Belarus

Day 1 Minsk

Arrival to Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Transfer to the hotel. Enjoy an afternoon city tour of Minsk including Jewish sites : the part of the pre-war Old Town of Minsk with houses of the Jewish architecture, the area of the former ghetto,one of the largest on the territory occupied by the nazis of the former USSR, where the Jewish prisoners not only from Belarus but also from other west European countries were kept and 200.000 of them murdered, the central place of destruction of Jews in Minsk – a memorial„Yama“ („Hole“) , the main choral synagogue of Minsk established in 1898.
Overnight in Minsk.

Day 2 Minsk – Volozhin – Slonim – Grodno

Departure from Minsk for VOLOZHIN, (80 km from Minsk ),one of the world centres of Talmud learning in the 19th century. The Yeshiva founded there in 1803 by Khaim Ben Itschak Volozhiner made the city world famous. City tour includes the Yeshiva building still having the last-century school image, an ancient Jewish cemetery of 1656, a tomb of the founder of yeshiva ,a memorial to 2000 local Jews who perished here during holocaust. A further drive to MIR , (110 km from Minsk) famous for a world-known Yeshiva functioning from 1617 till 1939. Mir city tour includes the 16th c.Castle,one of the biggest castle fortresses in Eastern Europe, housing a Jewish ghetto during World War II,the Jewish Bank, a complex of cold and heated synagogues,Jewish shops and houses,an ancient Jewish cemetery of 1731,a memorial to the Jews of the city, a tomb of the last rabbi. Later 120 km drive to Slonim, a typical old Belarus town where the Jewish population prevailed before the World War II (75 % ).Sightseeing includes the 17th c.Synagogue,the only one in Belarus with the whole interior,the 16th c.Synagogue,the 18-19th c.c.Jewish houses and Jewish cemetery. Drive onto Grodno.
Overnight in Grodno

Day 3 Grodno – Radin – Vilnius

Sighseeing tour of Grodno, one of the most picturesque cities in Belarus, will acquaint with the history of the earliest Jewish community in Belarus (late 14th c.),the former ghetto gates through which the Jews were sent to Treblinka and Auschwitz.. A further drive to Radin where Chafetz Chayim founded the yeshiva of Radin in 1869. After crossing the Belarus-Lithuanian border en route to VILNIUS, a stop in RUDNINKAI forest to visit the camp of partizans who fought in these woods against nazis. Continue onto Vilnius.
Overnight in Vilnius.

Day 4 Vilnius

Morning city tour of Vilnius or Vulne in Yiddish and Vilna in Hebrew, a one-time spiritual and intellectual centre for the Jews across the world. Visit the historic site of the Great Synagogue, also the sole surviving active synagogue in Vilnius and many other places commemorating Jewish history including the gates of two ghettoes, the site of the house where the great Gaon of Vilnius lived. Afternoon visits to the Tolerance Center ,the Lithuanian State Jewish Museum telling the history of Lithuanian Jews – Litvaks and holocaust in Lithuania , the Jewish Cemetery where the great Jewish personalities are buried including the great rabbi, the Gaon of Vilnius.
Overnight in Vilnius.

Day 5 Vilnius

Morning walking tour of Vilnius Old Town including the 16-18th century architectural and historic sites : Cathedral on Gediminas square where Vilnius was founded, St Anne’s and Bernardines’ Churches,gems of the 16th c. Lithuanian Gothics, the Dawn Gate with a holy icon of Virgin Mary, Vilnius University founded in 1579. Afternoon free.
Overnight in Vilnius.

Day 6 Vilnius – Kaunas – Vilnius

Full day tour to Kaunas, the second Lithuania‘s largest city,100 km from Vilnius. Sightseeing includes the 9th Fort Memorial, the ‚Blue‘ Synagogue, Slobodka – a Jewish suburb of Kaunas and other important Jewish historic sites. A visit to the house where the Japanese Consul to Lithuania Chiune Sugihara lived and issued transit visas that saved thousands of Jews. Return for overnight to Vilnius.
Overnight in Vilnius.

Day 7 Vilnius – Paneriai – Vilnius

Morning tour to PANERIAI, in the southeast Vilnius environs, a pine forest area where the nazis took the Vilnius Jewry, other prisoners of war on foot only to be exterminated. After it a nearby drive to TRAKAI, the ancient capital of Lithuania, attracting with its hills, woods, 5 lakes around and an impressive 15th c. red-brick Gothic Castle. A visit to Karaite Kinese and Museum to hear the story of this small ethnic group,Karaites, confessing Judaism, invited to Lithuania from the Crimea 600 years ago.