Auschwitz, Krakow

Today you’ll be visiting the notorious former concentration camp, Auschwitz. A guided tour will unveil the suffering and inhumane conditions that the Nazis inflicted on so many people during WWII. You’ll cover a lot of important themes during the tour of the camp and through the various exhibits displayed in the museum, so it’s a trip that’ll really give your students pause for thought.

After delving into such heavy content, use the afternoon to explore more of Kraków’s Old Town and maybe sit in one of the city’s parks for some quiet reflection. After dinner, enjoy some lighter entertainment and get into the competitive spirit – how does an evening of bowling sound?

Return to the Jewish Quarter to visit the Galicia Jewish Museum, where your group will see Jewish history from a whole new perspective! This museum challenges the potentially harmful stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Jewish history, so it’s definitely worth visiting if you have time. The museum can also arrange a Q&A session with a Holocaust survivor, making it an experience that your students won’t forget easily.

For your final stop, make the 15-minute walk across the Vistula River to ‘Exhibition Kraków under Nazi Occupation 1939-45’, housed within Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory. The exhibition tells the story of Kraków’s inhabitants during WWII and how the arrival of Nazi Germans disturbed the city’s history of Polish-Jewish relations. Your students will have a lot to think about on their return journey home, and the lessons of this trip will stay with them long after your plane has touched down.