Oskar Schindler’s Ark (15/0120)

Our tour leads to the places, spots and original scenes, where Oskar Schindler spent most of his time during his stay in Poland. In homage to Schindler, Steven Spielberg has made a film entitled “Schindler’s List“, which won seven Academy Awards. The German Schindler was born in Zwittau and after his military service, worked in his father’s company. When he went bankrupt, he started to work as a salesman in electronics. To receive more lucrative orders, he decided to become a member of the German National Socialistic Party NSDAP in 1939. He then left for Cracow in order to get rich during World War II. He co-operated with the Nazis and thanks to corruption, his factory became bigger and bigger. That is why he started to employ Jews from the nearby Płaszów prison. Schindler, who, in his youth, had more contacts with Jews than with Arian, gradually understood the tragedy as he witnessed persecution, attacks and murders that Jews fell victim to. Extremely shocked, he lost his influence and worked on a secret plan to free the prisoners. Putting his own life at risk, he saved those of 1100 Jews. In 1961, the survivors and their descendants planted a tree to Schindler’s honor in Israel. He died in 1974 and was buried in Jerusalem.

Services

• 4 nights in Cracow
• half board with…
• 4 x buffet breakfast
• 4 x three-course dinner at the hotel
• city sightseeing tour of Cracow
• lecture on the subject “Jewish Culture in Cracow – past and present”
• following the Oskar Schindler track including outside visits to…
• factory
• dwelling-house
• commander’s villa
• Płaszów prison
• Adler pharmacy
• former ghetto area
• visit to the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau including…
• film on the camp’s liberation
• 21^st person free of charge in single room
• 42^nd person free of charge in double/twin room
• 24/7 telephone hotline
• free photo downloads for your promotion

Programme

Day 1: Arrival

Arrival in Cracow and transfer to the hotel.

Day 2: Jewish History

A city sightseeing tour of Cracow. You will admire once the biggest medieval Market Square in Europe and the Cloth Halls, the heart of the city. In the afternoon, you will listen to a lecture on subject “Jewish culture in Cracow – past and present“. This lecture is a very good introduction to the programme’s theme in the following days.

Day 3: Schindler Track

Today, you will follow the Oskar Schindler track. The first station is Schindler’s factory, a place of refuge for several hundred Jewish prisoners. Visit to Schindler’s dwelling-house, a villa of the prison commander, “Adler” pharmacy,  Płaszów prison and the area of the former ghetto. In the afternoon, we offer an optional visit to the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz with Rehmu synagogue and cemetery. In the evening, on request a dinner at a Jewish restaurant including  Klezmer concert. Overnight in Cracow.

Day 4: Holocaust · Auschwitz · Birkenau

Excursion to Auschwitz and Birkenau, a poignant testimony to the enormity of Nazi crimes. From 1940, it was the location of a concentration and later of an extermination camp. By January 1945, around 2 million people had been killed here, mostly Jews and Gypsies, as well as political prisoners. The camp was designed to be an organized death factory. The barracks, once crammed with prisoners, the torture and excursion sites, the rail tracks leading straight to the camp, all remain on place to bear witness to this appalling cruelty. You will also watch the film made by the Soviet troops during the camp’s liberation. Overnight in Cracow.

Day 5: Departure

Breakfast and departure.