3 hours of Jewish sights: historic synagogues, stories of local Jews, sculptures and plaques built for them.
Price: Only 129 Euro! (for the whole group)
The tour is personal. There would be no additional people in the group except for you and your family/friends. The tour may begin at any convenient time.
Order at tour.baltic@gmail.com
Kaunas (or Kovno) has always had an active Jewish community. Historically a significant part of Kaunas elite were Jews: architects, businessmen, traders, and artists. Their lives inscribed a number of stories and traces visible in the architecture of the city. Kaunas is also renowned for an incredible story how Dutch and Japanese diplomats conspired to save hundreds of Jewish lives in the 1940s.
Kaunas Jewish tour includes
• Neo-Baroque Kaunas synagogue, still used by an active religious community.
• Two former synagogues that served different forms of Judaism.
• Chiyune Sugihara house where a Japanese consul saved thousands of Jews from the Holocaust.
• Locations where Jewish artists, architects, and traders of Kaunas lived and worked (and their life stories).
• Monuments to the Jews of Kaunas.
• And more…
Additionally, the tour can be tailor-made, with any sights replaced by other ones as per your wishes and interests.
Kaunas synagogue (current)
What will you learn
• Learn how Jews of Kaunas contributed to creating the city as it is today.
• See the streets, courtyards, and alleys where a Jewish community has thrived for centuries.
• Learn about the local Jewish community and culture, both historic and contemporary: their languages, beliefs and more.
• Witness the former Jewish cultural centers, and learn about the artists and performers of the interwar Kaunas who later prospered in Israel;
• Where did such artists as Marc Chagall arrange their exhibitions on the way from Russia to Paris?
• Learn how some Jews managed to hide or escape from the planned murder in Kovno Ghetto under Nazi German occupation (1941-1944) and what resistance took place.
• Learn other stories of the Holocaust / Shoah in Kaunas.
• And more…
The tour is available in English, Polish, Russian and Lithuanian languages
The tour starts at the Kaunas Synagogue or, should you wish so, at any other convenient location in the Downtown Kaunas, such as your hotel.
Order this tour at tour.baltic@gmail.com
