groups: 2
1) Stikliai restaurant: http://www.stikliai.com/restaurant-en-vilnius/ 2) Ertlio namas restaurant:http://www.ertlionamas.lt/?lang=en 3) Dublis restaurant: http://www.dublis.eu/#nav_ 4) Marche de Provance: http://www.marchedeprovence.lt/ B, L, D WEDNESDAY, June 20 Bristol Hotel Warsaw 7:30-8:30 a.m. Breakfast and briefing 9:00-10:00 am Transfer to Pornay- optional 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Memorial Museum of Ponary, if people do not want to go to Pornay- may suggest to walk to: shopping (linens, textiles, ceramics) or or other places missed or Amber museum or Cathedral- Basilica of St. Stanislaus and St. Ladislausor or the KGB museum: Genocide museum: The Museum of Genocide Victims was set up on 14 October 1992 on an order from the Minister of Culture and Education of the Republic of Lithuania and the President of the Union of Political Prisoners and Deportees. For the whole Lithuanian nation, this building is a symbol of the 50-year-long Soviet occupation. Set up in the former KGB headquarters, the museum is the only one of its kind in the former Soviet republics. The museum was reorganised in 1997. The museum’s objective is to collect, keep and present historic documents about forms of physical and spiritual genocide against the Lithuanian people, and the ways and the extent of the resistance against the Soviet regime. 1:00-2:00 p.m. 2:30-4:00 p.m. 4:30-5:30 p.m. 7:00-7:05 p.m. 7:45-8:30 p.m. 8:30-9:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, June 21 Warsaw Breakfast at leisure
Green House MuseumVilna Gaon Jewish State MuseumTransfer to Vilnius Airport— Flight to Warsaw Transfer to hotelLight buffet dinner at the hotel
B, L, D Bristol Hotel
9:00-10:00 a.m. Nozyk Synagogue Tour the synagogue and hear from the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Rabbi Michael Schudrich 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tour Polin Museum of Jewish History with guide Natalia Sinaeva Pankowska followed by lunch at Besamim Restaurant, Polin Museum. 3
2:00-3:00 p.m. Walking tour: Monument to the Ghetto Heroes Schmuel Zygielbaum Memorial Mila 18 Umschlag Platz Willy Brandt Memorial 3:30-4:30 p.m. Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery: 5:00-6:00 p.m. At leisure- mural of Rachel’s Tomb and Zodiac- optional - Targowa 50/52 A complex of three tenement houses, one of which is the oldest brick residential house in Praga. Prior to 1839, it housed the Jewish elementary school, and the outbuildings housed three Jewish houses of prayer, which after the war were converted into warehouses. Fragments of paintings that depict the signs of the zodiac, the Wailing Wall and Rachel’s Tomb preserved in two of them. One wall features an inscription in Hebrew, which says that the paintings were made in 1934 with the donation of the sons of Dawid Grinsztajn. Restored interiors will be made available to visitors at the opening of the Museum of Warsaw Praga District. Mikvah 31 ks. Kłopotowskiego Street (the former Szeroka Street) A Jewish ritual bath operated here in the 19th century, the oldest established in 1840, but the present building was built in 1911-1914. It was rebuilt after the war. It housed the offices of the Central Committee of Jews, then a kindergarten. Most of the rooms of the old bath survived. Nowadays, the building is occupied by a multicultural high school 7:00-9:00 p.m. Walk to Historic Quarter and enjoy dinner
FRIDAY, June 22 Breakfast at leisure- bags to be sent ahead
B, L , D Sheraton Grand Krakow
9:00-11 a.m. Jewish Historical Institute 11:50 a.m.-2:27 p.m.
EIP 8300, lunch included on the train to Krakow
3:00-3:50 p.m. 4:00-5:00 p.m. 5:00-5:30 p.m. 5:30-7:00 p.m. 7:30-9:00 p.m. 9:00-9:30 p.m.
Remuh Synagogue Galicia Jewish Museum Transfer to Sheraton Grand Krakow, check-in At leisure Shabbat Service and dinner Return to hotel 4
SATURDAY, June 23 Krakow 7:30-8:30 a.m. Breakfast and briefing
B, L, D Sheraton Grand
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum (boxed lunch served during camp transfers) 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Transfer to hotel, dinner on own B, L Sheraton Grand Krakow
SUNDAY, June 24 Breakfast at leisure 8:15-8:45 a.m. 9:00-11:00 a.m. 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Empty Chair Memorial and Eagle Pharmacy Oskar Schindler Museum Market Square and the Old Town Lunch and afternoon on own- time to go to the Jewish Cultural Festival
7:30-9:00 p.m. 9:00-9:30 p.m.
Dinner at Klezmer Hois RestaurantReturn to Hotel
MONDAY,JUNE 25 8:00-9:00 a.m. 10:00 a.m.-4:40 p.m. 5:00-7:30 p.m. 7:30-9:00 p.m.
B, D Sheraton Grand Krakow Breakfast and briefing on Jewish Cultural Festival Jewish Festival, lunch on own At leisure Closing dinner B, D
TUESDAY, June 26 Breakfast at leisure Airport transfer to catch departing flights
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