Travel Experience
Genealogy Trips
We understand the special nature of genealogy travel and research. We help in searching roots, finding long-lost relatives in Poland, and treat each request with much care and sensitivity. Follow in the footsteps of your ancestors, feel the atmosphere of the former shtetls, hidden small towns. Look out for documents in the voluminous archives and find yourself in the undiscovered history of your family.
Recalling Forgotten Histories
There is no other way to understand the history like to listen to her witnesses. To take the advantage of the fact that Polish Righteous among the Nations or Holocaust Survivors want to share their deep and personal stories marked with dramatic and heart-breaking experience of their lives. These stories and meetings can also serve as a platform to explore contemporary Jewish life in Poland. We will be happy to assist you with this special arrangement.
In the Shadow of the Non-Existent Towns
Shtetl is a symbol of Jewish life in Poland before World War II. Small towns and villages had large Jewish populations and strong centres of Hassidism. The shtetl was defined by social relationships: the interaction of Jews and peasants in the market. Nowadays, there is often not much left besides: old Jewish cemetery, marks left by mezuzahs in the front door or a synagogue. Although much can be found in documents and archives. A visit to a Jewish Historical Institute with just a name of your ancestor, a name of the village or a faded piece of paper can open the doors to the past and history of your family. We will help you to find the way to your roots, our guides will assist you travelling through Poland’s small towns to help you find the long-lasting relatives or an evidence of the existence in today’s, non-existent villages.
Not Only in a Movie
Few steps from the main entrance to the City Zoo in Warsaw, a modernist villa has its unique story of Jan Żabiński – the former director of the Zoo, and his wife Antonina who made others survive during the World War II. They risked their own and their children’s lives to provide shelter for those who were being persecuted solely for being Jewish during the war. Jan Żabiński personally brought many of Jews out of the Warsaw Ghetto. Some of them extended their stay in the villa for weeks, or even months, like the sculpture artist Magdalena Gross. This incredibly moving story was also brought to the screen in a Hollywood production “The Zookeeper’s wife” and can be read in a book by Antonina Żabińska “People and Animals“. Visit the Zabinski’s villa to see the touching cellar rooms where Jews had their safe shelter. Enter the house with the library room and the living room where Antonina used to play on a piano. You can also attend one of the piano concerts held there.
Mennonite Routes
Take a trip to Żuławy in the footsteps of Mennonites who settled in Poland in the 16th century. There are many impressive tourist attractions still to be seen and objects of material culture, such as: houses with arcades and wooden huts, a historic hydraulic engineering device or the windmills. You can also take the Mennonite Culinary Trail and learn about the tradition of making the "Dutch" cheese or various types of cabbage soups with one of the leading Polish Chef's.
To Life!
What is most important in sentimental journeys, in genealogy trips is not only the past but also the future. Life. Enjoy a shabbat dinner and meet with the Jewish Community while visiting Poland. Listen to a klezmer music concert or join one of the Jewish Culture Festivals held in Poland each year. See the Jewish presence in Poland nowadays, how it rebuilds from the ashes of Holocaust to new life. We will be happy to arrange for you a meeting with personalities who create Jewish cultural life in Poland.