Over five hundred years of vibrant Jewish life in the communities of the Baltic region were almost completely cut off from the inferno of the Holocaust. These communities have undergone, in the last hundreds of years, significant processes. Characterized by an ideological and social controversy between those who aspired to preserve the traditional way of life of this Judaism, and those who dreamed of integrating into the processes of openness and modernization of European culture and the emergence of a new world. Come with us to wander the alleys of Vilnius Riga and Tallinn as well as distant towns and villages in landscapes where the same diverse, wonderful and unique Jewish world has developed. We will be impressed by the cultural, ethnic and historical richness of the Baltic peoples, alongside whom lives the same Jewish world and the unique landscapes of these countries.
Flight from the countries of origin to Vilnius (known as Vilna among Jews), the capital of Lithuania.
Landing at the Vilnius airport. Arrival to the hotel. After resting and freshening up, we will make an introductory tour of the city, which served as important Jewish center for centuries. The Vilnius Gaon lived and was active there, Napoleon Bonaparte established his headquarters in the city in advance of his invasion of Russia, minister Montefiore visited the city on his way to meet with the Russian minister Plava. It was here that the Bund party was founded in 1897, Herzel visited the city before the 4th Zionist Congress. In the interwar period Jews made up nearly one-third of the city's population.
Dinner at a local restaurant.
Overnight: Vilnius
Breakfast to be followed by a brief conversation before the tour of Vilnius, known also as "Jerusalem of Lithuania".
We begin our tour in the Jewish quarter, built in the Middle Ages: "Ha-Gaon Street," "Street of the Jews," and the house of HaGra (Hebrew acronym of the Vilna Gaon). We will visit the site of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius, the "Schulhoff", its adjoining buildings and the Choral Synagogue.
After a visit to the "Vilna Gaon Museum", we will head for the municipal square, and the main street "Breite Gasse" (the broad street). We will tour the ghetto streets, walk in the footsteps of Itzik Wittenberg and Abba Kovner, leaders of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, up to the "Judenrat courtyard." We will stop by the building that housed Jewish theater in the Vilnius ghetto, and hear the fascinating story of cultural activity of the Vilnius Ghetto Jews. From there we will head for the "Black Gate" – the only surviving relic of the ten gates in the city walls.
We conclude this part of the tour with a visit to the Jewish cemetery, where the Vilna Gaon is buried, among others.
In the second part of the day we'll tour the Vilnius Old City, recognized in 1994 by Unesco as preservation site.
We will walk down the main street of the city, named after prince Gediminas, and make a stop by a little square, named after the national poet of Lithuania, Vincas Kudirka. We will visit the impressive cathedral built in the neo-classical style, and the "Bell Tower" nearby. We will tour the lower palace of Lithuanian princes, and the Gediminas Hill with its remnants of a medieval defense fortress. A walk down a narrow alley will leads us to the President's House square. On this occasion we'll have a glimpse of the residence of the former Russian governor general, which now houses the Lithuania's president residence.
Overnight: Vilnius
We will travel to the town of Trakai, the old capital city of Lithuanian princes, located in the heart of a beautiful lake district. The town is home of a prominent Karaite community, and we will use the occasion to visit the Karaite synagogue. The Karaites were brought to Trakai by prince Vitautas the Great, and we'll hear the story of this unique community. We will then visit a beautiful fortress built on an island in the middle of a lake.
At noon, you will have free time to wander through the town, and after reassembling we'll travel to the city of Kaunas, which served as Lithuanian capital in the interwar period. En route we'll stop at a small town of Žiežmariai, where one of the oldest Jewish Lithuanian communities, dating back to the 16th century, lived. We will hear the story of this community and of the wooden synagogue which survived to this day.
We will continue to Kaunas, a city built in a Russian style, and home to a Jewish community with a magnificent past.
Our first stop will be the old city with its unique buildings, and, of course, the Jewish area. We also stop at a viewpoint overlooking the city, have a talk about the writer Abraham
Mapu, who wrote the first Hebrew novels: "Ahavat Zion" and "Áshemat Shomron". We will tour the center of Kaunas, including the house of famous Hebrew poetess, Leah Goldberg.
From there we will head to "Slobodka", the old Jewish quarter, where the Jewish ghetto was located during the Holocaust. We will hear about the famous Slobodka yeshiva; its successor is the Hebron yeshiva in Jerusalem.
We will conclude our visit to Kaunas with a commemorative ceremony at the Ninth Fortress, which served as an internment and death camp during WWII.
Overnight: Kaunas
The first stop in our visit is the notorious Lukiškės (Lukiszki in Polish) prison. From there we will arrive at the commemorative site in the Ponary forest, close to the Ponary village, where about 70,000 Jews, 20,000 Lithuanians, and 8,000 Poles were murdered, and hold a commemorative ceremony.
At noon we'll arrive at the Rudniki forest, where partisans found shelter and established their bases; among these partisans were Abba Kovner, Różka Korczak and others. Some of the partisan dugouts still remain in the woods. At this opportunity we'll also discuss the complex relations between Jewish partisans active in the area, on the one hand, and their Lithuanian and Russian counterparts, on the other hand.
We will return to Vilnius for a free afternoon.
Overnight: Vilnius.
We will depart Vilnius in the morning and arrive in Riga early in the afternoon.
Our visit will begin with a walking tour of the old city, declared by Unesco as a World Heritage site.
The city was founded in 1201. We will walk down its picturesque streets, and along the remnants of the city wall, dating back to in the Middle Ages. The Swedish Gate serves as entrance to the old city. We will stop by the House of Cats, and the building of the merchants' guild, built in a neo-Gothic style. Vis-à-vis stands the Toy building, which once belonged to a small guild, and served as a club of sorts for local small-time artisans. From there we will head for the Livu Square (named after one of the Latvian tribes). We will see the Three Brothers building complex, built in the Middle Ages, and hear its story. Our tour will conclude with a visit to the central square and the Riga Cathedral built in 1211, and which its first known organ was the largest in the world , and the House of the Blackheads.
Riga boasts the highest concentration of buildings in the Art Nouveau style in Europe. The Alberta Street and the adjoining streets, which we will visit, provide a unique spectacle of "Jugendstil" architecture, which was widespread in late 19th and early 20th century, and was part of the Art Nouveau movement. Many of these buildings were designed by a Jewish architect, Michael Eisenstein.
We will conclude our busy day with dinner and a local folklore show.
Overnight: Riga
We begin our tour of the Jewish quarter with a visit to the only active synagogue in Riga, built in 1905, which was preserved intact thanks to the brave Protestant pastor. We will see the monument commemorating the burning of the Great Synagogue by the Nazis, as well as the building of the Jewish school – the first such institution in the Russian empire, which today houses Chabad institutions.
A visit to the "Riga Ghetto", the Ghetto Museum, the Bikkur Holim hospital, and the Jewish cemetery will conclude this part of our tour.
In the afternoon, we will travel to the memorial site in the Bikernieki and Rumbula forests – a formidable monument resembling the monument in the Treblinka camp. From there we will travel to the Salaspils concentration camp; half of whose inmates were Jewish, and medical experiments on children were conducted there. We will hold a commemorative ceremony and return to Riga.
You will have free time in the evening to enjoy the bustling center of the Old City.
Overnight: Riga
In the morning, we will drive to the town of Sigulda, known as "the Switzerland of Latvia," situated in a picturesque valley of the Gauja River. The valley is lined with red cliffs and limestone with its impressive caves on both sides of the river. Sigulda is also known for its international opera festival, which takes place under open sky, where families come to enjoy high-quality music.
We begin our day with a visit to the Tureida Castle, located 5 km (3 miles) from the town of Sigulda. The reconstructed castle is made of bricks, and the complex in the estate includes a church, gardens and auxiliary buildings. The castle is famous for its round, wide, five-story high tower, which affords a 360 degrees view.
We will see a simple but beautiful wooden church. Built in the 18th century, it is one of the first wooden churches in Latvia. We will conclude the tour with a visit to a fascinating sculpture park, which surrounds the castle and its estate.
Our visit to the site won't be complete without a visit to the grave of a girl named Maia, "the Rose of Tureida." Maia lived in the Tureida Castle in the 17th century, and fell in love with Victor, a gardener from the town of Sigulda. She paid with her life for her fidelity to the man she loved. Local couples in love come to the site to pledge allegiance to each other.
Following our relaxing visit to Sigulda, we will turn north towards Estonia. En route, we will make a brief stop to relax at Pärnu, a fifth largest city in Estonia, located in the northern part of the Riga Bay.
We will arrive in Tallinn, Estonia's capital, in the evening.
Overnight: Tallinn
Our day begins with a drive to the Klooga camp, which served as destination mostly for Jews from the Vilnius and Kaunas ghettos. Our visit will conclude with a brief ceremony of communion with the victims.
We will return to Tallinn for a visit in the only synagogue in the city, and the Museum of the Jewish Community. If it proves possible, we will also meet with several community members.
From there we will continue our tour in the Old City of Tallinn. We will begin with the upper city, and see the city walls and its towers. We will also have a look at the Estonian Parliament building, and the adjoining Alexander Nevsky Church – symbol of Russian rule in the country, which lasted two-hundred years.
We will then descend to Pik Jalgg (long leg) Street, and continue our tour in the Old City of Tallinn, which has barely changed since its beginnings hundreds of years ago. It is one of the last city quarters anywhere which have preserved their medieval character in such an authentic fashion. We will conclude with a walking tour of the Queen residences and the souvenir market. We will then make a tour around the Old City, visit the Kadriorg Park, and see the palace that the Russian Czar, Peter the Great, built for his wife.
We will return to the hotel to freshen up and the summary conversation, after which we will have a dinner together to conclude our fascinating journey.
After dinner you'll have free time, and everyone will return to the hotel independently.
Breakfast and departure.
To those in need of assistance, we'll help with transportation to the international airport near Tallin.
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