Needing advice, suggestions, etc. --for planning a trip to Vilna (Vilnius) #lithuania
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O Kaplan
I am planning a trip to Vilna (Vilnius), sometime in 2023. My family came from Vilna and those that didn't survive are buried in Ponar. I'm looking for any advice, tips, re the planning of the trip, contacts, names of English speaking guides, do's and dont's, etc. Through my research I have some of the names of the streets of where they lived. Also, if anyone can suggest the number of days I should plan on being in Vilnius.
Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you Odie Kaplan |
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kesspark@...
I visited Vilnius in 2019 before taking a Baltic-Russia tour. My grandfather was born and lived in Vilnius (1894-1904). From a tapped interview I knew the name of his street where he lived and through other research on JewishGen I knew where relatives lived. I couldn’t find the street names on the map but contacted the Vilnius Tourist Info Centre tic@... and Jewish Culture and Info Centre Jewishcenter.it and asked for the current names of the streets. I hired a guide for the day and the guide took us to all of the family locations plus other significant Jewish places of interest. The tour company is jerulita travel. The guide drove us within the city and to places outside the city. The day was very special to walk on the streets and around the apartment buildings where my family once lived. Rachel Kessler Park |
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Susan
Forgot to add that there are some excellent restaurants in Vilnius. I recommend Lokys for its venison stew; Pilies; Stikliai; and Leiciai.
In Vilnius, I would recommend visiting the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Jewish Tolerance Center, the Synagogue, the excavation at the site of Vilna Great Synagogue & Shulhoyf, Zydu Street, behind school the Russians built to cover the ruins of of synagogue (I think the school has been torn down since we were there as the excavation has expanded). Outside of Vilnius - Trakai castle and Kariates Synagogue and Museum are interesting. The memorials at Ponar are extremely moving. In Kaunus - the Blue Synagogue, and the house of Chiune Sugihara who issued transit visas saving 2,300 Jews. On route, stop in village of ZIEZMARIAI to see one of few remaining wooden synagogues in Lithuania that has been partially restored, and the IX Fort. Susan Gray, Chicago -FELDSTEIN / FELDSZTAJN / FELTON / FELTYN etc.; GOLDBERG; WEINSTEIN / WEINSZTEIN etc. from Warsaw, Lutsk, Kamenets Podolskiy, Kholm. |
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Susan
I visited Vilnius in 2016. It is a beautiful small city, easy to walk everywhere within the old part of the city.
Recommendations: Travel agent - www.lithuanianholidays.lt (travel@...). They arranged for a guide and car for our visits to other towns, and were very helpful. Hotel - Radisson Blu Astorija, Didzioji 35/2 (Tel: +370 5 212 0110; Fax: +370 5 212 1762; Email: info.vilnius@...; website: www.radissonblu.com/hotel-vilnius); It is in the very center of town so extremely convenient. Very nice and had a great breakfast buffet. Archives: if you want to obtain copies of ORIGINAL documents from the archives, I would suggest that you write to them now, tell them what you want (they will want all of the information from a JewishGen search). They will tell you how much, and you can arrange to pick up the documents when you are there. A visit to the State Archives is fascinating. Guide: our guide was Ruta Puisyte ((rutapuisyte@...;). Her English is very good, and she will research individual towns if she can prior to visiting them. Susan Gray, Chicago -FELDSTEIN / FELDSZTAJN / FELTON / FELTYN etc.; GOLDBERG; WEINSTEIN / WEINSZTEIN etc. from Warsaw, Lutsk, Kamenets Podolskiy, Kholm. |
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Gail H. Marcus
Just returned from a trip and saw this thread, so am giving a quick response, but will be happy to supply more detail later.
We went to Vilnius in late 2019 and had an excellent guide--Regina Kopilevich. Her email is regina.kopilevich@... . I recommend her highly. Her English was excellent, she was very knowledgeable, and she took us all around Vilnius. She even tried to help research our family. Like Susan Gray, I highly recommend visiting Kaunas. Regina did not accompany us there, but she told us exactly what to do. Regina did accompany us to Daugavpils, which was another ancestral home for us. She seemed to have connections there as well, and was able to show us around and introduce us to someone there. She does not have a car. She said she could arrange transportation, but we made that excursion on very short notice, and she wasn't able to get us a car and driver. We had made a note of the driver who took us from the airport and we were able to reach him and have him drive us there. So we were lucky. I suspect that, if we had advised her of our interest earlier, she would have been able to arrange for a car and driver. Gail Marcus Bethesda, MD |
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Irene Klar
The Jewish Historical Institute in Vilna can arrange a guide for you. We were put in touch with Regina Kopelovich about 7 years ago. Her English was excellent. Her understanding and sympathy with Jewish history was most appreciated.
She checked old telephone books before our meeting and was able to take me to the building and the site ( of a now destroyed house) where my aunts lived and where my father sheltered. We walked through the old town for 2 or 3 hours.
The next day, we teamed up with another traveller interested in seeing the Red Fort prison in Kaunus. He had arranged to use Regina as his guide. Again, she provided excellent information.
As my father had received a visa from Sugihara, Regina gave us directions to the former Japanese consulate, maintained by the Sugihara institute. We went there on our own , walked down to the train station and returned to Vilna without any problem.
I do recommend seeing the small Holocaust mueum in the little green house. The displays are very moving.
Having a guide for Jewish Vilna made a big difference for use. There were alleyways and passages we wound not have found. We were given insights into the workings of the ghetto that were so helpful in understanding those times.
Irene Lampert Klar
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Ilan Ganot
You may find helpful information at the website of the Association of Jews from Vilna in Israel. Link to English menu:
https://en.vilna.co.il/ Ilan Ganot Co-webmaster, Mazheik Memorial Website (MMWS) https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Mazeikiai/introduction.html |
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