To Warsaw, a long trip at a relaxed pace with video and 3 stops en route.
POLAND
Did you know that, before WorldWar II, Warsaw was considered as the second
city in the world (after New York) having the number of Jewish inhabitants over
400.000 ?
The Zelman and Rywka Nozyk Synagogue.
Poland has an extraordinary history. Untill recently Poland even didn't exist
because of the many wars with its powerfull neighbour countries. Poland was
first mentioned as a country in the year 966. In the 16th Century Poland was the
most prosperous and largest country in Europe. But since then, the year 1573,
too many wealthy families tried to grab for the power over Poland which was the
start of dividing the country and in 1795 it was taken by Preusen, Russia and
Austria. At the end of World War II Poland was recognized again as a country
until 1939, when the Nazis marched in and took their first land under control of
the "New Reich".
2004
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Warsaw:
On the November 16 1940, the Jewish district Muranow was surrounded by a
wall and became the Ghetto, where all Jews caught by Nazis were forced to
live. It also became a graveyard for more than 100.000 people who died of
hunger, cold and illness. In May 1943, all ghetto citizens were murdered and
the
ghetto was turned to dust.
Many places remember of the Jews in Warsaw like this graveyard:
The Warsaw old marketplace
After World War II the eastern part of Poland was under
control of Russia and the western part was the new Poland which also was
under the influance of Russia.
In 1990 Poland freed itself from the Russian control under the leadership of
Lech Walensa. |
HOTEL Holiday Inn
Dinner at hotel.
The Holiday Inn hotel of Warsaw has air conditioned guestrooms. Non
smoking rooms are available, and they all do have satellite TV.
There is a minibar and coffee and tea making facilities in every room.
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Bus tour to Cemetary, Memorial and Ghetto.
Memorial remembering the Nazi attack on Warsaw.
The second day in Poland we will visit the former
concentration camp Treblinka. On the bus from the Hotel to the camp, there
will be a video explaining what we will see.
Treblinka : The train station Group lunch en route. Further
to Krakow. 
Old Synagogue of Krakow. |
Krakow:
The place has been settled since the Stone Age at least. In 1038 Krakow
became the capital of Poland, and Polish monarchs took up their residence in
its Wawel Royal Castle.
The city has largely been left intact since the Tartar raids of the
thirteenth century - and this accounts for the largely unspoilt Old Town -
now a World Heritage Site. One area that has seen traumatic changes is the
Kazimierz district. For centuries it was a center of Jewish culture, until
the Nazis killed many of its residents and deported most of the rest to the
wartime ghetto and then to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Although the former ghetto had largely fallen into decline since World War
II, the area is rapidly changing in response to the renewed interest brought
about by the film, Schindler's List and the Jewish culture, if not the
Jewish community, is being revived with lively Klezmer concerts in the
city's theaters.
Wawel Royal Castle
The Old Town historical district in Krakow’s heart is actually the
medieval city established in 1257 by Prince Boleslav V, the ruler of Poland
at the time. Its well preserved original grid of streets with the huge
central Grand Square
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The ...........................
For those who stayed home; the hotel in Krakow
changed into the Radisson SAS hotel,
tel nr: + 48 12 618 88 88
Rooms equipped with one double or two single beds, mini bar,
TV, trouser presser, hair dryer and individually controlled
air-conditioning. Two restaurants and a bar inspired by heritage of Polish
culture.
2004 |
Auschwitz
All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and
the Holocaust. It was established by the Nazis in 1940, in the suburbs of
the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of Poland, was occupied by the
Germans during the Second World War. The name of the city of Oswiecim was
changed to Auschwitz, which became the name of the camp as well.
Auschwitz entrance
Support the Auschwitz museum with
a donation or buy a book
Over the following years, the camp was expanded and consisted of three
main parts: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Auschwitz III-Monowitz.
At first, Poles were imprisoned and died in the camp. Afterwards, Soviet
prisoners of war, Gypsies, and prisoners of other nationalities were also
incarcerated there. Beginning in 1942, the camp became the site of the
greatest mass murder in the history of humanity. At the end of the war, in
an effort to remove the traces of the crimes they had committed, the SS
began dismantling and razing the gas chambers, crematoria, and other
buildings, as well as burning documents.
Train Tracks Leading To Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
2004 |
Birkenau
Prisoners capable of marching were evacuated into the depths of the Reich.
Those who remained behind in the camp were liberated by Red Army soldiers on
January 27, 1945. A July 2, 1947 act of the Polish parliament established
the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the grounds of the two extant parts
of the camp, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
After group dinner a “tram” tour to Schindler's factory prominantly featured in
the film.
On the factory grounds is a plaque:
"The workplace over 1000 Jewish nationality persons. During second world war
saved their life by Oskar Schindler". |
The Novotel Krakow
Second night
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We travel through Slovakia and will have a group lunch break in the Slovakian
Republic on our way to Budapest. On the bus will be a video presentation
HUNGARY
Culture and Heritage
Owing to its important geographical location and role in history, the region
is cultural heir both to the Roman Empire and to Christian and Modern Europe
(in which the millennium-old Hungarian state is firmly rooted).
In return for territories re-annexed in the early stages of the war, Hungary
supported the Germans, while being in contact with the Allies, as well.
Jewish Cemetry
The German army occupied Hungary in March, 1944. Ghettos were established
and 500,000 people were sent to concentration camps in a few months.
Synagoge in Budapest
After Miklós Horthy’s attempts for an armistice, the Germans forced his
resignation and transferred power to the Hungarian Nazis. Meanwhile, the
Soviet Army reached Hungary’s borders. The country became a theater of war
between the German and Soviet armies. Budapest was destroyed and the country
was sacked.
2004 |
The 19th century was the age of major changes and witnessed
the birth of a completely new city almost from scratch. The hills of Buda
and the city walls of Pest no longer provided protection and limited space
was a barrier to real development
Holocaust Memorial
In 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third
part, Óbuda (Ancient Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest.
The Chain Bridge connecting Buda and Pest
By the turn of the century, it was a genuine rival to Vienna. Dynamic Pest
grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and
cultural hub.
Parliament of Budapest
The destruction of the Second World War could only be compared to the
devastation wrought by the Turkish occupiers. After the war and until May
1990, when the first democratically elected government took power, the
country was a victim of communist imperialism. The achievements of the
political changes and the past decade, like democracy and a market economy,
help to efface the dictatorship of the not so distant past.
The Third Hungarian Republic.
On 23 October 1989, in commemoration of the revolution against the communist
dictatorship, the Third Hungarian Republic was declared. Hungary, as a
result of the multi-party elections of the 90s, has been undergoing great
economic and political development within the democratic, parliamentary
system. |
Citadel and Liberation Monument
Hungary has become a member of NATO and, as an important
state in the region, is carrying out negotiations to join the EU.
Parliament inside |
Evening presentation in
the Hilton Hotel Budapest.
Room Facilities: Air conditioning, Satellite television, Radio Direct
dial phone Mini bar, Hairdryer, Automatic wake-up call.
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