Congregation Shaare Emeth Jewish Heritage Tour to Eastern Europe With Rabbi Jim and Amy Bennett (BERLIN-PRAGUE-BUDAPEST-KRAKOW-WARSAW) March 31-APRIL 14, 2016 MARCH 31- THURSDAY Depart St. Louis for our flight to Berlin on Delta and KLM Airlines, departing from St. Louis, connecting in Atlanta and Amsterdam before arriving in Berlin. APRIL 01 FRIDAY BERLIN Arrive in Berlin, the capital of Germany, one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Berlin is the largest city in Germany and has a population of 4.5 million within its metropolitan area and 3.5 million from over 190 countries within the city limits. Berlin is best known for its historical associations as the German capital, its internationalism and tolerance, along with its lively nightlife, its many cafés, clubs, and bars, street art, and numerous museums, palaces, and other sites of historic interest. We will enjoy a half day city tour of Berlin, from the spectacular post-modern Jewish Museum by Daniel Libeskind to the New Synagogue with its beautiful golden dome. Our tour will cover sites such as the historic Jewish Quarter on the trail of the 18 th century German Socrates, Moses Mendelssohn, the site of Berlin s first synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Jewish High School and where the world s first female rabbi lived. Following our tour, we ll transfer to the hotel and have some time at leisure before our evening at the Sukkat Shalom Synagogue for Kabbalat Shabbat followed by Shabbat dinner. - accommodation at the hotel Kempinski Bristol ***** APRIL 02 SATURDAY - BERLIN We will spend half a day on a sightseeing tour of modern and historical Berlin, including sites such as the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, the show-case royal boulevard, Unter den Linden and of course, the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie, as well as such sites as Berlin-Grunewald station, the city residence of the expressionist painter Max Liebermann, the Holocaust Memorial and the undulating sculptured building by Frank Gehry - afternoon and evening at leisure - accommodation at the hotel Kempinski Bristol ***** APRIL 03 SUNDAY BERLIN - TEREZIN PRAGUE We will travel from Berlin to the Czech Republic by bus. En route we will visit Terezin. The town and fortress of Terezín were founded in 1780 by Joseph II. The Small Fortress was turned into a Nazi concentration camp run by the Gestapo. By the end of the war over 90 000 prisoners had passed through its gates. In February 1942 the town of Terezín itself became a Jewish ghetto and 160 000 Jews from 35 d ifferent countries were brought here.
- We will then continue on to Prague, an ancient European city renowned for its beauty and unique wealth of historical sights, the capital of the Czech Republic - accommodation and dinner at the hotel Hilton Old Town ***** APRIL 04 MONDAY - PRAGUE We will begin with a half day sightseeing tour of Prague, including a visit to the Prague Castle - passing the New and Old Town of Prague. We will see the National Museum, the State Opera House and the National Theatre, visit the Prague Castle area with the famous St.Vitus Cathedral, Gothic Vladislav Hall, picturesque Golden Lane, Lobkowicz Palace, and then continue to the historical Lesser Town of Prague and walk through and over the famous Charles Bridge Well spend our afternoon on a walking tour of the former Jewish Ghetto in Prague with its famous Jewish Cemetery, legends of Rabbi Lowe and the Golem, amazing synagogues such as the Maissel, Pinkas, Spanish, Klaus, and the Old- New synagogue, Franz Kafka s House and conclude with a walking tour though the Old Town of Prague with its Old Town Square with a famous astronomical Clock - dinner at local restaurant - visit the Black Theatre performance -accommodation at the hotel Hilton Old Town ***** APRIL 05 TUESDAY - PRAGUE - day at leisure in Prague - accommodation at the hotel Hilton Old Town ***** APRIL 06 WEDNESDAY PRAGUE MIKULOV BUDAPEST In the morning we will travel from Prague to Mikulov. For centuries Mikulov was the most important cultural and administrative center of the Moravian Jews, and the seat of the Moravian Rabbi. Picturesque old houses, part of the former Jewish ghetto in the area directly surrounding the towering castle, stand witness to the bygone fame and glory of the Jewish community with its famous personalities, such as Rabbis Mordechaj Benet, Menachem Mendl Krochmal, and Samuel Shmelke Horovitz. We ll then continue to Budapest the pearl on the Danube River and the capital of Hungary, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We ll take a look at Gellért Hill, right next to the River Danube as it flows majestically through the centre of the modern city. It was precisely the combination of the relative ease of crossing the River here and the natural protection the hill offered against invasion that convinced the earliest settlers it was the ideal place to build a town. Covering an area of two hundred square miles and divided into 23 administrative districts, it is home today to a population of 1.8 million people. - accommodation and dinner at the hotel Hilton Budapest City *****
APRIL 07 THURSDAY - BUDAPEST We will enjoy a full day city tour of Budapest. We will take the Margaret Bridge and drive over to Buda. With a stop in the Castle District and a short walk we will view the main attractions of the area. We ll walk to Matthias Church and to the Fishermen s Bastion (from where we can enjoy the beautiful panorama). Next, we ll drive to the Gellért Hill (Citadel) and enjoy the most spectacular view of Budapest. We will then cross the Elisabeth Bridge to Pest.We ll pass by Europe s largest thermal spa, the Budapest Zoo and the Amusement Park, after which we will stop at the Heroes Square (with statues of the most famous Hungarian kings and dukes). We ll then take the Andrássy Avenue to downtown Pest, pass by the Opera House and the St Stephen s Basilica, ending the tour at the Vaciut pedestrian zone. We ll also see a number of sights of Jewish interest, including the Dohany Synagogue, Raoul Wallenberg Memorial park, the Jewish Museum, Kazinczy Steet Synagogue, the famous Budapest Central Market Hall and Szechenyi Bathhouse - evening deluxe cruise on Danbue River incl. buffet-dinner - accommodation at the hotel Hilton Budapest City ***** APRIL 08 FRIDAY - BUDAPEST - KRAKOW This morning we travel from Budapest to Krakow driving throught Slovakia and the beautiful Tatra Mountains area. En route we will visit Banska Bystrica, the historical town from World War II, known for its town square with attractive burgher houses, and outdoor cafes and restaurants, and Kremnicka, where Jews, POWs and partisans were murdered by the Nazis after the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising in 1944. We will continue via the Tatra Mountains area to Krakow, the beautiful historical town and former capital of Poland with a thousand years long tradition as a center of science, culture and art. Krakow was placed by UNESCO on the list of the world's 12 most precious monuments in 1978. Today it is experiencing a revival of culture. - shabbat dinner and worship at the Jewish Community Centre in Krakow - accommodation at the hotel Sheraton Krakow ***** APRIL 09 SATURDAY - KRAKOW We will spend our day on a sightseeing tour of Krakow. We ll visit Kazimierz the former Jewish district of Krakow, the Remuh Synagogue+Cemetery, the Old Synagogue with its Jewish Museum, then visit the famous Schindler Factory and Museum, continuing to the Wawel Castle that was the royal residence and the seat of Polish kings. Right now it is the most popular and the richest museum in Poland, housing seventy one magnificent rooms, several thousand works of art of great value, among them the great Wawel collection of the Arras tapestries. The Wawel Cathedral used to be the scene of coronations and is the eternal resting place of the kings of Poland - accomodation at hotel Sheraton ***** APRIL 10 SUNDAY - KRAKOW Today will be our difficult and important visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi Concentration Camp where approx. 1.5 million people were exterminated. A Martyrdom Museum was set up here in 1947, and in 1979, UNESCO included it the list of World Heritage sites. - return to Krakow and the ballance of the day at leisure - accommodation at hotel Sheraton *****
APRIL 11 MONDAY - KRAKOW WIELICZKA - WARSAW This morning we will travel by bus from Krakow to Warsaw. En route we ll stop to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine, over 700 years old, the oldest working mine in Europe. This salt mine was in 1978 placed by UNESCO on the list of the 12 most priceless monuments of the world. Excavations, originally decorated chapels, galleries and wonderous salt lakes are situated from level I ( 64 metres deep) to level III ( 135 metres below ground) in the Miocenic salt deposit formed about 15 million years ago. We ll then continue to Warsaw - the capital of Poland since the 17th century located on the Vistula River. The town was almost completely destoryed during the last war and was painstakingly restored to its former condition and is now one of the gems of Europe. accommodation and dinner at the hotel Sheraton ****** APRIL 12 TUESDAY - WARSAW We will enjoy a full day city tour of Warsaw, which will include the Castle Square where we can see the first non-ecclesiastic statue in Warsaw, King Sigismund s Column and the originally Gothic castle dating to the 15th century and expanded throughout the centuries, the seat of kings of Poland. It was here that the Third of May Constitution was promulgated in 1791, the second constitution, after the US Constitution, ever in the world. Visit St. John s Cathedral and walk through the Market Square where we will have a break for tea or cake at one of the fine restaurants or go shopping at the gift shops or galleries. Afterwards we will pass the late-gothic structure by John Baptist of Venice the Barbican. In the New Town Market we can see the Church and Monastery of Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament and the house where Maria Sklodowska-Curie was born. At the Krasinski Square we will stop by the Monument of Warsaw s Uprising. We ll drive via the Royal Route with its aristocratic residences, Tomb of Unknown Soldier and building of Warsaw s Grand Opera and National Theatre House erected by Antonio Corazzi. Our afternoon will focus on visiting places of remembrance in Warsaw closely connected with Warsaw s Jews. The only synagogue to have survived wartime was one founded in 1902 by a wealthy Warsaw merchant, Zalman Nozyk and his wife; today is known as the Nozyk Synagogue. It was devastated during the occupation, renovated after the war and subsequently reconstructed between 1977 and 1983. The largest Jewish cemetery is the huge historic one on Okopowa Street tha is still in use. Several famous people are buried at the cemetery, like politicians, S. Mendelson, F. Pearl, rabbis, Meislels and Abrahama Eisenbaum, writera, L. Perec, C. Z. Slonimski, creator of esperanto, Dr Ludwik Zamenhof and people with such famous names like Natansons, Epstein, Toeplitzes, Wawelbergs. We will also visit the Umschlag-platz on Stawki Street, a place from where Germans deported 300,000 Jews to Treblinka during the summer 1942. The commemorative Gate Way Monument was unveiled at the spot where Jews were loaded onto the railroad cars on the 45th Anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The Monument to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is located on the square, which was once a site of the main bunker of the Jewish Combat Organization. - accommodation at the hotel Sheraton ***** APRIL 13 WEDNESDAY - WARSAW Our final day will include a city tour of Warsaw. We will visit the Jewish Museum and Jewish Genealogy center. The balance of the day will be at leisure - farewell dinner at local restaurant - accommodation at the hotel Sheraton ***** APRIL 14 THURSDAY - WARSAW - transfer from the hotel to the airport and departure for your home
Cost: Air and land: $ 6350 per person sharing double room. Single supplement: $ 1450 Cost includes: Airfare St Louis-Berlin, all bus touring and transfers, airfare Warsaw-St Louis Fuel surcharge and airport taxes 13 nights at deluxe hotels Daily breakfasts 5 dinners 13 days sightseeing, deluxe air conditioned bus Group arrival and departure transfers English speaking Tour manager from arrival to departure English speaking local guides at: Berlin, Terezin, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Budapest, Krakow, Auschwitz, Warsaw All entrance fees and taxes Danube river cruise Cost does not include: Travel Insurance: Insurance options will be provided upon registration. Gratuities to Tour director, local guides and drivers. Lunches Baggage: Luggage is the responsibility of the passengers and of the airlines. Passports: Must be valid six months beyond trip return date. Itinerary: The sequence of activities in the itinerary may change or be reversed and some may be omitted due to circumstances beyond our control. Pricing is subject to change until the trip is paid in full. Form of Payment: All prices reflect a 3% discount made for purchases with checks. Please add 3% if using credit cards. To secure the seats and airfare please submit a deposit of $ 150 per person This deposit is refundable until December 1, 2015 Final Payment due: February 1, 2015 Name (exactly as in passport): Last Name First Middle Date of Birth Gender Passport number Expiration Signature Date:
Air Itinerary (subject to change): DL2309 31MAR STL to ATL 950A 1219P DL 70 31MAR ATLto AMS 312P 555A arriving 01APR KL1821 01APR AMS to TXL 705A 825A KL1362 14APR WAW to AMS 605A 805A DL 135 14APR AMS to DTW 1005A 1225P DL2623 14APR DTW to STL 320P 356P