On this tour we visit the few city blocks that at its peak housed up to 450,000 Jews and identify sites of interest throughout the area of the ghetto. Those sites include the areas of the large and small ghetto’s, the site of the bridge between the ghetto’s, remnants of the ghetto wall, remaining buildings from the ghetto, the Umschlagplatz Memorial from where Jews were loaded onto trains and transported to the Treblinka Extermination Camp, among many other sites of significance. Also learn about the remarkable 1943 Ghetto Uprising where the Jews fought for freedom. We further highlight the rebuilding effort that was carried out after the war and you will be able to see and touch the debris buried beneath the new construction.

At the completion of the tour we will have lunch at the wonderful Warsze Restaurant at the award winning POLIN Museum and sample traditional Polish Jewish cuisine. After lunch, we take in a lecture followed by a tour of this amazing museum.

Join us on a bus tour of the highlights of Warsaw (e.g., Chopin Memorial, hiding place of "The Pianist" Wladyslaw Szpilman, Palace of Culture & Science, Warsaw Palm Tree) before we begin our walking tour of Warsaw Stare Miasto (Old Town). Warsaw’s Stare Miasto was established in the 13th century on the banks of the Vistula River. Completely destroyed during WWII, it was meticulously rebuilt in the years following the war based on the paintings and drawings of pre-war artists and architectural students. Old Town was the site of some of the heaviest fighting during the Warsaw Uprising that began on 1 August 1944. Highlights of the walking tour include: Marie Curie's house, Copernicus Memorial, Royal Castle, Church of the Holy Cross where Chopin's heart was laid to rest, Warsaw Uprising Memorial, University of Warsaw, and more. After lunch we will take in a lecture from our invited guest lecturers.

Today we check out of our Warsaw Hotel and transfer to the Polish city of Oswiecim and visit the Infamous German Concentration & Extermination Camp - Auschwitz.  Auschwitz was the German name given to the site of the camp within the Polish city of Oswiecim. Join us on a special guided tour of both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau. We first explore Auschwitz I, which was an abandoned Polish Army barracks prior to WWII. We then take the short journey to Auschwitz II – Birkenau and walk through the iconic gate which so many Jews and victims of different kinds travelled through never to return. See the ramp where Jews were off-loaded before walking the short distance to the gas chambers and crematoria to the rear of the camp, blown up by the Germans as they hastily fled in the face of the coming onslaught of the Soviet Army. In total, approximately 1,100,000 people died at Auschwitz. Join us as we honour their memory and state unequivocally – Never Again!

*** Photo identification is a requirement for entry to Auschwitz. Please ensure you have photo identification with you for our visit to Auschwitz.

After our tour of Auschwitz we transfer to Krakow and check into our Krakow hotel.

Join us on a morning walking tour of Krakow Old Town. During the tour we will visit the beautiful Old Town Market Square – the largest in Europe/ We also visit St Mary’s Basilica (14th century) where we learn why the 2 spires are of different sizes and listen to the trumpeter who plays from a church spire on the hour and learn why he mysteriously stops playing mid-tune. We will also visit the oldest University in Poland - Jagiellonian University before visiting the mighty Wawel Castle - home to Polish Kings and Queens for centuries before moving their seat of power to Warsaw.

After lunch join us on a walking tour of the former Krakow Jewish Ghetto that was established in March 1941. We begin the tour in the main square of the former ghetto that is now a memorial to the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto “Ghetto Hero’s Square”. We will then visit the surviving remnants of the original Ghetto Wall and the site of the orphanage that operated in the ghetto. We then visit Schindler’s Enamel Factory and those who have seen the movie, will not mistake the façade of this famous building. Having saved 1,200 Jews, Schindler and his wife Emilie were awarded Righteous Among the Nations in 1993. We also visit the Pharmacy Under the Eagle a pharmacy that was allowed to operate within the Ghetto walls under its non-Jewish proprietor Tadeusz Pankiewicz who, along with his 3 female staff Irena Drozdzikowska, Aurelia Danek, & Helena Krywaniuk, provided medicine, food, and hiding places for Jews in the pharmacy. Pankiewicz was awarded Righteous Among the Nations on 10 February 1983. 

Join us on a visit to the Kościuszko Mound and find out about the man behind the name of Australia's highest mountain as well as how to pronounce his name correctly!

We then visit the Krakow suburb of “Nowa Huta” (New Ironworks). Nowa Huta (photo on day 7) was built in the vision of a Stalinist Utopia, an ideal proletarian city and a hallmark of communism. Nowa Huta was an entire city created to employ thousands of people at the giant Lenin Steelworks. We will first visit the Museum of Poland Under the Communist Regime located in the former Swiatowid Cinema before heading off on a walking tour of Nowa Huta itself. The museum comes complete with its own Cold War era underground air-raid shelter so we should be safe in the event of war! Whilst in Nowa Huta we will stop in at a traditional Polish "Milk Bar" (Bar Mleczny) and sample traditional Polish communist era cuisine.

After lunch those who have selected the optional Wieliczka Salt Mine will head off to explore this ancient mine. Those who have not chosen to visit the mine will have free time.

In the evening we meet at the hotel for our farewell dinner and take in a lecture from one of our invited lecturers.

Sadly, today we must say goodbye to Poland and head off to Prague for ICP 2024. 

Speak to us about transportation to Prague and accommodation convenient to the conference venue.

The photo above is of Nowa Huta, Krakow

21 July 2024 is the opening ceremony of the ICP 2024. There are pre-congress workshops scheduled for 21 July 2024. However, for those who have chosen the optional Operation Anthropoid Tour, we will head off in the morning for our 2.5 hour tour.

Operation Anthropoid was the operation undertaken by the Czech Resistance to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich during WWII. Heydrich was the Commander of the Reich Security Main Office and Governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia overseeing all of then Czechoslovakia. Heydrich ruled with an iron fist and was one of the crucial architects of the Holocaust, Chairing the infamous Wannsee Conference that took place on 20 January 1942. Heydrich was also responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Poles upon Germany invading Poland on 1 September 1939. During what came to be known as the “Intelligenzaktion”, approximately 100,000 Poles were murdered, 61,000 of whom had been targeted as part of the Polish intelligentsia. On 27 May 1942, Czech resistance operatives Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis undertook the assassination operation wounding Heydrich in the attempt. Heydrich succumbed to his wounds on 4 June 1942. In the aftermath of his death, the Nazi’s named part of the operation to exterminate European Jewry “Operation Reinhard” relating to the death camps Sobibor, Belzec, and Treblinka.