I am planning a trip to Lithuania and Belarus in May to research family that
lived in Vilna, Rakov and Volozhin. I am hiring a guide in Vilnius who will be
taking us around. I hope to interview people about memories of my family,
including seventeen relatives killed in the Holocaust. I also will be
arranging for someone to do research in the archives in Minsk and Vilnius.

I would appreciate getting advice >from anyone who has done a trip like this
or has contacts in Belarus. How likely are the residents or Rakov or
Volozhin (none of them Jewish I assume) to share memories? How
cooperative/helpful are people in the Minsk archives likely to be?
Thanks.
David Laskin