Marcel Manson visited Poland for the first time in 1996 with his mother. She was a survivor of Krakow’s Kazmierz No 5 Jakuba Street where she grew up, the wartime ghetto in Podgorze, Plashov labour camp before surviving 7 weeks in Auschwitz-Birkenau and then ending up in her final camp at Lichgterwengen in Czechoslovakia. Marcel’s father was hidden on a farm in Stuzchine 2 hours east of Krakow near Tarnow. He was fortunate to find someone on that 1st visit who remembered his father and said the whole town knew where he was hiding and yet he was not given away. This revelation made a profound impact on Marcel and he has since taken groups to Krakow each year to the annual Jewish Heritage festival at the end of June. This is widely regarded as the best Jewish Festival in the world today for quality of music, lectures, films and other diverse events - click here for more.

Over many years, visits have been made to Prague, Budapest, Vilnius, Kovno, Riga, Warsaw and Lvov in the Ukraine, building up contacts for future trips to these important cities.

It is vitally important to visit and pay homage and pray for the millions slaughtered in the death camps. Our trips to Poland do mainly focus on how Jews lived by learning and understanding how nearly 1,000 years of mainly peaceful co-existence created a deep rich culture that flourished for many centuries. Our aim is to walk the past, show and understand what was so horrifically destroyed. Today in small ways this heritage is being reconstructed in growing small communities, with surprising interest from many locals whose interest and regeneration of Jewish cultural heritage must be applauded by us and encouraged.

Marcel Manson has set up JHTee as he has a passion for the lost Yiddish world of Eastern Europe. He sees a need for escorted trips to the former Jewish enclaves utilising the many budget airlines available and using the best guides available. Our children have the benefit of organised trips often at subsidised cost to Poland and elsewhere so it is our aim at JHTee to organise mainly land packages. We tell you which RyanAir EasyJet WizzAir to book direct. We then book rooms in a convenient Hotel in the Jewish quarter usually 3 star upwards and then organise trips so you see all the places of Jewish interest, allowing you to keep Shabbos and also some free time to visit other places of interest. A full coach will reduce the total cost for everyone when the bills get divided 6 weeks before the trip. A week-end in Krakow should not cost more than £225 per person all in. So please encourage your friends to come.

Timing is all important when booking with these airlines, so book well in advance or when they announce their repeated special offers. This keeps the costs down to a minimum with hotel group rates negotiated to your benefit. Each group trip will be escorted and start with an acclimatization briefing, itinerary and questions with local experienced guides. We will show appropriate films on coach journeys. Kosher food will always be available. Most destinations have very early morning flights recommended. Group tours will start 1 hour after arrival so those who wish a more relaxing trip can book scheduled flights the previous day with Fourways Travel Service and spend additional nights at the destination.

JHTee aim is to cover all areas of Eastern Europe so we wish to hear from you with towns and places you wish to visit so we can fit it in to a future itinerary.