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Youth Aliyah (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the
Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Youth Aliyah arranged for their resettlement in
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
in
kibbutzim A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming ha ...
and
youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pionee ...
s that became both home and school.


History

Recha Freier Recha Freier (Hebrew: רחה פריאר) born Recha Schweitzer, (October 29, 1892 in Norden, East Frisia – April 2, 1984 in Jerusalem) founded the Youth Aliyah organization in 1933. The organization saved the lives of 7,000 Jewish childre ...
, a rabbi's wife, founded Youth Aliyah in Berlin on the same day that Adolf Hitler took power, Monday 30 January 1933. The organisation was founded as a work study training program but became a means to save Jewish children from the growing Nazi regime. The idea was supported by the
World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...
. Freier supervised the organization's activities in Germany, and Henrietta Szold, after at first opposing Freier's initiative, in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Szold was skeptical about the merits of Freier's proposal because, as the person responsible for social services by the Jewish Agency for all of Palestine, she was extremely pressed for funds and loath to take on a new untried program for German Jewish children. Then Recha Freier approached Dr. Siegfried Lehman, founder and director of
Ben Shemen Youth Village Ben Shemen Youth Village ( he, כפר הנוער בן שמן, ''Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen'') is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in central Israel. Located near Ben Shemen and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi ...
. He agreed to accept 12 children. Henrietta Szold was informed and changed her mind, agreeing to organize and lead the effort. At the time, Tamar de Sola Pool, a former national president of Hadassah, and her husband had just completed a visit to Palestine and were about to return to the US. Szold met her and explained the decision to initiate the major effort of Youth Aliyah and that Mrs de Sola Pool must convince Hadassah to accept it as an important project. She was convinced and, after convincing Hadassah, called Eddie Cantor, the actor-comedian. He wrote her a check for $25,000 to start the program. Hadassah has continued to be the major supporter of Youth Aliyah to this day. With Hitler's rise to power the Nuremberg Racial Laws were enacted in 1935 and on 31 March 1936 German elementary schools were closed to Jewish children. Szold coordinated an appeal to Jewish communities around the world in conjunction with the
Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
.''Rescue Jewish Youth! A Message from Henrietta Szold, January 1936,'' The Jewish Agency-Youth Aliyah Bulletin, January 1987 After a brief period of training in Germany, Youth Aliyah children were placed on kibbutzim for two years to learn farming and Hebrew. Kibbutz
Ein Harod Ein Harod ( he, עֵין חֲרוֹד) was a kibbutz in northern Israel near Mount Gilboa. Founded in 1921, it became the center of Mandatory Palestine's kibbutz movement, hosting the headquarters of the largest kibbutz organisation, HaKibbutz HaM ...
in the
Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...
was one of the first cooperative settlements to host such groups. Many of the children found it difficult being separated from their families, and they often realized the reasons for their journey and that they would not be returning to Europe. Parents struggled with the decision to send off their children to Palestine and expected to join them there later on, however many were murdered in the Holocaust. Youth Aliyah had a quota system in which they required at least 60% of the children to be boys, in order to ensure that a substantial number could work on the farms. Just before the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, 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 Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
until they could immigrate to Palestine. jewish immigration facilitated by the United Kingdom became increasingly difficult and complicated as the Italian-Abyssinian war affected Britain's relationship with Palestine. Starting in 1936, to appease Arabs that were against Jewish immigration, Britain greatly reduced the number of immigrants through the Youth Aliyah program. As a result, Britain shifted immigration internally within the United Kingdom. Out of the approximately 10,000 children who migrated to Great Britain under the auspices of the ''
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...
'' program, some intended to reach Palestine with Youth Aliyah at a later time. After this British policy was formulated in November 1938, it facilitated not only thousands of Jewish children settling in the United Kingdom on a permanent basis, but also 3,400 staying there temporarily on the way to Palestine.Kaplan, Marion A. (1999). ''Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish life in Nazi Germany''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 116-117. As the war spread across Europe, the program expanded to save children from occupied countries such as Yugoslavia. Britain would continue to allow foreign policy to affect their support of the Youth Aliyah program which resulted in the organization saving less children from Nazi tyranny and violence. In 1938, the British government withdrew their previous support of the
Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...
, limiting their commitment to create a Jewish homeland. As violent anti-Semitism metastasized in Europe, Britain attempted to move 5,000 children from Germany into Palestine. In 1939, only 240 children were brought to Palestine. Immigration certificates given to the Youth Aliyah program became increasingly hard to obtain as Britain failed to give full support. The cynical foreign policy from Great Britain held the program back and failed to save thousands of children from the Nazi regime. Despite waning British support, Youth Aliyah found modest success. Around 5,600 children immigrated to Palestine through the program. Most children came from Germany and Austria as a meager 139 Jewish children emigrated from Poland through the program, a devastating low number considering the hundreds of thousands of children who were left behind and eventually exterminated. Freier experienced significant opposition from the Jewish community in Germany, who continued to believe that appeasement and accommodation was the best course for Germany's Jews. In 1938 she was expelled from the board of the organisation that she had founded, the Jewish Youth Support Committee, because of her controversial use of illegal methods. In 1940 she was denounced by colleagues for anti-Nazi agitation, but was warned in time, and managed to flee to Palestine, taking 40 teenagers with her. After World War II and the Holocaust, emissaries were sent to Europe to locate child survivors in
displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for interna ...
s. A Youth Aliyah office was opened in Paris. Children's homes in Eastern Europe were moved to Western Europe, Youth Aliyah believing (correctly) that immigration from Communist countries would be difficult later on. In all 5,000 teenagers were brought to Palestine before World War II and educated at Youth Aliyah boarding schools. Others were smuggled out of occupied Europe in the early years of the war, some to Palestine, others to the United Kingdom and other countries. After the war an additional 15,000, most of them Holocaust survivors, were brought to Palestine. Later, Youth Aliyah became a department of the
Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
.70th anniversary of Youth Aliyah
/ref> 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.


Today

Youth Aliyah Child Rescue continues to play a role in the absorption of young newcomers to Israel, particularly from the former Soviet Union and Africa. In addition, the organisation offers a second chance to Israeli youth who have been designated 'at risk' by child care authorities. Children in the care of Youth Aliyah are housed in five youth residential villages in Israel. The villages include schools, dorms, clubhouses and playgrounds, and offer emotional support, education, developmental training and extra-curricular activity. More than 2,000 children have found a home and a new and more meaningful life through the organization. The children come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and often have serious emotional, psychological and behavioral difficulties. Many come from disadvantaged, low income or dysfunctional families, very often single-parent families. They are often at risk because of poverty, neglect, domestic violence, sexual abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, mental illness, homelessness or delinquent behaviour. Other children suffer from cancer and need respite care, while others come from families that have been victims of terror.
Alonei Yitzhak Alonei Yitzhak ( he, אַלּוֹנֵי יִצְחָק, ''lit.'' Yitzhak Oaks) is a youth village in northern Israel. Located near Binyamina, it falls under the jurisdiction of Menashe Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The vi ...
was founded in 1948, houses 400 youth, and emphasises music, drama and dance.
Neve Hadassah Neve Hadassah ( he, נְוֵה הֲדַסָּה, ''lit.'' Hadassah Abode) is a youth village in central Israel. Located in the Sharon plain near Netanya and adjacent to Tel Yitzhak, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaSharon Regional Counci ...
, near Netanya, houses 310 youth. Talpiot, in Hadera, houses 200 youth. Torah o'Mikzoah, south of Hadera, caters specifically to religious teenage boys unable to fit into a high school yeshiva environment. Alongside education in ''torah'', it offers vocational training in motor mechanics and engineering.
Yemin Orde Yemin Orde () (Lit: "Orde Memorial") is a youth village near Haifa, Israel named for Orde Wingate. History Yemin Orde Youth Village was established in 1953 by the British Friends of Youth Aliyah. The name was given to commemorate British Major Ge ...
, near Haifa, houses 500 youth. It has twice received the President's Award for Excellence in Education. Outreach programs run throughout the summer months. This facility was destroyed by wildfire in 2011, and is being rebuilt.


Awards and recognition

In 1958, Youth Aliyah was awarded the
Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...
for its contribution to education, being the first year in which the Prize was awarded to an organization.


Directors

Directors of Youth Aliyah after the establishment of the State of Israel include
Moshe Kol Moshe Kol ( he, משה קול, born Moshe Kolodny on 28 May 1911, died 7 July 1989) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli declaration of independence. Biography Moshe Kolodny (later Kol) was born ...
, Meir Gottesmann (1978–1984), Uri Gordon and
Eli Amir Eli Amir ( he, אלי עמיר; Arabic:ايلى عمير) (September 26, 1937) is an Iraqi-born Israeli writer and civil servant. He served as director general of the Youth Aliyah Department of the Jewish Agency. Biography Amir was born Fuad Elia ...
.


See also

*
Hakhshara Hakhshara ( he, הַכְשָׁרָה; also transliterated Hachshara or Hakhsharah) is a Hebrew word that literally means "preparation". The term is used for training programs and agricultural centres in Europe and elsewhere. At these centers Zioni ...
*
Youth village A youth village ( he, כפר נוער, ''Kfar No'ar'') is a boarding school model first developed in Mandatory Palestine in the 1930s to care for groups of children and teenagers fleeing the Nazis. Henrietta Szold and Recha Freier were the pionee ...
*
Yom HaAliyah Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day ( he, יום העלייה), is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually according to the Jewish calendar on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan to commemorate the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel as ...
*
Birthright Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel ( he, תגלית), also known as Birthright Israel or simply Birthright, is a not-for-profit educational organization that sponsors free ten-day heritage trips to Israel, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights for young adult ...
*
Am Yisrael Foundation Am Yisrael Foundation ( he, קרן עם ישראל) is a Tel Aviv and New York-based foundation and umbrella nonprofit organization for a variety of initiatives that promote Zionist engagement among Jewish young adults residing in Israel, includin ...
*
Kindertransport The ''Kindertransport'' (German for "children's transport") was an organised rescue effort of children (but not their parents) from Nazi-controlled territory that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World ...
*
List of Israel Prize recipients This is a complete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 through to 2022. List For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize ...


References


External links


Guide to the Youth Aliyah Records in the Hadassah Archives, 1928-2009
on long-term deposit at the
American Jewish Historical Society The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) was founded in 1892 with the mission to foster awareness and appreciation of American Jewish history and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation an ...
at the
Center for Jewish History The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva University Museum, ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. * {{Authority control Aliyah Jewish emigration from Nazi Germany Israel Prize in education recipients Israel Prize recipients that are organizations Youth organizations based in Israel Children in the Holocaust Child refugees Refugees in Israel Organisations based in Berlin Youth organisations based in Germany