A guided tour through the traces of Kaunas Jewish history

This excursion is for those who want to learn about the Jewish history of the Kaunas and follow its traces. The history of Kovne, as it was called in Yiddish, is very interesting and worthy of your attention. It’s not only the buildings – which, if they were to speak up, would tell a lot of interesting secrets – but also the stories of the people. Before the Holocaust, Kaunas had a Jewish community of nearly 40 000 inhabitants, dozens of synagogues, cozy streets and buildings reminiscent of the city’s active commercial and cultural life.

I invite you to join me on a sensitive, entertaining and very colorful page of Kaunas history, which I will help you to read during this tour.

Route

All day

We leave Vilnius at 10 am and on the way we stop at the former Jewish shtetl in Žiežmariai (Zhizhmer), where one of the few remaining wooden synagogues has been reconstructed, and learn about the history of the synagogue, the life of the shtetl, its features. You will learn what made the shtetls unique, what significance the synagogue and its location had for the life of the town, how to identify Jewish dwellings, and the story of Mr. Ludwik Kamuntavičius, whose parents are World Warriors and who saved a Jewish family during the Holocaust.

We arrive in Kaunas:

The former Žaliakalnis Synagogue and the Žaliakalnis district of the Jewish cultural elite
We visit the synagogue OHEL YAKOV in Kaunas - this synagogue is older than the Choral Synagogue in Vilnius and is one of the oldest synagogues in Eastern Europe. A meeting with Mr. Mausha Bairak (Head of the Jewish Religious Community of Kaunas).
Visit to the Courtyard Gallery
Laisvės alėja and its Jewish history
Former foster care shelter
The site of the massacre of Kaunas jews of Lietūkis
The house of the most famous doctor of Kaunas, E.Elkes
Ch.Sugihara's house - museum
Radvilėnai Old Jewish Cemetery
Building with a memorial to Nobel Prize winner L.Golberg and the former Schwabbe Gymnasium
The former synagogue of L.Zamenhof
A.Mapu monument and the building of the Jewish partisans who fought for Lithuanian independence
The first Jewish house near Kaunas Castle
Vilijampolė (Slabodka) and its splendour and poverty
The IX Fort Memorial - where over 50 000 Jews from Kaunas and Europe were killed

We go home to Vilnius. Duration of the entire programme - full day. Lunch in Kaunas - free choice.

There are no paid attractions or museums in the programme-Synagogue has a donation per visit according to your budget.

For a group larger than 4 pax price send an inquiry .

1-4 250

5-19 400

Testimonials

Harlan Stelmach, Professor of Humanities Dominican University of California

Dear Marius, I hope you are doing well. We are back home in California after completing our family tour that took us all the way to Moscow. My brother, sister-in-law and my wife want to thank you for a great guided tour of Kaunas and Vilnius. You are multi-talented. A great driver. A knowledgeable tour guide. An informed historian. And a linguist. Without your tenacity and language skills we would not have located a possible distant relative on the banks of the Nemunas River in Kaunas. You went way beyond the call of duty to serve us. You not only showed us the usual important sites but you took that interesting side roads to give us a unique tour of Lithuania. Your love for life and your country was evident in all you did for our whole day. You are a very generous person. We will recommend your guiding services to anybody wanting a the touring experience of a life-time. Thanks for a great day in Lithuania. It was a real highlight of our whole tour. With much appreciation, Harlan Stelmach, Professor of Humanities Dominican University of California

Vilnius-Trakai-Kernave Tour 2014

Wembley Catenians

I had a chance to host a group from London that came to Vilnius for a long weekend. As I am not professional in this area, I was looking for professional guide. This is how I met Marius. The scope was walking tour in Vilnius old town, second day driving to Trakai and Kernave, third day – Turgeliai, Medininkai castle and other nice places on the way. The group was very happy about the services Marius provided, but they are nice people, they would say this in any case. Meanwhile I am not a nice person. I was looking after him very carefully: his punctuality, English level, historical knowledge and attitude in general. And what can I say – everything was just great. He is a real professional, intelligent and pleasant person who will always do an extra mile to please the client. I would definitely recommend him! Thank you and good luck, Marius! Ausra

JEWISH HERITAGE TOUR VILNIUS

Joan and Jerry Kaskowitz

Marius – sorry for the delay in thanking you for the very thoughtful and complete visit to the Jewish Heritage sites in Vilnius, but we have been going non-stop since our OAT tour began. We were impressed by, and grateful for, the attention and care that you showed during our full day together and really touched by our visits to the former Jewish sites and especially to the Paneriai Monument where you provided the yahrzeit candles. It made the visit very meaningful. By the end of the long day we felt we had a better understanding of what Jewish life had been in Lithuania and how it had been destroyed. Ending the day with the fine Lithuanian dinner confirmed that we had also made new friends. Thank you very much for all your efforts. Best wishes, Joan and Jerry Kaskowitz

Mr.Yoni Novick with a familly-Israel and South Africa.

If you check out one Web site or send one email in advance of your trip to Lithuania, it should be to Marius! He will take care of you from A to Z from the minute you land to the minute you depart. He is super knowledgeable and we learned so much from him. His love for his country and specifically for its Jewish history is so evident. Marius is definitely the way to go!

Zhi Peng. Eastern Europe News Department

As i promised i ‘m sending you my thoughts about our visit in Lithuania. Me and my colleagues came to Lithuania in Vilnius to make a informative video about becoming a part of Euro currency block.We were recommended mr.Marius, sory your last name is too difficult ffor us :) to be our guide at the time being here.Thank you very much for your patience creativity great historical economical and socio cultural knowledge about your country.You have really braodend our perspective about Lithuania . It is impressive to meet such patriot of the country and to get closer to magnificient history of it.What you have done during our visit is far beyond any expectations.Your attention and willingnes to fullfill any requests is incredible.It is evident that you love everybody who visits Lithuania and you have so much to tell to show and to deliver.The great restaurant in Vilnius “Sena Troba” (sorry if its not correct )is absolutelly magnificient.The food for us was really amazing the service is far above you could expect.Now You and mr.Yuri are famous in China:) Once we come back -you will be the first person we will meet and continue our journey in Lithuania. On behalf of my colleagues we want to wish you a hughe sucess in 2015 in your proffesionall career and your life.” Zhi Peng Eastern Europe News Department CCTV China News

Linda (Lukosevicius-Bald)

You had done a Lithuania tour for my family (the Naujokas Family, we traveled to Vepriai- Nida-Zypliai-Klaipeda-Vidukle) about a month ago. We are still all talking about what a great trip it was, how lucky we are that we chose you as our guide and how important it was to have been able to go and see the country where our relatives came from. All of us still remember your kindness and attitude for ourselves.How willing you were to help us in locating the places were our relatives were born or died. You are great person and patriot of your country may God bless You and your familly. I did give your name out to someone who was thinking about going on a trip to Lithuania. Hopefully you are continuing to have a busy summer giving tours. Best regards Linda (Lukosevicius-Bald)

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