Thank you for your interest in joining Poland At War Tours, in partnership with the Australian Psychological Society, for a study tour of Poland from 14 to 20 July 2024.

The tour is designed as a prelude to the International Congress of Psychology (ICP) beginning in Prague on 21 July 2024. As such, we will be pleased to provide advice & assistance with both transportation to Prague and accommodation convenient to the conference venue.

On our tour we will visit sites related to WWII and the Holocaust in Poland and hear from Polish and Ukrainian researchers about the effects of historical trauma on today’s society. We will also hear from expert English-speaking Polish guides who will ensure seamless entry and movement through all sites we visit.

If you would like a more detailed brochure, have any queries or would like to add something to your tour, please do not hesitate to contact me: contact@polandatwartours.com

I look forward to seeing you in Poland.

Damien Stewart

Owner & Operator

Poland At War Tours

Your host for the tour will be psychologist and Poland At War Tours owner and operator Damien Stewart. Damien has been a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) for more than 10 years and is the current Chair of the College of Sport & Exercise Psychologists. Damien was also Convenor of the Military & Emergency Services Interest Group for more than four years and contributed to the APS submission into the Australian Government Royal Commission into Veterans Suicide. In 2022, Damien embarked on a PhD through La Trobe University with affiliation to the University of Warsaw, looking at Intergenerational Trauma in Poland following WWII. Damien will be presenting his research at the ICP 2024 in Prague as part of a symposium of researchers focusing on trauma in Eastern Europe.

Professor Galyna Pyliagina, MD, PhD

Psychiatrist

Head of Department, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy & Medical Psychology

Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine

Professor Pyliagina graduated from the Gorky Donetsk State Medical Institute (1990) and worked at the Ukrainian Research Institute of Social, Forensic Psychiatry and Narcology (Kyiv, Ukraine), in various positions (1993-2007), from postgraduate studies to Senior researcher and vice-director of science. Since 2004, she has been working at the Shupyk National University of Healthcare of Ukraine.

Main professional activity – Postgraduate training for Doctors (MD, interns) in Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Medical Psychology.

The main focus of treatment and research interests is diagnostics, therapy of different mental disorders, and psychotherapy as well, especially, self-destructive behaviour.

Thirty years’ experience in clinical practice and scientific researcher position, and ten years – as a professor in psychiatry. As a psychotherapist, her work is based on the principles of existential and cognitive psychotherapy. The author of the psychotherapeutic practices "Personal Integration Training - The Way to Yourself".

Some publications (in Ukrainian mainly): “Basic Concepts in Suicidology” (1999),  “Self-destructive Behaviour: Pathways, Clinical-typological aspects of Diagnostics and Treatment” (theses for doctoral degree, 2004), Suicide Trends in Ukraine (1998, 2013, in English), Differential Diagnostic of Self-destructive behaviour via Structural-dynamic model (2017, 2019, on English ), Medical Psychology (2020, Head of an edition) and others.

Professor Michal Bilewicz

Social Psychologist

Centre for Research on Prejudice

Faculty of Psychology

University of Warsaw

Associate Professor Bilewicz Chairs the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw. Previously, he was a Fulbright scholar at the New School for Social Research in New York and DAAD post-doctoral fellow at University of Jena in Germany. His research interests include social psychology of intergroup relations (e.g. stereotyping, prejudice, collective moral emotions, reconciliation process), as well as political psychology (political ideologies, linguistic patterns related to political communication, etc.). He studies extensively the problem of antisemitism, dehumanization, and conspiracy theories. In 2013 he co-edited a special issue of Journal of Social Issues on the consequences of genocide and in 2015 a volume The Psychology of Conspiracy (Routledge). 

He co-ordinates the first Polish diagnostic survey on xenophobia – the nationally representative Polish Prejudice Survey (2009, 2013, 2017). He presented his reports on anti-Semitism to the Polish Parliament (Ethnic Minorities Commission) and in the years 2013-2016 he served as a consultant to the Polish Ministry of Administration in the Council to Prevent Racism and Xenophobia.

Dr Małgorzata Wosińska

Cultural & Genocide Anthropologist

Psychotraumatologist

Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA)

University of Warsaw

Dr Wosińska is a genocide anthropologist and psychotraumatologist. Her research interests cover a large and diverse range of topics from critical Holocaust and genocide studies to museum and forensic studies. Her doctoral dissertation concerns the issue of the identity of genocide survivors in Rwanda (in comparison to Shoah), where she conducted regular field research between 2009 and 2017. In addition to her research activity, she works on a daily basis with witnesses of traumatic events, including war refugees in Europe. She is an expert in advising on the management of memorial sites and trauma for both governmental and non-governmental organisations of preventive and commemorative character, such as USHMM (USA), CNLG (Rwanda), Aegis Trust (United Kingdom), ENRS (European Union), Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum (Poland). From 2018 to 2020, she was engaged in the activities of memory diplomacy, acting as Representative of the Director for International Cooperation of the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

Her recent publications in English include: “Murambi is Not Auschwitz: The Holocaust in Representations of the Rwandan Genocide (in: Replicating Atonement, ed. Mischa Gabowitsch, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017: 187-208); “Everyone belongs to the third generation. On trauma as the space of choice”, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (2022).

• Passport/ Visa* (if you are an Australian passport holder, you should not require a visa)
• Travel Insurance
• Good walking shoes
• Hat
• Sun protective clothing
• Sunscreen
• Change in Zloty (Pln) for restroom use & gratuities
• Advise Tour Manager of any relevant allergies or medical conditions
• Medications
• Camera
• Power/ charging cords
• European power adapter
• Phone Credit (can easily be purchased in Poland with Passport ID)

*Check the Schengen Visa website (https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/who-needs-schengen-visa/) for the Poland Visa entry requirements of your country. Alternatively, please check with the Polish Embassy or Consulate in your country. Poland At War Tours in not responsible for Passport or Visa issues relating to entry to Poland.

After arriving in Warsaw and checking into the Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, join other guests for a welcome dinner of traditional Polish Cuisine. 

On this tour we visit the few city blocks that at its peak housed up to 450,000 Jews and identify sites of interest throughout the area of the ghetto. Those sites include the areas of the large and small ghetto’s, the site of the bridge between the ghetto’s, remnants of the ghetto wall, remaining buildings from the ghetto, the Umschlagplatz Memorial from where Jews were loaded onto trains and transported to the Treblinka Extermination Camp, among many other sites of significance. Also learn about the remarkable 1943 Ghetto Uprising where the Jews fought for freedom. We further highlight the rebuilding effort that was carried out after the war and you will be able to see and touch the debris buried beneath the new construction.

At the completion of the tour we will have lunch at the wonderful Warsze Restaurant at the award winning POLIN Museum and sample traditional Polish Jewish cuisine. After lunch, we take in a lecture followed by a tour of this amazing museum.

Join us on a bus tour of the highlights of Warsaw (e.g., Chopin Memorial, hiding place of "The Pianist" Wladyslaw Szpilman, Palace of Culture & Science, Warsaw Palm Tree) before we begin our walking tour of Warsaw Stare Miasto (Old Town). Warsaw’s Stare Miasto was established in the 13th century on the banks of the Vistula River. Completely destroyed during WWII, it was meticulously rebuilt in the years following the war based on the paintings and drawings of pre-war artists and architectural students. Old Town was the site of some of the heaviest fighting during the Warsaw Uprising that began on 1 August 1944. Highlights of the walking tour include: Marie Curie's house, Copernicus Memorial, Royal Castle, Church of the Holy Cross where Chopin's heart was laid to rest, Warsaw Uprising Memorial, University of Warsaw, and more. After lunch we will take in a lecture from our invited guest lecturers.

Today we check out of our Warsaw Hotel and transfer to the Polish city of Oswiecim and visit the Infamous German Concentration & Extermination Camp - Auschwitz.  Auschwitz was the German name given to the site of the camp within the Polish city of Oswiecim. Join us on a special guided tour of both Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II – Birkenau. We first explore Auschwitz I, which was an abandoned Polish Army barracks prior to WWII. We then take the short journey to Auschwitz II – Birkenau and walk through the iconic gate which so many Jews and victims of different kinds travelled through never to return. See the ramp where Jews were off-loaded before walking the short distance to the gas chambers and crematoria to the rear of the camp, blown up by the Germans as they hastily fled in the face of the coming onslaught of the Soviet Army. In total, approximately 1,100,000 people died at Auschwitz. Join us as we honour their memory and state unequivocally – Never Again!

*** Photo identification is a requirement for entry to Auschwitz. Please ensure you have photo identification with you for our visit to Auschwitz.

After our tour of Auschwitz we transfer to Krakow and check into our Krakow hotel.

Join us on a morning walking tour of Krakow Old Town. During the tour we will visit the beautiful Old Town Market Square – the largest in Europe/ We also visit St Mary’s Basilica (14th century) where we learn why the 2 spires are of different sizes and listen to the trumpeter who plays from a church spire on the hour and learn why he mysteriously stops playing mid-tune. We will also visit the oldest University in Poland - Jagiellonian University before visiting the mighty Wawel Castle - home to Polish Kings and Queens for centuries before moving their seat of power to Warsaw.

After lunch join us on a walking tour of the former Krakow Jewish Ghetto that was established in March 1941. We begin the tour in the main square of the former ghetto that is now a memorial to the Jews of the Krakow Ghetto “Ghetto Hero’s Square”. We will then visit the surviving remnants of the original Ghetto Wall and the site of the orphanage that operated in the ghetto. We then visit Schindler’s Enamel Factory and those who have seen the movie, will not mistake the façade of this famous building. Having saved 1,200 Jews, Schindler and his wife Emilie were awarded Righteous Among the Nations in 1993. We also visit the Pharmacy Under the Eagle a pharmacy that was allowed to operate within the Ghetto walls under its non-Jewish proprietor Tadeusz Pankiewicz who, along with his 3 female staff Irena Drozdzikowska, Aurelia Danek, & Helena Krywaniuk, provided medicine, food, and hiding places for Jews in the pharmacy. Pankiewicz was awarded Righteous Among the Nations on 10 February 1983. 

Join us on a visit to the Kościuszko Mound and find out about the man behind the name of Australia's highest mountain as well as how to pronounce his name correctly!

We then visit the Krakow suburb of “Nowa Huta” (New Ironworks). Nowa Huta (photo on day 7) was built in the vision of a Stalinist Utopia, an ideal proletarian city and a hallmark of communism. Nowa Huta was an entire city created to employ thousands of people at the giant Lenin Steelworks. We will first visit the Museum of Poland Under the Communist Regime located in the former Swiatowid Cinema before heading off on a walking tour of Nowa Huta itself. The museum comes complete with its own Cold War era underground air-raid shelter so we should be safe in the event of war! Whilst in Nowa Huta we will stop in at a traditional Polish "Milk Bar" (Bar Mleczny) and sample traditional Polish communist era cuisine.

After lunch those who have selected the optional Wieliczka Salt Mine will head off to explore this ancient mine. Those who have not chosen to visit the mine will have free time.

In the evening we meet at the hotel for our farewell dinner and take in a lecture from one of our invited lecturers.

Sadly, today we must say goodbye to Poland and head off to Prague for ICP 2024. 

Speak to us about transportation to Prague and accommodation convenient to the conference venue.

The photo above is of Nowa Huta, Krakow

21 July 2024 is the opening ceremony of the ICP 2024. There are pre-congress workshops scheduled for 21 July 2024. However, for those who have chosen the optional Operation Anthropoid Tour, we will head off in the morning for our 2.5 hour tour.

Operation Anthropoid was the operation undertaken by the Czech Resistance to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich during WWII. Heydrich was the Commander of the Reich Security Main Office and Governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia overseeing all of then Czechoslovakia. Heydrich ruled with an iron fist and was one of the crucial architects of the Holocaust, Chairing the infamous Wannsee Conference that took place on 20 January 1942. Heydrich was also responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Poles upon Germany invading Poland on 1 September 1939. During what came to be known as the “Intelligenzaktion”, approximately 100,000 Poles were murdered, 61,000 of whom had been targeted as part of the Polish intelligentsia. On 27 May 1942, Czech resistance operatives Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis undertook the assassination operation wounding Heydrich in the attempt. Heydrich succumbed to his wounds on 4 June 1942. In the aftermath of his death, the Nazi’s named part of the operation to exterminate European Jewry “Operation Reinhard” relating to the death camps Sobibor, Belzec, and Treblinka.