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Youth Aliyah

 

Organization that benefits immigrant youth in Israel.

Even before Hitler became Germany's chancellor in 1933, Youth Aliyah (in Hebrew, Aliyat ha-Noar), a project that brought Jewish children to Palestine and provided them with vocational training, had been established by Recha Freier in response to the deteriorating condition of Jews in Germany. It was organized in Palestine by Henrietta Szold, with the cooperation of the Jewish Agency, the Vaʿad Le'umi (National Council), and the kibbutz movement. Originally, parents paid for their own children's transportation to Palestine and their room and board. For a number of years, British authorities did not count these children in the official immigration quota for Palestine.

During the mid-1930s the organization expanded its activities and rescued increasing numbers of children from Nazi Germany and later from Austria. Starting in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II, Youth Aliyah brought children from the battle zones to Great Britain, Scandinavia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and even Palestine (such as the Polish children called "the Tehran children," who traveled in 1943 via the Soviet Union and Iran). From 1945 to 1948, Youth Aliyah located orphaned children of the Holocaust and brought some 15,000 to Palestine as "illegals." With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Youth Aliyah focused on rehabilitating needy immigrant children from countries of the Middle East and on helping adolescents in distress and/or in dire poverty. Youth Aliyah programs, mostly financed by the Jewish Agency, have helped integrate more than 300,000 children into Israeli society.

Bibliography

Chinitz, Zelig. Common Agenda: The Reconstitution of the JewishAgency for Israel. Jerusalem: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, 1985.

Gelber, Yoav. "The Origins of Youth Aliya." Zionism 9 (1988): 147 - 172.

DONNA ROBINSON DIVINE

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Wikipedia: Youth Aliyah
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The first German Youth-Aliyah group walking to Kibbutz Ein Harod

Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער) (Aliyat Hano'ar) is a Jewish organization that rescued 22,000 Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their resettlement in Palestine in kibbutzim and youth villages that became both home and school.

Contents

History

Recha Freier, a rabbi's wife, founded the organization in 1933. The idea was supported by the World Zionist Organization. Recha Freier supervised the organization's activities in Germany, and Henrietta Szold in Jerusalem.

Henrietta Szold was originally skeptical of Freier's proposal that German youngsters be sent to pioneer training programs in Palestine after completing elementary school. She believed that Germany offered better educational opportunities for Jewish children. However, Hitler's rise to power and the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws convinced her otherwise. On March 31, 1936, even German elementary schools were closed to Jewish children.[1]

After a brief period of training in Germany, Youth Aliyah youngsters were placed on kibbutzim for two years to learn farming and Hebrew. Kibbutz Ein Harod in the Jezreel Valley was one of the first cooperative settlements to host such groups.[1]

Just before the outbreak of World War II, when immigration certificates to Palestine became difficult to obtain, Youth Aliyah activists in London came up with an interim solution whereby groups of young people would receive pioneer training in countries outside the Third Reich until they could immigrate to Palestine. Great Britain agreed to take in 10,000 endangered children, some from Youth Aliyah groups.[2]

After the Holocaust and World War II, emissaries were sent to Europe to locate children survivors in Displaced persons camps. Children's homes in eastern Europe were moved to Western Europe, fearing that evacuation from Communist countries might be difficult later on. A Youth Aliyah office was opened in Paris.[3]

Later, Youth Aliyah became a department of the Jewish Agency. [4] Over the years, the organization has brought young people to Israel from North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Soviet Union and Ethiopia. [4]

Awards

  • In 1958, Youth Aliyah was awarded the Israel Prize for its contribution to education. [5]

Directors

Directors of Youth Aliyah after the establishment of the State of Israel include Meir Gottesman (1978-1984), Uri Gordon and Eli Amir.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rescue Jewish Youth! A Message from Henrietta Szold, January 1936, The Jewish Agency-Youth Aliyah Bulletin, January 1987
  2. ^ Last Train to London, Eva Michaelis-Stern, The Jewish Agency-Youth Aliyah Bulletin, January 1987
  3. ^ 40 Years of Friendship, Moshe Kol, The Jewish Agency - Youth Aliyah Bulletin," January 1987
  4. ^ a b 70th anniversary of Youth Aliyah
  5. ^ "Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1958 (in Hebrew)". http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashyag/Tashkab_Tashyag_Rikuz.htm?DictionaryKey=Tashyah. 

 
 

 

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Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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