The development of the ORT program in Poland has been far more rapid than originally anticipated. it was revealed here today in a report on the first four months of the ORT’s new program in that country.
The first ORT courses were opened last December in Wroclaw for Jews repatriated from the Soviet Union. By April, the ORT office in Poland had reported that 1, 670 men were enrolled in a variety of classes. Originally, 1, 500 had been envisaged for the entire first year.
Meanwhile, workshop instruction has been extended to 14 cities and comprises 66 tradition units of various types. Some of the courses place students in industry in actual production situations. The largest programs are located in new settlement areas of silesia, in Lodz–one of the greatest centers of Jewish industry in pre-war Poland–where only 6,000 Jews remain of a pre-war population of 250, 000.
In most instances, the Polish Government placed workshops in regular Polish schools at the disposal of the ORT. Instructors and pupils move into the shops after school hours. The ORT has also established annual training courses in three of the II Jewish elementary schools for boys and girls under 14years of age. the report said. It hopes eventually to introduce such classes in all the Jewish primary schools.
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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.
