From 1933, when Hitler came to power, until 1945 when his Nazi regime was finally destroyed, up to twenty million people were exterminated within the Greater Reich. Six million were of the Jewish faith; over one million of these were under ten years old. Initially, Concentration Camps were established to detain real and imagined political and ideological opponents of the Nazi regime. Increasingly, these were used to incarcerate Jews, Roma, Russian POWs and other victims of racial hatred, who were used as slave labourers until they died of exhaustion or disease. To concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation, ghettos were created in all major cities in the occupied territories that contained a large Jewish population. In July 1941, Goering, Hitler’s deputy, authorised SS General Reinhard Heydrich to make preparations for Die Endlösung - the implementation of a ‘final solution to the Jewish question’. Soon after Death Camps were created, equipped with the apparatus of mass destruction. This was the time of the Holocaust.

This tour recalls the tragedy of those years and visits the sites of the death camps at Treblinka, where the Jews of Warsaw were murdered, Sobibor and Majdanek near Lublin, and the infamous Auschwitz complex west of Kraków. At these places we pay our own respects to those who perished.

However the tour is not limited to visiting just Holocaust sites. Accompanied by Colonel Peter Knox, we also hear about the history of Poland and the role it played in the Second World War. We enjoy guided tours of Warsaw and Jewish Kraków and sample some of the local food and culture.

We also visit the CWGC cemetery at Rakowicki outside Kraków where many Commonwealth aircrew and POWs are buried.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Monday): Fly London – Warsaw. Check in to our hotel for a 2 night stay. Time permitting, short orientation tour of Warsaw and visit Lazienki Park. Dinner in the hotel.
Day 2: Guided tour of Warsaw including the Old City, The Path of Remembrance, the Umschlugplatz and the Jewish Institute. Lunch and dinner under own arrangements.
Day 3: After breakfast, check out of our hotel and travel to the Treblinka memorial site. Treblinka 2 operated for only 16 months yet nearly 800,000 Jews were murdered there. From Treblinka we travel south to Lublin, one of the ancient capital cities of Poland. Time permitting, a short walking tour of the beautiful town centre. Dinner and overnight.
Day 4: After breakfast, we drive close to the Ukrainian border to visit the site of the Sobibor Death Camp. Built in March 1942 and closed in November 1943 shortly after a mass breakout of prisoners, it is estimated that almost 250,000 people, mostly Jews, were murdered here. We return to Lublin and then have a guided tour of this ancient city. Lunch and dinner under own arrangements.
Day 5: Check out of our hotel and visit the Death Camp of Majdanek. Here the barracks, guard towers and long lines (of formerly) electrified double barbed wire remain just as they were over sixty years ago. Here in November 1943 the SS mounted Operation Erntfest (Harvest Festival) and 18,000 Jews were shot in a single day. Continue south to our hotel in Kraków for a three night stay. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 6: A sombre day as we go to the Auschwitz – Birkenau complex, a place of martyrdom of European Jewry. Here over one million people were exterminated, nearly 90% of whom were Jews. At Auschwitz we shall have a guided tour and enter beneath the infamous inscription “Arbeit macht Frei” (“Work brings Freedom”). After lunch travel to Birkenau. Here you will see the remains of four massive gas chambers complete with crematoria. Each gas chamber accommodated 2,000 people and there were electric lifts to raise the bodies to the ovens. Return via the CWGC at Rakowici. Dinner in the hotel.
Day 7: Tour of Kraków’s Old Jewish Quarter. Visit the Old Synagogue Museum, Schindler’s Factory and the site of Plaszów Concentration Camp and memorials. After lunch there is free time to explore this vibrant city. In the evening we enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.
Day 8: After breakfast we take the first class express train to Warsaw and our return flight home to London Heathrow.