Jewish site expert tour guides
Wittmann Tours was founded right after the fall of communism in 1990 by Sylvie Wittmann. We soon became the most experience tour guide company focusing on jewish sites and history in Prague and around Czech republic. The company's good reputation leans also on excellent and respectful team cooperation with our guides.
Sylvie Wittmann
Born in the North Bohemian city of Liberec and educated in Prague (Art History and silverware restoration), she made her first steps in tourism in the early 1980s. Sylvie was the first ever to organize tours that focused exclusively on the former Jewish ghetto in Terezín (Theresienstadt).
One of Sylvie's main aspirations is to bring Czech Jews back to the abandoned synagogues in Prague and across the Czech Republic.
Besides guiding tours, Sylvie gives lectures in the Cultural and Educational Center of Prague's Jewish Museum, Pilsen and Liberec Jewish Communities; she sits on the board of the Czech Federation of Jewish Communities; and teaches the Bar/Bat Mitzvah class in Bejt Elend afternoon-school.
Sylvie's family history is described in the book “A Hole in the Heart of the World” by Jonathan Kaufman, Penguin's Book, 1997
Meet Our Guides
Wittmann Tours' guides come from a variety of backgrounds, each contributing a specific knowledge to their enthusiastic work.
Martina
Martina is a Czech filmmaker. Born in Prague, she spent her childhood in London. She has been guiding for Wittmann Tours for two decades, specializing in the Shoah history. Martina is well known as the executive producer of the 2002 INTL EMMY AWARD Winning Documentary film “The Power of Good” about Sir Nicholas Winton the British hero who saved 669 Czech Jewish children from the Nazis by bringing the children to England. Martina is currently working on a new documentary project “The Portraits”. It is about the American photographer who portrays the last living survivors of Theresienstadt.
Vida
Vida is a board member of the Prague Jewish Community. She is a leader of Jewish children theatre for many years, organizing cultural programs for the kids and also participates at various festivals of the Jewish culture. Last year Vida created a CD with Jewish Holidays' songs with the children choir from the Jewish Day School in Prague. She wrote two books for children - Lonesome Palace and Stories from Midrash. Vida comes from family of survivors. Her father returned from Terezin and Auschwitz. This is why her guiding is enriched by authentic family stories.
Amalka
Amalka is a young mother of three and was born in Prague in 1986. After spending a couple of years studying at a private high school then she learned about her Jewish roots and switched to the Lauder Jewish school in Prague where she graduated. About that time Amalka started giving tours of the Jewish Quarter. Her Hebrew studies continued at Charles University, Faculty of Philosophy. For years Amalka tried to combine her family life and her studies and on the way found a passion for social work and spent some time working for the Jewish Community of Prague taking care of and assisting the elderly (especially Shoah survivors). Having three little kids requires a flexible job and because she's always enjoyed giving tours Amalka recieved her certificate and is now a licensed guide for both Prague and the Jewish museum. She loves literature, history, underground music, listening to her grandmother's stories about her experience in the anti-Communist movement, searching for records of her family tree and of course spending time with her family.
Zuzana
I am a big fun of travelling, I love reading books, studying history and leading discussions on politics. I made Alya back in 2000 and lived in Israel, Eilat for ten years, worked on the beach. Today as a mother of two beautiful kids I partially teach languages and guide. Speaking English, Ivrit, French and German.
Helena
Helena has been guiding more than 30 years. Started already during her studies before the Velvet revolution. As she often traveled to abroad Helena wrote historical and geographical articles to National Geographic. In the Czech republic Helena specializes in tours of Jewish interest. Being a friend of survivors she leads tours to Terezin incorporating their personal stories and experiences. In 1999 she and her husband wrote and published book Life forbidden about a Czech Jewish survivor of 3 camps prof. Felix Kolmer.
Radana
Radana studied Hebrew Studies and General History at Charles University in Prague. After her graduation she started to work as a historian at the Jewish Museum in Prague, at Shoah History Department. Later on Radana also became a tour guide while she works on her PhD. Her main professional interest is the European post-war Jewish history. She is mother of two.
Jonas
Jonáš is a Doctoral Candidate at Protestant Faculty of Theology. He is a native of Prague and so far he has happily spent most of his life there. He also lived for a few years in Romania as a child. Later Jonas studied in Jerusalem and at several Universities across Germany. His current fields of interest are Jewish theology of the period of rank of Maharal. He also focuses on Franz Kafka and Prague of his time as well as on the second half of the 1950s. At the moment he is writing a novel that takes place in 1949, mostly in a Bavarian village close to the Czechoslovak borders.
Marketa
Marketa has been working as a guide for two decades. She used to be a teacher but finally decided to focus fully on guiding. Marketa was born in Prague and lives there. She grew up in Communist Czechoslovakia where her father was a disident. It ment she would never be allowed to study at University. Marketa got her degree after the Velvet revolution. As well as Sylvie or Amalka being from family of disidents, Marketa socialized with number of people from the political opposition of those days. One of them Vaclav Havel became our President. Marketa has always been interested in Jewish history, which she also studied. Beside focusing her work on Jewish Prague she loves to travel, perform a theater and sing in a band with her husband. She is mother of two.
