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“A book gives knowledge, but it is life that gives understanding.” — Hebrew proverb
OUR CLIENTS, AND WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY
We are honored to work with many educational and community organizations, including the following. Click here to jump to Client Testimonials, and see what they have to say about the trips they experienced with us.
WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY
Grateful is an understatement!
When our shul decided to do a mission to Poland, there was no question that International Routes was going to do the itinerary. Well, Carla and the team from International Routes, both in NY and Poland, went above and beyond the call of duty to make this 5 day trip to Poland an unforgettable and most meaningful experience. Carla attended our first pre-trip meeting, and made everyone feel so comfortable with the emotional and logistical aspects of this type of trip. By the time we left for Poland, each participant felt prepared and ready to face the historic journey that lay ahead. Carla and David, and Jed, our tour guides in Poland, made sure that every need was met, that every corner was turned and that every desire was considered. The itinerary was packed and the program ran seamlessly. Our participants felt so well taken care of, from the hotel keys being ready for them on the bus, to having passports couriered from Krakow to Warsaw within 2 days. No request was too much to ask. No demand was unreasonable. Carla was an absolute pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend speaking to Carla and having her and International Routes plan your Holocaust education trip. If you want top notch everything, then Carla is the way to go!
Romy Pilarski
Chabad Lubavitch of Markham Markham, Ontario
Trip: Mission of Triumph
"We had an absolutely wonderful and unforgettable experience in Poland and Israel, due in no small part to Carla Wittes and everyone we encountered through International Routes. Their expertise, patience, guidance, and recommendations, and the little extra touches planned at every step of the way, combined to make this one of the most enjoyable and educational travel experiences of our lives. The value of their services was well worth the cost, and in fact we probably saved a substantial sum in the overall scheme. Our group included people who had been to both countries in the past and they found that they learned and experienced things they had never seen in other trips. From the bus drivers to the guides, the hotels to the scheduling, I would heartily recommend International Routes to anyone contemplating a tour of Poland, and Routes Travel for a tour in Israel."
Jody Spiegel
Director
Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program
The Azrieli Foundation
Toronto, Ontario
"I have had the pleasure of working with International Routes and their wonderful staff, particularly Carla Wittes, for over fifteen years and have found that experience to be extraordinary and most rewarding for me and particularly for my students. Every educational trip they have helped organize has more than met and even exceeded my expectations. They are attentive to every detail, extremely knowledgeable, professional, responsive to our needs and nimble. They are as committed to the success of our programs as we are, true collaborators and partners who strive to help us meet our educational objectives. In addition, what I particularly appreciate is their creativity and innovative advice helping make each trip rich and unique. I recommend them most enthusiastically."
Michael N. Dobkowski
Department of Religious Studies
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Geneva, New York
"As a teacher, working with Carla Wittes and International Routes’ Routes of Memory and Hope program was an overwhelmingly positive experience. Being a teacher at an all-boys secular independent school, my vision of the Holocaust Education trip was very specific. The first trip I designed with Carla was to Poland and the Czech Republic. My group was small and I wanted them to see specific sites in over 7 cities/towns during the course of eleven days.
I was thrilled when consistently, and diligently, Carla helped me to make this dream a reality. She met with me one-on-one, to really hear my educational vision for the trip, and over the course of many months, she put countless hours into each and every detail of the trip. From guides, to transportation, to restaurants, to accommodation, to programming, Carla helped to ensure that the trip was personalized and tailored to my pedagogical vision and the needs of my students.
The initial trip (2014) was such a success that the only person I would ever consider to help me again create another quest (2016), this time to Poland and Austria, was Carla. Not only did she embrace the challenge of my request to change the geographical trajectory of the trip, she also carefully considered the feedback and suggestions from our original trip, and helped me implement the changes I wanted to make on my second pilgrimage.
Moreover Carla was a huge support in my growth and development as an educator. She wholly embraced and supported my request to guide my students around specific sites and facilitated my partnerships with guides in Poland allowing me to have autonomy over the way I taught my students overseas. This was such a meaningful and important part of the experience for me. Indeed, in working with Carla, I had partner who was equally invested in providing a life changing experience with my students.
Since the word has spread that our school has now embarked on two successful Holocaust Education trips to Europe, several other companies have solicited both myself and my administration in the hopes to becoming our next “trip provider”. However, I would never work with anyone but Carla and Routes of Memory and Hope. Carla is so much more than a trip provider, she is a patient listener, a tireless worker, a steadfast mentor, a prompt problem-solver, and most importantly, a partner in education. Myself, my students and my school are deeply grateful to Carla for helping us create and embark on these life-changing experiences.
Rachel Metalin
Department of English,
Upper Canada College
Toronto, Ontario
"The experiences I have had in taking groups of students and teachers to Holocaust sites on the were enhanced by the planning of Carla Wittes, who helped organize all of these trips.
When we decided to plan our own Holocaust Study Mission for the College of Saint Elizabeth, we knew we had to have Carla! Carla now is Director of Routes of Memory and Hope (USA), a division of International Routes. The sites we visited, the guides she arranged for us, the hotels and meals we had, and so much more were incredible...and the cost per person was very reasonable! Her intelligence, sensitivity, and experience in such planning made everything possible for us! There was no "hassle" anywhere in terms of arrangements. When we had opportunities to deviate from the itinerary we ourselves had planned, we were able to do this! In this way, we were able to go to Rosenstrasse, the site of the women's demonstration to free their Jewish husbands; my students asked if we could do this as one of the survivors who has shared his testimony was present with his mother for this demonstration and they remembered this; it was quickly added to our itinerary the same day they asked about it. Carla also was able to make arrangements for a Second Generation who traveled with us to visit his parents' hometown in Poland. She arranged for us to stay over in Lodz and have Shabbat dinner with survivor Pinchas Gutter and his family (who traveled with us) in this city where Pinchas had been born and where his family had deep roots.
If you want to plan the best and most meaningful Holocaust study trip, I highly recommend that you consider doing this with Carla Wittes. I asked her to send information that you could use if you want to contact her about planning your own Holocaust journey."
Harriet Sepinwall,
Professor Emeritus and Past co-Director,
College of Saint Elizabeth Center
for Holocaust and Genocide Education,
Morristown, N.J.
testimonials
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