JEWISH POLAND
JEWISH POLAND
THE HEART & SOUL
OF ASHKENAZI JEWRY
JUNE 22 – JUNE 29, 2025
Warsaw – Krakow – Auschwitz-Birkenau – Shtetls: Dzialoszyce & Chmielnik
Scholars-in-residence:
Konstanty Gebert & Dr. Edyta Gawron
ABOUT THE TOUR
Tour Highlights |
Prominent scholars
Warsaw, the Phoenix City
Krakow, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site
|
Dear Friends,
I am pleased to invite you to join us on our Summer Taube Jewish Heritage Tour.
JEWISH POLAND: THE HEART & SOUL OF ASHKENAZI JEWRY
Sunday, June 22 – Sunday, June 29, 2025
Our journey, led by preeminent scholars Konstanty Gebert and Dr. Edyta Gawron, will begin in Warsaw with a visit to the internationally acclaimed POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, and conclude at the annual Krakow Jewish Culture Festival in the Royal City of Krakow.
We will trace the evolution of Jewish life in the cradle of Ashkenazi Jewry, visiting the very places where some of our grandparents and great-grandparents were born. Together, we will explore the richness of pre-war Jewish life, memorialize the tragic loss, and celebrate Jewish life in Poland today.
We will introduce you to Polish parliamentarians, Israeli, Ukrainian, and U.S. embassy representatives, and Jewish community leaders. Their perspectives will provide you with additional insights and a deeper understanding of contemporary Poland, its European and global role, and the country’s growing Jewish community.
We would be happy to answer any of your questions. Please contact us at amakuch@taubecenter.org
The Taube Center Team and I look forward to greeting you in Warsaw next June.
With our best wishes,
Helise
Helise Lieberman,
Director, Taube Center for Jewish Life & Learning
SCHOLARS IN RESIDENCE
Dr. Edyta Gawron
Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies and Director of the Centre for the Study of the History and Culture of Krakow’s Jews at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, visited the San Francisco Bay Area in November. Dr. Gawron spoke at the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley on Monday, November 12. Her presentation focused on how the Holocaust is being remembered and commemorated in Poland. She also spoke at San Francisco State on the Oskar Schindler History Museum and the Galicia Jewish Museum, and attended a San Francisco Krakow Sister Cities Reception in her honor.
Konstanty Gebert
He was born 1953 in Warsaw and graduated with a degree in psychology from Warsaw University in 1976. He is currently an international reporter and columnist with the leading Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. Democratic opposition activist in the 1970s and underground journalist (as Dawid Warszawski) in the 1980s. Gerbert co-founded the underground Jewish Flying University and the Polish Jewish intellectual monthly Midrasz among others. He has served as a board member for the Einstein Forum, Potsdam; Paideia, Stockholm; and Dutch Jewish Humanitarian Fund, The Hague. Gebert has taught at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, UC Berkeley and the Grinnell College. Gerbert has authored eleven books in Polish, some translated into English, Italian, and Bosnian. His writing covers an array of topics including Poland’s round table negotiations of 1989, the Yugoslav wars, Israeli history, and commentaries on the Torah. His essays have been published in dozens of collections around the world and his articles have appeared in media worldwide. Most recent publications: “Poland: Living Apart,” in: Anders Jerichow and Cecilie Felicia Stockholm Banke (Eds): Pre-Genocide. Warnings and Responsibility to Protect, 2018; “Poland Since 1989 – Muddling Through, Wall to Wall;” in: Sabrina P. Ramet, Christine M. Hassenstab (Eds): Central and Southeast European Politics Since 1989, 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2019. In 2018, he was recognized with the American Jewish Press Association Rockower Award.
Most recent publications: „Salvation and perdition – the Polish Jews’ Russian school of modernity and politics” [in Polish], in: Lidia Zessin-Jurek, Katharina Friedla (Ed.): Syberiada Żydów polskich. Losy uchodźców z Zagłady, Warszawa 2020, Żydowski Instytut Historyczny; “Poland, Israel and History” [in German], in Gisela Dachs (Ed.): Freundschaften, Feindschaften. Essays., Berlin 2020, Suhrkamp.
ITINERARY
ARRIVAL IN WARSAW: THE PHOENIX CITY
A TJHT representative will meet all guests and transfers will be provided, based on your arrival information.
We recommend that participants arrive by 2:00 pm. If participants would like to arrive earlier, TJHT will be happy to make hotel and transfer arrangements on their behalf.
Transfer to the hotel and check in
Time to refresh and explore the city of Warsaw on your own. Recommendations will be provided.
Optional guided tour of Warsaw or time on your own.
Suggested sites to visit:
● Walk the Royal Route and Nowy Swiat Avenue, which evoke the architecture and cultural milieu of pre-war Warsaw and are lined with cafes and eateries.
● The Royal Baths Park (Łazienki) is the largest historical park in Warsaw, which serves as a venue for music, the arts, and cultural events.
● A stroll along the Vistula river, the longest river in Poland and one of the longest in Europe. The river bank has its own beaches and bars where you can sit and enjoy the view or sample Warsaw’s street food.
● Visit to Praga, the district of Warsaw located on the right bank of Vistula river. Sites worth visiting: Polish Vodka Museum and the Żabinski’s Villa* in the Warsaw Zoo.
The Zabinskis were the zookeepers prior to and during World War II. They succeeded in hiding more than 300 Jews within the zoo’s grounds.
● Wilanów Palace (a wonderful Baroque royal residence located in the south of the capital), with its lovely grounds and world-famous poster museum.
● Visit to the viewing platform of the Palace of Culture and Science, a 1950s Stalinist skyscraper offering panoramic views of the city, including its booming CBD.
WELCOME TO JEWISH POLAND
WARSAW – the capital of Poland, has been popularly dubbed the “The Phoenix City”, as it lost well over a half of its prewar population and was almost completely destroyed during World War II, and afterwards was rebuilt from the rubble and ruins in a nationwide effort. Divided by the Vistula, Poland’s major river, the city’s right and left banks narrate the complex history of the city. Today, Warsaw, Poland’s largest city with over three million people living in its metropolitan area, is a vibrant political and economic center of the country, reflecting the resurgence of Poland’s economy over the past 30 years as a member of NATO since 1999 and the EU since 2004. The meticulously rebuilt Old Town with the Royal Route and the 2016 European Museum of the Year POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews are two of the crucial major cultural cornerstones of this Central European capital. Home to more than 350,000 Jews from across the cultural and religious spectrum in the center of the Ashkenazi world prior to the Holocaust, Warsaw is now home to Poland’s largest Jewish community counting several thousand people, which hosts a renown Jewish Historical Institute, JCC, Hillel, and a day primary and secondary schools, as well as various religious communities. From the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Warsaw is also the center of international support for the attacked country as well as the main hub of aid effort for Ukrainian refugees, of whom several hundred thousand have found a temporary home in the Polish capital’s metropolitan area.
3:00 pm – 4:30 pm Introductory Session with Dr. Tomasz Cebulski, scholar-in-residence, Helise Lieberman, Director, Taube Jewish Heritage Tours and tour staff.
Why are we here? What brings us to Poland?
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm Welcome reception and remarks by tour special guests, tour hosts, and Taube Jewish Heritage Tours staff.
Special guests: TBA
6:30 pm Introduction to Warsaw and guided walk to the Warsaw Jewish Community Center, via the Royal Route and Nowy Swiat Avenue, which evoke the architecture and cultural milieu of pre-war Warsaw.
7:30 pm Welcome dinner
Walk back to the hotel
Overnight in Warsaw
WARSAW: 1,000 YEARS OF JEWISH LIFE IN POLAND
Breakfast in the hotel
9:00 am – 9:45 am Morning briefing with scholar-in-residence
10:00 am Coach to POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
10:15 am Brief tour of the Warsaw Ghetto Memorials
10:30 am – 11:00 am Welcome by the Museum director
11:30 am – 2:30 pm Curated tour through the POLIN Museum’s eight galleries narrating 1,000 years of the Polish Jewish experience
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm Lunch in the POLIN Museum
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Walk to the Umschlagplatz, Umschlagplatz, the deportation center from which the Nazis transported 300,000 Jews to Treblinka. A guided walk along the Memorial Route of Jewish Martyrdom and Struggle and the monument at Mila 18 St, will take you to the Polin Museum of the History of Polish.
4:30 pm Private coach to Mi Polin Mezuzah Museum: https://mezuzahmuseum.com/
MI POLIN MEZUZAH CENTER is a new, privately owned Jewish museum in Warsaw. This place is dedicaded to mezuzah traces and Polish-Jewish history.
The core part of the mini-museum is Mezuzah Trace Archive. The Archive tells the story of 170 mezuzah traces found in 93 localities in 5 countries. This mezuzah trace research journey was started in 2013.
4:45 pm – 5:30 pm Visit to the Museum
5:45 pm Return to the hotel via coach
Time to refresh
7:15 pm Walk to the JCC Warsaw
7:30 pm Dinner at the Warsaw JCC hosted by the Center’s director with Jewish community leaders.
Welcome by JCC Director
Leisurely walk or transportation back to the hotel
Overnight in Warsaw
WARSAW: PAST MEETS PRESENT
Breakfast in the hotel
9:00 am – 9:45 am Morning briefing with scholar-in-residence
10:00 am Coach to the Jewish Historical Institute.
Welcomed by the Directors
10:15 am – 11:30 am Visit to the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute with a private viewing of the new permanent exhibition that tells the story of the hidden archives of the Warsaw Ghetto, which were collected by Jewish researchers imprisoned in the ghetto, then hidden underground, and rescued after WWII.
11:30 am Coach to Grzybowski Sq.
11:45 am – 12:45 pm Guided tour of Plac Grzybowski and the Nozyk Synagogue
12:45 pm – 2:00 pm Lunch on Grzybowski Sq.
Coach to Okopowa Jewish Cemetery
2:30 pm – 4:00 pm Tour of the Warsaw’s Jewish Cemetery on Okopowa street
5:00 pm Warsaw summary session at Taube Center
Time on your own
Dinner on your own
Walk back to the hotel
Overnight in Warsaw
WARSAW – KRAKOW: THE ROYAL CITY & KAZIMIERZ, THE HISTORIC JEWISH DISTRICT
Breakfast in the hotel
Check out. Your suitcases will be collected early morning and loaded onto a van and transferred to the hotel in Krakow and delivered to your room.
10:00 am Transfer to the Warsaw Central Station via vans
10:50 am Express Train to Krakow TBC
1:00 pm Arrival in Krakow and transfer to the hotel
Check in and time to refresh
WELCOME TO KRAKOW, THE ANCIENT ROYAL CAPITAL
KRAKOW – The historical capital of Poland, miraculously saved from destruction during centuries of wars and turmoil, is replete with numerous medieval, renaissance, and baroque churches, synagogues, and other marvels of architecture. While walking through the streets of old Krakow, you can literally breathe in the city’s 1,000-year-old history and admire the monuments of the ancient times. But Krakow is also the second largest city of the country, with more than a million people living in its metropolitan area, a center of vibrant economic and service activity, offering all aspects of modernity. Krakow – was once an important center of European Jewry, a bustling center of Ashkenazi life and culture since the middle ages, and particularly one of the major sites of Progressive movement – is now one of the main centers of Jewish renewal in Poland. Visitors and locals alike are attracted to the Old Town of Krakow, the former Jewish district of Kazimierz, and the district of Podgórze, located across the Vistula, where Germans established the ghetto during the war. Krakow, with its seven remaining synagogues, numerous museums holding an array of interesting judaica, and other reminders of Polish Jewish heritage, is both a living memorial and a beacon for the future.
3:00 pm – Welcome and introduction to Krakow
4:00 pm – Guided tour of from the hotel to Kazimierz
5:15 pm – 6:30 pm Early buffet dinner in the Kazimierz district
Walk to the Tempel Synagogue (two blocks from restaurant)
6:30 pm Krakow Jewish Culture Festival concert
Walk back to the hotel/transportation arranged by TJHT
Overnight in Krakow
KRAKOW: THE ANCIENT ROYAL CAPITAL
KRAKOW – The historical capital of Poland, miraculously saved from destruction during centuries of wars and turmoil, is replete with numerous medieval, renaissance, and baroque churches, synagogues, and other architectural marvels. Krakow was once an important center of European Jewry, particularly of the Progressive movement, and now is one of the main centers of Jewish renewal in Poland. Visitors and locals alike are attracted to the Old Town of Krakow, the former Jewish district of Kazimierz, and the district of Podgorze where Germans established the ghetto during the war. Krakow, with its seven remaining synagogues and other reminders of Polish Jewish heritage, is both a living memorial and a beacon for the future.
Breakfast in the hotel
Morning briefing with scholar-in-residence
Guided walking tour through Krakow’s Jewish district including a visit to the Galicia Jewish Museum and the Krakow JCC
Lunch with Janusz Makuch, Director, Krakow Jewish Culture Festival
Guided walking tour through Krakow’s Old Town including the grounds of the Royal Wawel Castle and Collegium Maius. Like Kazimierz, the Old Town is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Return to the hotel
6:00 pm Jewish Culture Festival Concert
Overnight in Krakow
MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU
Early breakfast
8:45 am – 9:30 am How we visit Auschwitz? Session with scholar-in-residence
9:45 am Departure for Memorial and Museum Auschwitz Birkenau via coach (an approx. 90-minute drive)
11:30 am – 2:00 pm Study tour of Birkenau
Short break. Boxed lunch provided
2:30 pm – 5:00 pm The tour continues to Auschwitz I Museum concluding with a visit to the “Shoah” exhibit at Block 27, curated by Yad Vashem, and a reflection session.
Coach back to the hotel
Time to refresh and rest
7:30 pm Krakow Jewish Culture Festival
9:00 pm Shabbat dinner with scholar-in-residence @ 700 guests from the Polish Jewish community and around the world, hosted by the JCC Krakow.
Venue: Old Depot Krakow (Stara Zajezdnia)
Świętego Wawrzyńca 12 St.
Walk/van to the hotel
Overnight in Krakow
KRAKOW: SHABBAT
Breakfast in the hotel
Free morning
Optional tours:
- Krakow’s Former Ghetto and Schindler’s Factory Museum
- Visit to Dzialoszyce and Chmielnik, former shtetls
5:30 pm Summary session in the hotel
7:00 pm Farewell dinner
Szalom on Szeroka! The outdoor final concert of the Krakow Jewish Culture Festival (6:00 pm through 1:00 am)
Overnight in Krakow
DEPARTURES
Breakfast in the hotel
Transfers arranged for departures.
TJHT will be happy to arrange post-tour visits to family towns or extended visits and sightseeing.
Early bird fee is valid until January 30, 2025
Double Occupancy
One Person-
Early bird fee USD 5,800
-
Early bird fee is valid until January 30, 2025
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Five-star accommodations
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Full breakfast daily
-
Private arrival and departure transfers
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Selected meals featuring national and international cuisine
-
Entrance fees to all venues included in the itinerary
-
Ground transportation via deluxe air-conditioned coach and express train
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Pre-tour online meeting with Dr. Cebulski and Helise Lieberman
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Introductory consultation with the Taube Center’s genealogist
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A comprehensive resource and reading list sent prior to the tour
-
Gratuities
Single Occupancy
One Person-
Early bird fee USD 7,100
-
Early bird fee is valid until January 30, 2025
-
Five-star accommodations
-
Full breakfast daily
-
Private arrival and departure transfers
-
Selected meals featuring national and international cuisine
-
Entrance fees to all venues included in the itinerary
-
Ground transportation via deluxe air-conditioned coach and express train
-
Pre-tour online meeting with Dr. Cebulski and Helise Lieberman
-
Introductory consultation with the Taube Center’s genealogist
-
A comprehensive resource and reading list sent prior to the tour
-
Gratuities
In case of any questions, please let us know:
Please read the two tour policy guidelines carefully. In case of any questions, please contact Director of Operations, Aleksandra Makuch at amakuch@taubecenter.org