Poland

“In the final analysis, I believe in man, in spite of men”
(Elie Wiesel)​

Understanding the Holocaust -

A Powerful Week in Poland​

Highlighted: Never Forget

The story of the Jewish people in Poland can be traced to King Boleslav of Poland who in 1264 invited the Jewish people to make Poland their home. For centuries the Jewish people flourished and Poland served as the birth place for Jewish movements and traditions that survive and can be seen around the world to this day. Beneath the atrocities that took place, a country that forever will be synonymous with the Holocaust for its six concentration camps and unforgivable behavior serves as not just a reminder of what happened but as an instrument of education that empowers countless visitors each year.

Day 1

Warsaw

Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery

The cemetery allows you to understand the richness and diversity of pre-war Jewish life.

A walking tour, including the former ghetto, the Umschlagplatz monument, and Mila 18, the ZOB (Jewish Combat Organization) memorial site.

Treblinka

The infamous Nazi death camp in which over 800,000 Jews were murdered.

Day 2

Tykocin

A small town with a Jewish presence since the early 16th century. 

Jedwabne

Jews constituted 77% of the population here at the end of the 19th century. On July 10, 1941 that became 0%.

Day 3

Lublin

Before the war, Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin was the most important yeshiva in Poland, if not the world. It was led by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, founder of the “Daf Yomi.”  

Majdanek Concentration Camp

Lizhensk

Visit the grave of Elimelech of Lizhensk, of whom it was said: 

"Five hundred years prior to his birth the world already benefited from his merits. His two hands were like the Two Tablets and his 10 fingers were like the Ten Commandments."  

Lancut 

A synagogue stunningly restored with wall decorations from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Markowa

Hear the remarkable story of those who put their own lives at risk to save Jews.

Day 4

Tarnow
Before the war, about 25,000 Jews lived in Tarnow, comprising about half of the town's population. By the end of the war the overwhelming majority of Tarnow Jews had been murdered by the Germans.
Zbylitowska Gora
Where the Jews of Tarnow were murdered en masse.  

Day 5

Shabbat in Krakow

The former Jewish quarter in Krakow comprises the most intact and significant collection of Jewish buildings in Central Europe today, including seven remaining synagogues.
Testimony from one of the Righteous Among the Nations.
Krakow Ghetto and Schindler’s Factory.

Plaszow
The Plaszow Labor Camp was built on top of the old Jewish cemetery. Commandant Amon Goeth’s house is located in the camp, which is where we will have the Havdalah ceremony. Am Yisrael Chai!

Day 6

Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau
Lodz
Jewish people made up about one third of the city's population and owned one third of all the factories. The Radegast Train Station was situated in the Lodz ghetto, which served as the departure point to the death camps in Chelmno and Auschwitz.