Before 1941, Vilna was the intellectual capital of Yiddish Europe — the Gaon's city, the YIVO city, the city of a hundred prayer houses. This is a careful, sober journey into what survived.
Before 1941, Vilna was the intellectual capital of Yiddish Europe — the Gaon's city, the YIVO city, the city of a hundred prayer houses. This is a careful, sober journey into what survived.
A specialist itinerary led by a Lithuanian-Jewish historian. Old synagogue archaeology, the Choral Synagogue (the only one still standing), Paneriai, the Ninth Fort at Kaunas, and the Karaim community at Trakai. Survivor and descendant testimony.
Dr. Ruta Bloshteyn (or, on Yiddish-speaking requests, Dovid Katz of YIVO Vilnius) leads the full five days. Both have written books on Litvak history; both can answer the hard questions kindly.
The Great Synagogue archaeological site, the Gaon's house, the schoolhouse on Žydų gatvė, and the Choral Synagogue — the only one of Vilna's hundred-plus to survive 1941–1944.
One evening with a descendant of a Vilna Ghetto partisan, one with a Sugihara survivor's grandchild now living in Kaunas. Both quiet, sober and on the record.
Closing day at the Trakai Karaim community — Turkic-speaking Karaite Jews, settled here since 1397, a different branch of the family tree.
Each day is built around one or two anchor experiences with deliberate slack for free time. Departure timings adjust slightly with daylight and weather.
Arrival at VNO. Transfer to your Old Town hotel. Late-afternoon walk through the former Jewish Quarter — the Great Synagogue archaeological site (excavated 2018), the Vilna Gaon's house, the schoolhouse on Žydų gatvė. Welcome dinner at the Bagel Shop, the city's last working Jewish kitchen.
Morning at the YIVO offices in Vilnius — the Yiddish Scientific Institute, founded here in 1925, now reconstituted in cooperation with YIVO New York. Afternoon at the Choral Synagogue on Pylimo gatvė, the only one of Vilna's hundred-plus prayer houses to survive the war.
A measured morning at the Paneriai memorial in the forest 10 km southwest of the city, where 70,000 Vilna Jews were murdered between 1941 and 1944. Afternoon free to sit with the day. Evening with a descendant of a Vilna Ghetto partisan in our office library — a long, quiet conversation, on the record only with permission.
Converted 17th-century palace.
Train to Kaunas. The Ninth Fort memorial — the Tsarist fortress used by the Nazis as a mass-killing site, where 30,000 Lithuanian and 10,000 Western European Jews were murdered. Afternoon at the Sugihara House — Chiune Sugihara's office, where in 1940 he wrote 6,000 transit visas in 29 days, against orders. Evening with the grandchild of a Sugihara visa recipient now living in Kaunas.
Inside a 1933 modernist apartment block.
Drive via Trakai. Visit the Karaim kenesa — Turkic-speaking, Karaite Jews settled here since 1397, a different branch of the family. Closing kibinai lunch with the community. Continue to Vilnius for evening departure.
Every departure of this tour is private, no strangers join, no fixed dates. Pick a start date that suits you; per-person pricing scales with your group size.
Single supplement €360. Children under 12 receive a 20% discount.
Group sizes, fitness, children, cancellations, the lot. We have answered the common ones.
This is a fully private tour. Your start date, your group, your pace. We confirm availability and pricing within 48 hours and hold your dates for a week, no obligation.