Where was the Praga synagogue situated? Where were the ghetto walls? What did the pre-war Próżna street look like? Tours presenting the forgotten Jewish city provide answers to these and other questions.

The tours of Jewish Warsaw present an attractive way of discovering places that are linked with the history of Jews. The groups can choose from a selection of 4 routes:

1. "The Stones that Speak - The Jewish Cemetery" is a tour enabling an independent exploration of the secrets of the Jewish Cemetery situated at Okopowa street. The students solve various tasks, with the help of additional materials including photographs and text fragments, both literary and original. During their visit they discover elements of Jewish culture and also the histories of eminent people who have been buried there. The Jewish Cemetery is used as a source of knowledge about the inhabitants of the pre-war Warsaw and about the Polish-Jewish past.
   
   
   
2. "Próżna Street - Yesterday and Today" enables the exploration of the only street remaining from the Warsaw Ghetto. The students try to recreate the character of this pre-war street, while learning about the traditions and rituals of Polish Jews. They also try to discover the marks of the past in the contemporary shape of the street. The tour includes a visit to a nearby synagogue, which is connected with an activity concerning the origins, rituals, and food served during the Jewish holidays.
   
   
   
   
3. The "Jewish Praga" tour reveals the forgotten past of that part of town. It is a tour during which one can learn not only facts about the Praga Jewish community, but also visit sites, which are a proof of the Jewish presence in this area. The tour includes a visit to the Praga Jewish Cemetery.
   
   
   
   
   
   

4. "The Tour of the Non-existing City - The Warsaw Ghetto" is a search game played in the area of the former ghetto. The area is marked on a map, which shows students that the closed-off Jewish district existed where now they themselves often stroll. Each stop at the route following the ghetto walls is accompanied by a discussion based on an original text concerning either the living conditions in the ghetto or the fate of the Warsaw Jewish Community during the Second World War.

Those expeditions are not merely tours or history lessons. Great emphasis is placed on the students' independent work, based on materials supplied by the organizers.

“This is a very interesting project. The idea of making it a search game works well as it stimulates young people while broadening their knowledge about the different stages of the Ghetto’s existence.”

Barbara Engelking-Boni, Director of the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research

“This tour allowed me to see places I have always known from the perspective of the people who once lived here. The past helped me to understand the here-and-now.”

Agnieszka Kosicka, student, Warsaw