— Jacob Oleiski, a veteran of more than 50 years with ORT, the Organization for Rehabilitation Through Training, died here Friday at the age of 80. He had been director general of ORT in Israel from 1950 until his retirement in 1966 during which he was in charge of its network of vocational schools in the country, many of which he founded.
Oleiski was born in Lithuania and was educated at the University of Kaunas in Lithuania and the University of Halle in Germany as a chemist and agronomist. His association with ORT began in 1925 in Kaunas where he served as principal of a vocational high school. He survived the Soviet and Nazi occupations of his native country during World War II, including a period in 1944 as an inmate of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Oleiski was appointed director of ORT activities in displaced persons camps in the American-occupied zone of Germany immediately after the war and immigrated to Israel in 1948. He become principal of the ORT school in Jerusalem the following year and was named director general of ORT in 1950.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
