Jewish Heritage Tour to Lithuania and Poland

Hugh was born and raised in Johannesburg South Africa, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts with majors in English Literature and Law at the University of the Witwatersrand, followed by a Bachelor of Laws. Hugh served for two years in the South African Air Force as a Law Officer and was awarded the Gold Certificate of Merit by the Officer Commanding Air Force Headquarters for outstanding services rendered as a National Serviceman. He attained the rank of Full Lieutenant.

Hugh has been a practicing attorney since 1986. He has a general practice with particular expertise in commercial litigation and family law. Hugh is a former Gauteng Chairman of the IUA-UCF, former Chairman of Keter Torah Congregation Sydenham Johannesburg, and a current Trustee of the Rambam Charitable Trust which has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Hugh has conducted services on the High Holy Days at the Pine Street Synagogue, Sunny Road Synagogue and Northcliff Synagogue for almost 30 years, and presently teaches Jewish Law, philosophy, and ethics on a weekly basis.

Hugh has become well known for his published articles, series on South African television (YouTube), radio, and very popular audio-visual presentations on Jewish communities across the globe. For the past 26 years, Hugh has lectured across South Africa and internationally, on the Jews of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Russia, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Rhodes, India, Italy, Argentina, China, Japan, and Morocco. Hugh is a Scholar in Residence for Jewish Heritage Tours and has led tours to India, Morocco, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus, Budapest, Bratislava, and Vienna.

Meet at the airport, assistance, and transfer to the hotel.

Walking along the main street of Vilnius – Gediminas Avenue. A walk through Vilnius Old City and enjoy a fascinating panoramic view of the city. Stroll through the Vilnius University campus and visit the library built in the 16th Century. Visit the Jewish State Museum and view the exhibitions. Visit the Ponar Memorial in the Ponar forest near Vilnius where the Nazis and their collaborators murdered over 100.000 people, most of whom were Jews.

Welcome dinner in Vilnius.

Kaunas (Kovna), the interim capital of pre-war Lithuania, including a visit to charming Old City Town Hall square; Tour of Slobodka – a former Jewish suburb of Kaunas and the site of the Kovno Ghetto during WWII. A visit to the Old Jewish cemetery. See the building of the famous Slobodka Yeshiva founded by Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel. We will discuss the Lithuanian Musar movement (emphasis on character refinement) founded by Rav Israel Salanter: The influence of the Slobodka Yeshiva, and the famous Rav Itzhak Elchanan Spector. A visit to the Kovno Synagogue and the Children’s Memorial in its courtyard. A visit to the Consulate of Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese Consul in Kovna in 1940, issued six thousand life-saving visas for the Jewish refugees from Poland. Drive to Vilnius. En route, a stop at Zezmariai (Zhezhmer), where a remarkable Jewish community settled before the war. A large wooden Synagogue has been restored there. A tour of Trakai, the ancient Lithuanian capital, famous for the lakes and sights of the area. See a 14th-century insular castle with a museum of Lithuanian history and the mode of life of different estates and ethnic groups. Karaite museum and the story of this small ethnic group, who came from Crimea about 600 years ago.

Kabbalat Shabbat in Vilnius.

Visit the only functioning Vilna Synagogue. Visit to the location of the Ramailes Yeshiva in Vilna. Walking in the old Jewish quarter: narrow streets and courtyards of the middle-age Ghetto; the Great Vilna Synagogue and the shulhoyf; Vilna – the city made famous by the Vilna Gaon – the genius Jewish scholar; Vilna – the centre of the struggle between Mitnagdim and Hasidim; the famous Jewish sculptor Mordekhai Antokolski; the territory of the Large Ghetto; the courtyard of the Judenrat; the battle of the Ghetto prisoners against the Nazis.

Morning flight to Warsaw.

Drive to Lublin – one of the most important Polish cities and was the capital of Jewish Poland for 200 years, and a Hassidic centre in the 19th century. Visit the illustrious Yeshiva where great Jewish scholars studied. A visit to the site of one of the harshest concentration camps in the Holocaust – Majdanek.

Morning drive to Krakow with a stop in Tarnow.

Tour of Old Krakow along the route used by Polish Kings to cross the city on special events. A visit to the “Rynek Glowny” – the Central Market with its famous 14th Century Polish Gothic architecture. Along one of the side narrow streets to see the Jagiellonian University founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, one of the oldest universities in Europe. A visit to the famous Ramo Synagogue as well as the old Jewish cemetery which has graves from 15th Century.

A visit to the Old Synagogue, built just next to the old Kazimierz city walls. The High Synagogue and the study house next to it. The new market square and Esther Street. The Temple Synagogue and Jewish Community Centre of Krakow.

Morning drive to Auschwitz (Oswiecim). Visit the Auschwitz concentration camp museum, which became a symbol of the Holocaust and Genocide due to its geographical location and the scale of the tragedy which took place there. Continue to Birkenau extermination camp, which was built as extension of the Auschwitz camp. The tour ends at the memorial built next to the ruins of crematoria.

Palace of Culture and Science (Palac Kultury i Nauki) is located in the very new centre of Warsaw. Janucz Korczak Monument, Nożyk Synagogue – the only active Synagogue in Warsaw, the Jewish Shalom theatre, a visit to the few original dwelling houses on Prozna street – remnants of lost Warsaw, a visit to the remnant of the original Warsaw Ghetto Wall, the new Jewish Cemetery – an open book of Polish Jewish history, Mordechai Anielewicz Street (he led the uprising), the Umschlagplatz Memorial- the former train station from which 300 000 Jews were deported to Treblinka and other Nazi death camps, Ghetto Heroes Road – a walk along two streets marked by stones with names of Jewish resistance leaders, Mila 18 Street, and Ghetto Heroes Square with a modern museum of Jewish history.

If time permits visit Lazenki park and Belveder Palace with Chopin Monument and Presidential residence.

Drive along the Royal Route; restored after total destruction during WWII. A visit to the “Stare Miasto” (Old Town) including Royal Castle, Statue of Sigizmund Vasa the Third, Old Town Market Square with a statue of “Sirenka” a symbol of Warsaw, panoramic view of Vistula river and the new city, and the Little Insurgent Monument next to Warsaw Barbacan and the memorial of Warsaw Uprising.