Program (proposen)

Day 1

Arrival

Our guide meets you at the airport/railway station to welcome the group and give a short introduction about Krakow

Drive to the hotel by coach

Dinner

Day 2

Breakfast

Morning: Poland of the Jews

A walk around the former Jewish town Kazimierz in Krakow is intended to present the Jewish life and culture before World War II and introduce some aspects of the Jewish history in Poland. This brief introduction will help you to understand the scale of the destruction planned by the Nazis. During this tour we explore Kazimierz to see all the remains of this old Jewish culture: Szeroka Street with the oldest synagogue in Poland, the former Mikveh, Remuh synagogue, and the Old Cemetery. It is worth remembering that this district of Krakow became world famous thanks to the ‘Schindler’s List’ movie, made here by Steven Spielberg. Our guide will point out the places where the movie was actually made. We also visit the Isaak’s Synagogue to see documentaries about the history of Jews during World War II – the deportations, persecutions and the Warsaw’s Ghetto Uprising of 1943.

Break

Afternoon: Holocaust in Krakow

The first part of the tour is an interactive walk in the area of the Jewish ghetto built by the Nazis. The tour starts with a visit to the ghetto museum – the Eagle Pharmacy, where we learn about the policies of the Nazis towards the Jews and the history of Krakow’s ghetto. During this tour we follow the traces of Holocaust in the ghetto area – we walk the streets looking for the buildings that used to house the clinics, offices and various institutions during World War II. They will remind us the stories of individual Jews and tell us about the sad Jewish life in this district. We also see the building of Oskar Schindler’s factory, the remains of the ghetto wall, and the territory of the former concentration camp in Plaszow (Krakow) that was built by the Nazis.

Note: The walk around the Jewish ghetto in Krakow is an interactive one. Some places are presented by the students – they will be given some information/leads/maps in advance - as well as time to find the sites. This tour can be either an interactive, or regular one, with the guide presenting the places.
Entrance fees: the Isaak’s Synagogue, Remuh Synagogue, the Eagle Pharmacy

Free time

Dinner

Concert of the Jewish Klezmer music

Day 3

Breakfast

Morning: Auschwitz-Birkenau (extended tour)

Auschwitz-Birkenau became the symbol of genocide and Holocaust. It was the biggest extermination camp built by the Nazis during the Second World War. It is estimated that about 1.5mln people were killed here. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum was established in 1947; in 1979 it was entered on the UNESCO World Heritage List. During the tour we learn about the history of the camps and the efforts of the Nazi propaganda to keep them a secret; we also learn about the methods of mass extermination and see the material evidence of this crime. The tour starts with a documentary about the camp, made just after its liberation. Our guided tour includes a visit to the former concentration camp in Oswiecim (KL Auschwitz) and the area of the death camp in Brzezinka (KL Auschwitz II Birkenau). During the tour of Auschwitz, a professional licensed guide from the museum shows you the exhibition organised in the original prisoners’ blocks and the crematorium. After a break we proceed to the area of the death camp in Brzezinka (Birkenau), to see the ruins of the crematoria and gas chambers, the prisoner’s wooden barracks and the Victims Memorial, the women’s brick barracks and the sauna building.

Return to Krakow

Dinner

Day 4

Breakfast

Morning: The Royal Krakow – sightseeing of the Old Town

Free time

Afternoon: Salt Mine in Wieliczka

Free time

Dinner

Day 5

Breakfast

Departure (drive by coach to the airport/railway station)