Holocaust Center and CRJ announce 2018 Jewish Heritage Tour

The Boards of Directors of the Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center of Florida and Congregation of Reform Judaism are thrilled to announce plans for a joint Jewish Heritage Tour to Poland and Germany from June 10-22, 2018.  

It was during the Holocaust Center's first sponsored tour to Poland and Prague in 2016 that HMREC Executive Director Pam Kancher and Rabbi Steven Engel decided to co-sponsor this trip to Poland and Germany in 2018.

"Participants will have the opportunity to explore the rich history and often haunting stories of Eastern European Jews while at the same time witness the rebirth of modern Jewish communities in Warsaw, Krakow, Munich and Berlin," said Kancher.

A series of pre-trip seminars, led by Rabbi Engel and the Holocaust Center's resource teacher, Mitch Bloomer, will provide historical and religious context to the countries, museums and memorial sites the group will experience during the 12-day journey.

"This will be an amazing experience for anyone who travels with great guides; I will be joined by a wonderful Holocaust educator (Mitch Bloomer) and together we will lead discussions and learning opportunities. We will begin by gaining a greater understanding of the Shoah and then move to learning about the tremendous renewal and growth that has occurred in the German Jewish community, which is now one the fastest growing, most vibrant and youngest Jewish communities in the world," said Engel. 

Participants will be prepared to explore 1000 years of Polish Jewish history at the new Polin Museum as well as the emotional experience of Auschwitz Birkenau. Likewise, German Jewry has a unique and special history, from the days of the Enlightenment, through the horrors of the Holocaust, up to the revival of the present day, where a reunited Berlin has the fastest growing Jewish population in Western Europe, the only European Jewish community that is growing rather than shrinking.

This Jewish Heritage Tour will show how the tragedy of the past can lead to a hopeful present and future.

For more information or to register for the trip call the Holocaust Center at 407-628-0555 or CRJ at 407-645-0444 or visit the Holocaust Center's website, http://www.holocaustedu.org.