Poland Then & Now: Through Jewish Eyes
September 8–17, 2025
(10 days/9 nights)
Led by Professor Nancy Sinkoff
ABOUT THE TOUR
Dear Friends:
We are pleased to invite you to join us for a special journey, in cooperation with Taube Jewish Heritage Tours, through Poland:
Poland, Then and Now, Through Jewish Eyes
Monday, September 8 – Wednesday, September 17, 2025
We will explore three vibrant Polish cities and their histories in depth: Warsaw, Gdańsk, and Krakow.
Warsaw is a multi-layered city. The country’s capital, once home to more than 300,000 Polish Jews, is the phoenix city almost entirely reconstructed since 1945, and the hub of modern, cosmopolitan Poland.
Kraków, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the country’s intellectual heart, boasting Europe’s largest medieval market square, and an intact Jewish quarter.
Nowa Huta, a Stalin-created former utopian city near Kraków, challenges traditionalism and provides insight into Poland under communism.
Auschwitz-Birkenau, an iconic symbol of the Holocaust, bears witness to history.
Gdańsk, a port city with a once bustling shipyard, has been pivotal in resistance movements and played a significant role in the dismantling of Communist Poland.
This well-crafted tour will prompt a reevaluation of our perception of Poland and explore the enduring impact of World War II, the Holocaust, and Communism. We will delve into contemporary social and political challenges in Poland, Poland’s role in the European Union, and discuss its support of Ukraine with our resident scholar and other experts.
Throughout the journey, we will engage with Polish and Polish-Jewish culture through our meetings with local activists and leaders, art, food, and drink.
Participants interested in genealogical research will have the opportunity to work with professionals at the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.
Restaurant suggestions will be provided for all meals not included in the tour as well as information on cultural events for free evenings.
We look forward to journeying with you,
Nancy Sinkoff and Sandy Cheiten
Tour Highlights |
Professor Nancy Sinkoff, Scholar in Residence Warsaw, the Phoenix City
Gdańsk, the epicenter of the Solidarity movement
Krakow, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site
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SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE
Professor Nancy Sinkoff is the Academic Director of the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life and Professor of Jewish Studies and History at Rutgers University. She is the author of Out of the Shtetl: Making Jews Modern in the Polish Borderlands (2004, digital 2020) and From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History (2020; pb 2022), the 2020 National Jewish Book Award winner in the category of Biography. She has co-edited three books: Sara Levy’s World: Gender, Judaism, and the Bach Tradition in Enlightenment Berlin (with Rebecca Cypess, 2018), winner of the outstanding book prize from the Jewish Studies and Music Study Group of the American Musicological Society; Polish Jewish Culture Beyond the Capital: Centering the Periphery (with Halina Goldberg, 2023); and A Jew in the Street: New Perspectives on European Jewish History (with Jonathan Karp, James Loeffler, and Howard Lupovitch, 2024), in which her chapter, “Biography as Hesped: S. L. Shneiderman’s Homage to Ilya Ehrenburg,” appears.
Polish Jewish Culture Beyond the Capital: Centering the Periphery (with Halina Goldberg, 2023), winner of the 2024 Anna M. Cienciala Award for the Best-Edited Multi-Authored Scholarly Volume.
ITINERARY
DAY 1: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
DAY 2: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
DAY 4: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
DAY 5: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
DAY 6: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
DAY 7: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
DAY 8: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
DAY 9: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
DAY 10: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
DAY 1: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
WARSAW: THE PHOENIX CITY
Suggested arrival in Warsaw by noon
Met by a member of the Taube Center staff
TC staff will meet you at the meeting point and then put into an Uber/Taxi. Earlier or later arrivals will receive directions from the airport to the hotel on their own.
Transfer to the hotel: Ibis Warszawa Stare Miasto
Address: Muranowska 2 St.
Luggage can be stored. Check-in at 3:00 pm
Lunch on your own (recommendations will be provided)
Time to refresh
Welcome and orientation with Helise Lieberman, Nancy Sinkoff, and Taube Center staff at the hotel
Light refreshments will be served
Walk to the Palace of Culture and Science with a local guide
Visit the 30th floor of the Palace of Science and Culture with a beautiful panorama of the city
Van to the Welcome Dinner
Walk back to the hotel or Uber on your own
Overnight in Warsaw
DAY 2: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
WARSAW’S ROOTS
Breakfast at the hotel
Framing the day session at the hotel
Van to the Old Town
Guided walking tour of Warsaw’s Old Town, a private tour of the Royal Castle, and a guided stroll down the Royal Route. A stop for a coffee break on your own.
Group lunch in the Old Town
Transfer and visit the Modern Art Museum by the Vistula River
Stroll along the riverbank
Free time or optional transportation to the hotel
Group dinner
Return to the hotel on your own
Overnight in Warsaw
DAY 3: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
WARSAW: 1,000 YEARS OF JEWISH LIFE IN POLAND – GDAŃSK
Breakfast at the hotel
Check out and load luggage onto the van (the luggage will be directly transferred to the hotel in Gdańsk)
Van to the Umschlagplatz followed by a guided walk to the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
Welcome by a Museum staff member
Audio guided tour of the Core Exhibition
Lunch on own in POLIN’s restaurant and Warsaw Part I/Briefing and Wrap-Up
Transfer to the Warsaw Central Station
Express train to Gdańsk (approx. 2.5 hours)
Arrival in Gdańsk
Transfer to the hotel
Check into the hotel
Brief guided walking tour
Group dinner
Overnight in Gdańsk
DAY 4: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
GDAŃSK: THE CENTER OF THE SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Breakfast at the hotel
Walk to the World War II Museum
Audio guided tour of the museum
Lunch in the museum on your own
Walk to the European Solidarity Center
Briefing and guided tour of the Center’s exhibition
Afternoon and dinner on your own
Overnight in Gdańsk
DAY 5: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
GDAŃSK – WARSAW
Breakfast at the hotel
Check out and load luggage onto the van (the luggage will be transferred to the hotel in Warsaw)
Transfer to the Gdańsk Central Station
Express train to Warsaw (approx. 2.5 hours)
Arrival in Warsaw
Transfer to lunch on your own
Transfer to the Okopowa Jewish Cemetery
Guided walk through the Jewish Cemetery
Van to the hotel and check in
Shabbat dinner with community members at the JCC Warsaw
Walk back to the hotel
Overnight in Warsaw
DAY 6: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
SABBATH JOY/ONEG SHABBAT
Breakfast in the hotel
Free day (Synagogue information and recommendations will be provided)
Lunch on your own
Kosher Shabbat lunch arrangements can be made upon request
Dinner on your own
Overnight in Warsaw
DAY 7: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
WARSAW – KRAKÓW’S JEWISH QUARTER
Early breakfast in the hotel
Check out and load luggage onto the van (the luggage will be directly transferred to the hotel in Kraków)
Visit to the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
Transfer to the Warsaw Central train station
Express train to Kraków
Transfer from the train station to the Galicia Jewish Museum
Group lunch
Walking tour of Kazimierz, Kraków’s Jewish district
Check-in at the hotel, time to refresh
Session: How and Why Do We Visit Auschwitz-Birkenau?
Dinner on your own
Overnight in Kraków
DAY 8: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
AUSCHWITZ – BIRKENAU: DEHUMANIZATION, DESTRUCTION, AND GENOCIDE
Early breakfast at the hotel
Van to the Kraków Ghetto Memorial and a brief guided tour
Van to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (approx. 90 minutes drive)
Guided tour of Auschwitz I
Lunch break (parking lot next to the visitors’ center)
Tour of Birkenau
Drive to Auschwitz Jewish Center
Coffee/tea break on your own
Drive back to Kraków (approx. 90 minutes drive)
Group dinner
Overnight in Kraków
DAY 9: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
KRAKÓW: THE ANCIENT ROYAL CAPITAL
Breakfast at the hotel
Guided walk through Kraków’s Old Town and Wawel Castle grounds
Lunch on your own on the Main Market square
Van to Nowa Huta
Guided walking tour of Nowa Huta
Return to the hotel
Farewell dinner with vodka infusions tasting
Suggested venue: Wesele Restaurant
Walk back to the hotel
Overnight in Kraków
DAY 10: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
KRAKÓW: DEPARTURES
Breakfast at the hotel
Check out
Private transportation to Kraków Balice Airport (KRK)
Please read the two tour policy guidelines carefully.
- General Terms of Participation
Standard Information Form to Contracts For Participation In Touristic Events
As members of the Taube Center global community, we invite you to take advantage of our special early-bird fee. We would be happy to answer any of your questions. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at amakuch [@] taubecenter.org
Registration deadline and full payment is due by June 10th. Individual links to online payment via credit card will be sent prior to this date.
Double Occupancy
Per Person
PLN
19,150
approx. USD 4,910
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Early bird 5% discount - register until April 10!
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Single supplement PLN 21,885 (USD 5610)
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Full time scholar-in-residence
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Well-located and comfortable accommodations with breakfast
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Meals as indicated in the itinerary
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Group transportation as indicated in the itinerary
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Entrance fees and tickets
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Private guiding services
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Tour coordinator throughout the program
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Meetings with guest speakers as indicated in the itinerary
The fee does not include:
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Airfare
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International health and travel insurance (required)
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Personal expenses
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Gratuities /tips
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Additional ground transportation is not included in the Itinerary
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Additional activities
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Alcoholic beverages (with exception of group dinners)
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Meals, drinks, laundry, entrance fees, porterage, tours/excursions, and transfers not specified in the Itinerary
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Cancellation, baggage, and medical insurance
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Staff gratuities
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New government taxes, levies, fuel, or industry increases which are beyond our control
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Any items of a personal nature or anything (items and services) not specifically stated as included
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Optional excursions (if offered)
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Pre- and post-tour accommodation or other arrangements