Hadassah, the women’s Zionist organization of America, was honored yesterday for its sponsorship of Youth Aliya, the child-rescue movement which began in Berlin 35 years ago to save Jewish youngsters from the Nazis by bringing them to Palestine. Mrs. Max Schenk, president of Hadassah, accepted a citation from the International Union for Child Welfare Work at ceremonies held in the Central Synagogue Community House here.
The idea of Youth Aliya originated with Mrs. Recha Freier, the wife of a Berlin rabbi. The project was turned over to Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah. That organization has been its principal sponsor ever since. More than 135,000 children from 80 countries have been resettled in what is now Israel. Youth Aliya maintains 77 children’s villages there, educational and agricultural institutions, 166 children’s houses and 18 centers for teenagers and special schools. The citation lauded Hadassah for “giving freedom and salvation to hundreds of thousands of Jewish children, rescued from the far places of the world and redeemed in Israel.”
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