Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle

Winter 2015/2016

Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine

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DREAMSCAPES WINTER 2015/2016 52 A fter all, a mere 70 years after the terror reign of Nazi Germany, the ghosts of the Holocaust, with its deportations, death camps and ghettos, still haunt the continent. However, from another vantage point—the deck of a rather cosy ship meandering lazily along the romantic Danube—a vibrant and rich Jewish past comes alive. It's a bit of a paradox. While Jews in Aus- tria, Hungary and the Czech Republic tend either to keep a low profile or are simply too few in number to be noticed, all venues we visited aboard AmaWaterways' luxurious 135-metre AmaSonata river cruiser could boast of rebuilt or restored synagogues, Jewish cultural programs, touching Holo- caust monuments and vibrant tourism. After all, what's left of Jewry in these parts is, by definition, a tough survivor of both fascism and communism. But the past is never far from the waters of the Danube (which, it should be said, is not all that blue). And if both your parents were Holocaust survivors, as mine are, a trip like this has special resonance. CZECH REPUBLIC Though not on the Danube, our 11-day journey kicks off in Prague, a marked study of old versus new and where virtually every café and bookstore has the word "Kafka" in its name. There are no more than 1,600 remaining Jews in the Czech capital and six historic syna- gogues, some so old they are no longer perpendicular to the ground. The best known is the storied Old-New Synagogue (Altneuschul), completed in the 1270s and billed as the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe. Musty and creaky, heavy with brass and mahogany, its many legends include that its foundation A JEWISH HERITAGE CRUISE EDITORIAL AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY RON CSILLAG TOP: Visitors gasp upon entering Budapest's grand Dohany Street Synagogue. OPPOSITE BOTTOM: Budapest's most poignant Holocaust memorial consists of bronzed shoes lining an embankment of the Danube River, paying tribute to those shot into the waters at the end of World War II. YOU WOULD BE FORGIVEN FOR THINKING A JEWISH TOUR OF CENTRAL EUROPE IS A BIT DEPRESSING.

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