b'A RAIN OF RUIN FROMScan hereTHE HOLOCAUST IN THEScan here THE AIRfor the fullBALTIC STATES for the full itinerary itineraryTHE DEFEAT OF JAPAN: THE TOKYO FIREBOMBING, OKINAWA AND THE ATOMIC BOMB 30 July4 August 2025 Historical Background6 days The invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany in 1941 spelt disaster for the 29 SeptemberHistorical Background Expert Historian: Baltic States. Thousands of helpless Jewish victims as well as Communists, 12 October 2025 In the spring of 1942, Japan reached its zenithan empire that stretchedDr Waitman BeornRoma and Soviet officials were rounded up and, after being stripped of their 12 days across twenty million square miles and seven time zones. But this behemothActivity Level: 2 clothes and valuables, were shot and their bodies buried in pits. would not survive. By 1945, the American forces, having battled acrossThe scale of this slaughter in the Baltics is staggering: between 1941 to 1944 Expert Historian: the Pacific, closed in on the Japanese homeland. In April, American troopsmore than 70,000 people, nearly all of them Jews, were murdered at Paneriai James M Scott landed on Okinawa in what would prove to be one of the most hellaciousThis unique 6-day tour takes visitors to(Panary) outside Vilnius and between November and December 1941, 25,000 Activity Level: 2 fights of the Pacific War, an 82-day slugfest that would claim the lives of asimportant memorial sites of death andJews were murdered in the Rumbula forest in Latvia. many as 150,000 civilians. To counter this threat, Japan unleashed stormsresistance during the Holocaust but alsoMany of Estonias Jews managed to avoid the Nazi terror by escaping to of kamikazes, monsoons of metal and flesh that rained down on Americanexposes participants to the vibrant historythe Soviet Union and by 1942 the country was declared Judenfrei. The During this 12-night, 13-day tour we travel thewarships. Nightly raids by the Americas awesome new B-29 Superfortressesof Jewish life in Latvia and Lithuania. We meanwhile incinerated Tokyo and dozens of other cities. All of this paled,bloodletting in the other states was of a different order: of the 220,000 Jews length of Japan from the sub-tropical islandslearn about the plight of Jews in theseat the time of the Nazi invasion in Lithuania, an estimated 190,000 to 195,000 of Okinawa and Kyushu, through mainlandhowever, from the war-ending attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki thatcountries, the atrocities in Riga, Kaunus and Japan to Tokyo with stays en-route at Naha,ushered the world into the nuclear age.The culmination of these catastrophicVilnius, the suffering in the ghettos and thewere killed before the end of the war; and from a pre-war Jewish population Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Kyoto.final months of war would ravage the Japanese homeland and lead Emperormass shootings at Paneriai and Rumbulaof 93,000 in Latvia around 70,000 were murdered.The itinerary has been carefully designed toHirohito to announce his nations surrender at noon on August 15, 1945.Forest. We also learn about armed Jewish provide in-situ expert narrative and analysisresistance groups and the Japanese vice-to stimulate conversation and debate onconsul who saved over 6,000 Jewish lives. the decisions, motivations, controversies,Travelling through these thickly forested and consequences of pivotal and dramaticlands we visit some of the most poignant events. And whilst the focus of our toursites of death and resistance ofis predominantly the closing months ofthe Holocaust.World War Two, we will absorb plenty of Japanese culture and cuisine as we explore magnificent shrines, stroll through awe-inspiring gardens, dine at local restaurants, travel aboard Japans legendary Shinkansen Bullet trains and enjoy well-positioned four- Day 0 . Fly LondonTokyo or own arrangements to Haneda airport hotel.star hotels.Day 1 Arrive Tokyo Haneda. Introductory talk and drinks. (D)Day 2 Okinawa Landing Beaches. Fly Tokyo-Okinawa. Hagushi beaches, Chibichiriand Simuku Gama Caves. Naha for 2 nights. (B,L,D)Day 3 The Shuri Defence Line. Kazuku Ridge, Maeda escarpment/Hacksaw Ridge,Japanese HQ at Shuri Castle, underground complex and museum in theformer Japanese Naval headquarters. (B,L,D)Day 4 Final Moves. Buckner Monument, Peace Memorial and museum, HimeyuriDay 1 Evening flight London to Vilnius or make your own arrangements to join Museum. Fly to Kagoshima for 1 night. (B,L,D) the tour at the hotel. Check in to hotel (2 nights).Day 5 Kamikaze! Kamikaze airbase Chiran, Kyushu. Train to Nagasaki forDay 2 Walking tour of Vilnius Old Town and its Jewish heritage; Gaon Jewish State1 night. (B,L,D)Day 6 . Nagasaki. Atomic Bomb Museum, Ground Zero. Train to Hiroshima forMuseum; Holocaust Exhibition (Green House Museum); drive to Paneriai2 nights. (B,L,D) mass murder site and Jewish Partisan Fort at Rundninkai Forest. (B,D)Day 7 Peace Memorial Park, Peace Memorial Museum,Atomic Bomb Dome.Day 3 Drive to Kaunas, walking tourincl. Lietkis Garage Massacre Memorial;Return ferry to Miyajima Island and Itsukushima Shrine/ Torii Gate. (B,L,D) Sugihara House Museum; 9th Fort of Kaunas Fortress. Hotel in KaunasDay 8 . Kure. Self Defence Force and Maritime museums. Train to Kyoto for 2 nights.(1 night). Walking tour of historic centre. (B,L,D) Day 4 Drive to iauliaisite of ghetto; Kuiai Forest Memorial. Hotel in Riga Day 9 . Kyoto. Rokuon-ji temple complex including Kinkaku-ji/Temple of the2 nights. Golden Pavilion. Kyoto Museum for World Peace, Nijo Castle. (B,D) Day 5 Walking tour of Holocaust in Riga (approximately 4km): Old JewishDay 10 Firebombing. Train to Tokyo for 3 nights. The Centre of the Tokyo Raids andCemetery, remains of the Choral Synagogue, ghetto site, HolocaustESSENTIALSWar Damage. (B,L,D) ESSENTIALS Museum, memorial wall; by coach to Kaiserwald Concentration camp 4-star hotels, meals as indicated,Day 11 . Japan at War. Yushukan War Memorial, Yasukini Shrine, Showa Museum in4-star hotels, meals as indicated,memorial, Bikernieki memorial, Rumbula Forest Memorial and Salispils drinks with dinner, all entrance fees, Tokyo. Battleship Mikasa in Yokosuka. (B,L,D) drinks with dinner, all entrance fees,Concentration camp Memorial. tour manager and expert historianDay 12 Tokyo. Great Kanto Earthquake Museum, The Imperial Palace Gardens,tour manager and expert historianDay 6 . Free morning in Riga; afternoon flight Riga to London or perhaps extendthroughout, all internal travel,NHK broadcast museum, General MacArthurs office. (B,L,D) throughout, all internal travel, your stay in Lithuania.optional travel from UK. Day 13 Departures. Return flights home, or perhaps extend your stay in Japan. (B) optional travel from UK.66 www.theculturalexperience.com I info@theculturalexperience.com I UK0345 475 1815 I USA(toll-free) 877 209 5620 www.theculturalexperience.com I info@theculturalexperience.com I UK0345 475 1815 I USA(toll-free) 877 209 5620 67'