Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What to look forward to

Last year's students share their experience.

The Plan

Itinerary (Subject to change)

10 days/9 nights Destinations: Munich//Dachau/Bavarian Alps/Vienna:

Friday July 6th departure
Saturday July 7th arrival
Arrival Munich

Munich Overview
- General Eisenhower once called Munich 'the cradle of the Nazi beast'. Munich is widely known as the birthplace of the National Socialist Party and the home of its
headquarters. Munich was the birthplace of a movement that would shake humanity with some of the most horrific events in history. Here we learn how this movement was allowed to become fertile with tours that show us the beer halls which hosted the first small gatherings of those who one day would lead the Third Reich, and the place where the first major speeches were made. Our time here will focus on how these first rumblings unfolded into blatant anti-Semitic actions on a vibrant Jewish community, including 1938’s Kristallnacht. Participants will learn that in spite of the Nazi’s assault, a powerful resistance grew within the Munich community. We’ll hear an example with an in- depth history of the White Rose movement. There will be free time to explore the city as well as options with adult supervision for students.

Sunday July 8th- Munich
10am Holocaust/City History Walk
2pm Holocaust eyewitness speaker
4pm Free time
7pm Group Dinner

Nuremberg Overview- Our time in Nuremberg focuses on the creation and implementation of Germany’s anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws, how the enormous gatherings put on at the Rally
grounds were used to introduce the Nazi strategy of propaganda, and how the world chose this city to put officials on trial for their crimes. We’ll follow the history and development of the Reichsparteigelände and attend a specialized study talk on how the Nuremberg trial influenced our present international court system when we visit the newly opened Documentation Center.

Monday July 9th– Nuremberg/Munich
8am Departure for day trip to Nuremberg Nuremberg Tour Documentation Center study session on Nuremberg Trials.

8:30pm Group Meeting

Dachau Overview- Two months after becoming Chancellor of Germany, Hitler established the first concentration camp for political undesirables. Dachau evolved into a central camp for most of southern Germany with over 30,000 recorded deaths by 1945. Students and teachers will attend a workshop the evening before their tour of Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site the following day.

Tuesday July 10th– Munich/Dachau/Bechtesgaden
9am Departure for Dachau (45 min)
Private tour/ Dachau Memorial
3pm Travel to Berchtesgaden (2.5 hours)

Wednesday July 11th-Bavarian Alps
Freetime  in the Bavarian Alps
Various options with adult

Bavarian Alps /Berchtesgaden Overview – We have a tour at the site of the former Bavarian headquarters that will include some of the original buildings from the period. We’ll
learn the historical importance of Hitler's former residence and southern headquarters on the mountain and have a short tour of the Documentation center with a look at the underground bunker system. There will be some extended time here to rest in the mountains before beginning the last leg of our program.

Thursday July 12th – Bavarian Alps Berchtesgaden/Vienna
Morning Free time
Afternoon- Depart for Vienna (grocery run for food on the train)

Vienna Overview – The Vienna Jewish community is concentrated around the Leopoldstadt, the second district. This was the city’s first ghetto and later Jewish district. We will spend time at
the Jewish Museums in the Dorotheergasse and at the Judenplatz Square in the first district. Aside from our focus on Jewish life and the Holocaust’s effect on the community, we will tour the Wiesenthal Institute for Holocaust Studies. After almost five years in German concentration camps, Wiesenthal dedicated the remainder of his life to tracking down hidden Nazis so that they could be brought to justice. In 1947, he co-founded the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria. Later he opened the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna. There will be free time to explore the city as well as options with adult supervision for students.


Friday July 13th–Vienna
Morning –Vienna Holocaust history walking tour Simon Wiesenthal Center program
1pm Free time for lunch
4pm Resistance Museum
8pm Group Meeting

Saturday July 14th - Vienna
10am Walking tour: WWII and Occupied Vienna(3hrs)
1pm Free time for lunch
2:30 Post-Holocaust Speaker
Evening - Progressive Dessert!

Sunday July 15th- Vienna
Free day (several options with leaders leading activities)
8pm Final meeting

Monday July 16th – Vienna/home

History and Resistance


Museum Without Walls- History and Resistance

Bavarian history and culture through the eyes of those who lived it.

The 2012 Holocaust program takes students and educators on a 10- day exploration of the birth of the National Socialist party, the propaganda that allowed it to grow and a resistance movement that was vital to saving so many Jewish lives. Participants also attend study workshops with experts in Munich, Vienna and Nuremberg.

“Living History” is a hallmark of the Museum Without Walls experience; students have the rare opportunity to meet these survivors, resistance workers and historians in an intimate setting.