The Journey Back

Sarah Zauber (now Cohen) - The Journey to Trace Her Steps from Poland to Hungary after WWII

Departure: 16.10.2005, Sunday afternoon took a flight to Warsaw.
The beginning of the journey:17.10.2005, Monday (the night of Sukkot).
We were accompanied by a Polish instructor, Tomash Koverchik, driving by car.

The track of our journey:

Poland
Arriving at night and lodging at the Gordon Hotel in Warsaw.

1st day: 17.10.2005
Driving north from Warsaw to Gdańsk.
Driving through the cities:
- Płońsk (the birth city of the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion).
- Toruń (birthplace of the Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus)
Evening tour in Gdańsk and lodging at the hotel Dom Muzyka.

2nd day: 18.10.2005
Concentration camp Stutthof- visiting the archive, museum, camp and watching a movie about the camp history.
Evening tour in Gdańsk and Sopot.
Visiting the memorial, Lodging in Gdańsk

3rd day: 19.10.2005
Driving to Warsaw
Visiting Malbork castle (a medieval fortress built by the Teutonic Order).
Visiting the Sub-camps of the German concentration camp Stutthof: Bromberg East and Bromberg- Brahnau.
Driving to the bridge on the Visla river (Visla in Polish, Vistula River in English). An historian and a reporter accompanied us.
Lodging in Warsaw at the Premier Class Hotel for 2 nights.

4th day: 20.10.2005
Visiting the Jewish History Institute named after Emanuel Ringelblum in Warsaw and its archive.
Visiting the Pawiak prison . Visiting the museum & exhibition, the ghetto walls, the Nożyk Synagogue (which is the only surviving prewar Jewish house of prayer in Warsaw), the Jewish street and the "bravery route" which included Mila 18 and the Ghetto Heroes Memorial by Nathan Rapoport.
Dinner at the Lebanese restaurant Samira, and lodging in Warsaw.

5th day: 21.10.2005
Warsaw - Visiting the Royal Castle in Warsaw and touring the Old City and the Jewish cemetery.
Driving to Kraków and passing through the town Gora Kalwaria (Ger in Yiddish), about 25 km southeast of Warsaw; visited the synagogue there.
Arriving at Kraków in the evening and lodging at the Wielopole Hotel.

6th day: 22.10.2005
Driving to Auschwitz.
Visiting the town Oświęcim (pronounced Auschwitzim) and the Jewish museum there.
Visiting the Auschwitz museum, the Hungarian pavilion and filling out forms in request for more details regarding Sarah.
Touring around Birkenau concentration camp.
Touring Kraków: Sukiennice market, the historical Jewish district Kazimierz (Kuzmir in Yiddish). And the synagogue there, the Jewish ghetto walls, and visiting Oskar Schindler's enamelware plant.
Driving to Zakopane.
Lodging in Zakopane at Villa Tania.

7th day: 23.10.2005
Touring Zakopane - The market, main streets, and taking the rail cart up the Tatra Mountains.
Driving to the Slovakian border.

Hungary

Driving south to Hungary through Slovakia.
Arriving in Hungary in the evening.
Driving to Debrecen through the city Miskolc.
Lodging at Debrecen at the Arnavika Grand Hotel.

8th day: 24.10.2005
Driving to Nyírbátor.
Visiting the town: City Hall, the archive (searching for Sarah's birth certificate and information about her family), visiting Sarah's friends from youth- István and his brother Shendor, and their wives, and visiting the Jewish cemetery in Nyírbátor.
Driving north to Lake Tisza (the largest artificial lake in Hungary). Sarah crossed Lake Tisza upon her return from the camps (reaching the Hungarian-Ukrainian border).
Driving to Budapest (the capital) through Nyiregyhaza.
Arriving at Budapest in the evening and lodging at the Erzsébet Elizabeth Hotel for two nights.

9th day: 25.10.2005
Budapest - visiting Dohány Street Synagogue, Gellért Hill overlooking the Danube river, Buda's Castle District, Matthias Church, Fisherman's Bastion, the Museum of Fine Arts and Buda Castle.
Touring Váci utca (Váci Street), the most famous street of central Budapest.
Lodging in Budapest.

Departure: 26.10.2005, returning to Israel
Total of 11 days and 10 nights

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