Eastern Europe with a focus on jewish heritage summer 2018

For Budapest I would start here: http://www.greatsynagogue.hu/jewishquartertours.html

For Warsaw, you can find a brochure detailing Jewish heritage sites here:
http://warsawtour.pl/en/brochures (it may take a little bit of time to load...it's a bit slow)
Don't miss the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw (http://www.polin.pl/en), among the other sites.

Many folks on this forum, including Rick Steves, also highly praise Andrew Durman as a private guide. You can Google him to get his contact info. He is based in Krakow.

Check out the Wikipedia page on "Stolpersteine" (literally, "stumbling blocks"). Their presence, which you can now also find in Eastern EU, indicates the last known residence of a Jew or Jewish family before they were deported. They are brass blocks laid directly into the pavement, directly in front of their old residence. The blocks are printed with the info relevant to that person/persons. I saw many of these in Austria and Germany last year for the first time. There are now about 50,000 of these brass blocks all around EU.

Shelley, they are in Budapest as well. There are maps on the internet showing the locations. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer%3Fmid%3D13TN_kiXAim5I_48SET_VLsS_x_c%26hl%3Den%26ll%3D47.477136939739225%252C19.05532500000004%26z%3D11&ved=0ahUKEwiX8PKv9tXVAhXLQyYKHcznCY8QFggqMAQ&usg=AFQjCNG3jriFJeenTh4DIRkNPw8y7Ev64w

Also a good map locating all the Yellow Star Houses in Budapest. Most still standing. http://www.yellowstarhouses.org/

There have been a couple of good movies lately that have documented life in Budapest during the Holocaust and German Occupation.

Perlasca (2002 Italian with English subtitles)
Walking with the Enemy (2013)
Sunshine (1999)

Another vote for Andrew Durman, who is based in Krakow. We spent several days with him last summer and he is phenomenal!
http://tour-service.pl/index.html
I can also recommend Pavel Batel who is based in Prague. He has done extensive research and is a wealth of knowledge. Pavel is also an engaging guide who is passionate about ensuring that his clients have a worthwhile experience. He has several different tours available: http://terezin-private-tours.com/?page_type=article&page=2
Keep in mind that both of these gentlemen book up quickly. You will love Eastern Europe!

Prague, between a trip to Terezin and a tour of the synagogues and a peak at the cemetery in the Jewish quarter, perhaps with a night time trip back to the Jewish quarter to see it more alive is a lot of Jewish history, and probably one of the better preserved area of Jewish Heritage. Prague's Jewish Quarter was to be Hitler's Museum of the Exterminated Jewish Race (or some such) and so many relics and works of art were housed there. The Pinkas Synagogue stays with me to this day, while the Spanish Synagogue was incredible in it's design. We didn't go to Terezin while in Prague, but it wasn't a priority for the wife and I. That said, I found out that my family's original surname suggested origin in the modern day Czech Republic, so I found a connection to the names on the walls of the Pinkas.

Thank you so much to everyone for their replies - all of your information is so helpful in building this trip and ensuring that we see relevant/interesting sights. Thanks

In Budapest you will also want to visit the Jewish Cemetery on Salgótarjáni u. Its beautiful and eerie at the same time https://1drv.ms/i/s!Ai7Zk-szxfTJhaxR8IQ88RY6ttQhPg

Vienna - there is very little of Jewish history/interest. I found the Shoah Memorial very moving (especially early in the morning, before everything opens) but the Jewish Museum next to it was a disappointment. However, it's a beautiful city with lots to offer in the way of general tourism.

Poland - I'm going there next month. I'll know a lot more after that.

Prague - I found the Jewish sights self-explanatory. Timing is important. The Jewish sights, including the cemetery, close early on Friday and reopen on Sunday, so Sunday is the worst day to visit because of the "backlog" of tourists. Be sure to allot a full day to visit Terezin. It's easy to get there by bus. Here also the sights are sel-explanatory.

Budapest - This is where I think you'd most benefit from a guide for the Jewish Quarter. Important sights include the Dohany Synagogue and the Holocaust Museum.

As for the itinerary, I'd start in Poland, either Warsaw or Krakow, then train to the other, then fly to Prague, then train to Vienna and train to Budapest. In any event, string together Budapest/Vienna/Prague by train. You may find it's better to use Prague as a gateway rather than Budapest, possibly more flight options and/or better prices. In that case, plan on flying from Budapest to Warsaw - there are no direct flights to Krakow. There have been several posts recently about festivals and other special events in Budapest and Poland in summer. Check what's on and decide if you want to be part of it or to avoid it. Two weeks is too short, especially if you include Warsaw. Lastly, are you locked into a summer trip? That's when the weather is hottest and the crowds are largest.

One more thing - Auschwitz was a death camp. It's a day trip (maybe 1/2 day) from Krakow. Terezin was not. The whole town was a "model" camp that prisoners were transferred through on their way to the death camps. There are several museums with exhibits about the life of the Jews while they were held there. It's incredibly interesting and even somewhat uplifting to see what they were able to do there.

Do you have Rick's Eastern Europe book, or his books on Budapest, Prague and the Czech Republic, and Krakow, Warsaw, and Gdansk? All of them have a fair amount of information on Jewish sights; certainly enough to get you started on the major ones.

In Prague, in addition to the sights in the Jewish Quarter, don't miss the Jubilee Synagogue (Jubilejní synagoga in Czech). In 2007 when I was there, this was included on the same ticket as the Old-New Synagogue. It's a fascinating mix of Art Nouveau and Moorish styles, and unlike the very crowded synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, you can see it without crowds.

I took a Jewish walking tour of Vienna through Vienna Walks, which was very good (it was led by the excellent Brigitte Timmermann, one of the best walking tour guides I've ever had). http://www.viennawalks.com/indexe.php?page=jued

Chani's point about the differences among what we call "concentration camps" is important. There were transit camps, concentration camps, extermination camps; and Terezin was a special case - a "show camp" designed to fool Red Cross inspectors. So there is not necessarily "duplication" in seeing, for instance, both Terezin and Auschwitz. Of course, just how much of a Holocaust focus you want, as opposed to other aspects of Jewish life in this region, is something you will have to decide for yourself.

Something I didn't know before I went was that while modern-day Vienna, Prague, and Warsaw have small Jewish communities, Budapest has a large one - I've seen estimates of 60,000 or 80,000 Jews living in Budapest today.

Harold has a good point. The Budapest Jewish community is spectacular. If Jewish history is the goal then visiting during the Jewish Cultural Festival in Budapest is pretty much a must.

Hi,

If the focus of your trip includes jewish heritage places, I would certainly recommend going to Lublin while you are in Poland. See also the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Memorial ...poignant.

I highly recommend Wittmann Tours in Prague. We took their tour to Terezin with "Helen" two years ago. Helen was extremely knowledgeable and she and her husband co-authored a book about a survivor.