"I would enthusiastically recommend this program. I believe that nowhere else would a traveler get the experiences that you provided." - Traveler
Poland during the Holocaust and Today | A trip about connecting - connecting to history, connecting to people, and understanding that each one of us has the power to make a difference.
Trip includes: Warsaw, Warsaw Zoo, Treblinka, Tykocin, Bialystok (where the group will help to restore a Jewish cemetery), Krakow, Schindler's Factory, Auschwitz-Birkenau; meetings with a survivor, rescuer, and dinners and experiences that highlight the culture and history of Poland.
"The trip gave me a much needed moral clarity about what matters in the world, in politics, and in human relations." - Traveler
**Stay tuned for future travel experiences! **
Refelctions from Participants 2022
"This trip really was life-changing. I am not sure how I will be as a person going forward. All I can say is, it is something you see, that changes you forever. To know what happened. To see it up close. To meet some of those were there. It is beyond words."
"(My experience on the trip) will change and impact my instruction simply because I was there. Being on this trip has transformed me as a human and as an educator. I have made new friends and connections that I will be connecting with to help develop curriculum and I hope to maintain a strong connection to the museum itself. I was already very passionate about teaching the Holocaust and this trip has taken that passion and dedication to a new profound level. Honestly I cannot even manage to explain how this trip will change the way that I will teach the Holocaust. I am so excited to come back to my school colleagues and share what I learned and incorporate ways to share the information with my students so they see the personal human impact that the Holocaust had on the Jewish population as well as the world as a whole."
"This trip helped to remind me to embrace life, with all its gifts and challenges, with empathy, appreciation and compassion."
"Meeting with the Ukrainian women as well as working with Kamil cleaning the forsaken cemetery in Jedwabne were so impactful - I feel it's our duty to hear these kind of stories from the Ukranian mothers and work toward a solution. With Kamil, I actually felt good physically working toward shining light on the dark corners - giving care to a space that hasn't had much care and deserves so much."
Sample Itinerary
Day 1| Arrive in Warsaw, Welcome dinner
Day 2 | Warsaw - Walking tour of Old Warsaw, POLIN Museum, Free evening
Day 3 | Warsaw - Jewish heritage sites, Warsaw Ghetto, Warsaw Zoo
Day 4 | Warsaw - Treblinka Death Camp Memorial Site, Visit with rescuers in Stoczek, Tykocin, Bialystok
Day 5 | Bialystok - Day trip to Jedwabne and community service project at Jedwabne Cemetery
Day 6 | Bialystok - Drive to Warsaw and continue on train to Krakow, Krakow walking tour
Day 7 | Krakow - Tour Jewish heritage sites, Krakow Ghetto, Plaszow Camp Memorial Site
Day 8 | Krakow - Auschwitz and Birkenau
Day 9 | Krakow - Galicia Museum, Free afternoon
Day 10 | Depart Krakow
- This trip is geared toward those who want an in-depth and meaningful experience with other open-minded travelers.
- Pre-reading materials will be suggested, and a pre-trip meeting will be held in late May.
- For those researching and exploring their own family histories, we are happy to help make suggestions or connections.
- Clock hours are provided for Washington State teachers.
- Custom extensions are available. Please note: Each day’s schedule is quite full. Please consider extending your trip if you want more personal exploratory time.
- This trip includes a significant amount of walking.
Questions? Email Paul Regelbrugge, Director of Education at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
From past travelers:
"From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this experience. I didn't know what to expect at the beginning but I know I could never have asked for a better experience."
"The experience was once in a lifetime and the information was so in depth!"
"I am blown away by the experience I had between the people I met, the tour guides we were lucky enough to have, as well as the opportunities for seeing what tourists don't get to see."
"I'm still processing all the information we received. It was truly a trip of a lifetime. Thank you!"
"The meaning and depth of emotion and learning with both head and heart seems to increase as time passes and I contemplate all I experienced."
"I never experienced a tour that was so well put together and carried out as this one."
"The trip was one of the best experiences of my life. I will never forget it."
King 5 News | April 27, 2022
EDMONDS, Wash. — A new exhibition at Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds showcases the work of holocaust survivor and artist Maria Frank Abrams.
She had a celebrated career including an array of group and solo shows. But like all the artists featured at Cascadia, Abrams’ work eventually disappeared from the mainstream art world.
The museum focuses on neglected or forgotten artists whose work spans the years 1860-1970. Many of them are women and people of color.
"Maria Frank Abrams is a great example of what we do here,” said Sally Ralston, Executive Director of Cascadia. "We are honored to showcase these artists again and bring their art here, and give them the respect their art deserves."
The Reflector | April 18, 2022 | By Sebastian Rubino
Peter Metzelaar, a Holocaust survivor from Amsterdam, shared his story with students at Battle Ground High School during a presentation he gave on April 14.
Metzelaar, who is 86, was born in Amsterdam in 1935. In 1942, when he was 7 years old, the Nazis seized members of his family, who were Jewish. Metzelaar and his mother, Elli, found shelter on a small farm in Mekkinga in northern Holland with the help of Klaas and Roefina Post.
They later moved from place to place in hiding until the war ended in 1945.
“In Holland, it was a very small country, and at that particular time, there were only about 140,000 people of the Jewish faith,” said Metzelaar. “The Nazis took over in May of 1940. By the time it was over in May 1945, of the 140,000 (people), between 75 to 80% were murdered. I don’t even like to use the word killed. They were murdered intentionally.”
FM News 101 KXL | March 16, 2022
Battle Ground, Wash. – Battle Ground High School world history teacher Amanda Fulfer is headed to Poland this July as a part of a program put on by the Holocaust Center for Humanity.
Fulfer tells KXL News “It’s a once in a life time opportunity.”
Fulfer says her background is in East Asian studies, but at the beginning of the pandemic when schools switched to online and changed some of its curriculum, she was told she’d be the only one teaching a brand new European history class and had to figure out how to prepare for it on her own. While prepping she quickly became fascinated by the story of the Holocaust and felt a calling to share those stories from that period to future generations. In Poland she’ll visit Auschwitz Birkenau, the Warsaw Ghetto and Schindler’s factory, saying it will give her a powerful perspective into what she teaches