World ORT - History

The beginnings of ORT: 1880 - 1900

Established in 1880 by a group of Jewish philanthropists in St Petersburg, Russia, ORT’s original aim was to help the impoverished Jewish communities of the Russian Pale of Settlement. Belonging to the privileged few Jewish families wealthy enough and skilled enough to be allowed to live outside this Pale, the co-founders understood that they faced a simple choice; help their poorer cousins to obtain work, or spend their lives and those of their families in indefinite giving of tzdaka, which both undermined the self-confidence of the recipients and brought only temporary relief.  The new organisation, 'Obschestvo Raspostranenie Truda' (ORT), the Society for the Promotion of Handicrafts and Agricultural Work, aimed to break the cycle of dependence by giving people the skills they needed to support themselves, their families and their communities and to become confident, independent people. This philosophy remains as true today as it has always been.

Less than a year after ORT was established, the widespread and violent pogroms instigated against Russia's Jewish communities following the assassination of Tsar Alexander II caused great upheaval and uncertainty for the communities of the Pale. Many sought to emigrate and still more were forced to find new means of making a living. ORT provided stability and essential skills training for farmers and artisans alike. Whether they stayed in Russia or emigrated to the West, the skills ORT taught helped people to rebuild their lives in greater security and with wider opportunity than they had ever known before.

Establishing an international presence: 1900 - 1930

Throughout the late 19th century and into the early years of the 20th, ORT expanded its work throughout Eastern Europe. Following the Russian Revolution of October 1917, as life became increasingly difficult, and then impossible, for religiously-aligned organisations working within the newly-formed USSR, ORT continued its work with poor communities in the region. In 1921, its headquarters moved from St Petersburg to Berlin in order to ensure a greater freedom of operation. Russian émigrés, fleeing the revolution, set up fundraising bodies in Western Europe and the United States to support this work, forming the World ORT Union in 1921. The first of these national bodies to be established is British ORT, in 1921.


The decades of turmoil: 1930 - 1947

ORT remained active in the Soviet Union until 1938, when Stalin finally expelled the organisation from the country, confiscating its assets and transporting its leaders to the gulags.

Meanwhile, following the rise of the Nazis and the passing of the Nuremberg laws in Germany, the World ORT Union moved its headquarters to Paris in 1933. Its activities assumed a new importance for those denied places at university or thrown out of their jobs through rising anti-Semitism in Germany and across Eastern Europe. The ability to work and support one's family often meant the difference between freedom and imprisonment, or worse. The qualifications and skills many thousands received from ORT provided them with their only means to survive.

One of ORT's principal teaching establishments in Germany was the ORT School in Berlin, which was operated jointly by the ORT branches in the UK and Germany.

ORT operations continued even under German occupation, with ORT farms in Vichy France and schools and workshops in the ghettos of the Eastern Europe. By now, the possession of skills perceived by the authorities to be useful for the war effort meant the difference between life and death. ORT issued thousands of identity cards stating that the bearers were engineers, tailors and machinists even if that was not always the case, buying their owners precious months of life. As deportations to the death camps accelerated, however, ORT schools and workshops, like the ghettos in which they existed, emptied and extinguished.

In 1943, with France under Nazi occupation, ORT's headquarters moved yet again, settling in Geneva in Switzerland. From here, ORT was able to help refugees arriving in the neutral country, including the family of Lady Jakobovits, who was to become Britain’s Chief Rabbitzen. ORT activities were also initiated in Shanghai, then under control of the Japanese. Thousands of Jewish refugees made the arduous trek across Asia to the relative safety of China during the war for, though allied with Germany, Japan was relatively tolerant of their presence. Here ORT helped them to lean an employable skill so they could support themselves and their families.

With the eventual victory of the Allies, ORT was well placed from its Swiss headquarters to help the vast numbers of displaced persons in the refugee camps that sprung up all over Western Europe. For those unable or unwilling to return to their homes and former lives, ORT's assistance took many forms, from providing food and clothing to running training courses to provide survivors with the means to begin life afresh, whether in Europe or, in the case of many, in the newly-created State of Israel. 


ORT in Israel: 1948 to the present

ORT operations had already been established in North and South America and were re-established in parts of Eastern Europe for the refugees arriving in those countries. An increasing number of people were also setting their sights on Palestine, then ruled under the British Mandate. In 1948 the State of Israel was established and from the outset ORT played an important part in the country's survival and growth.

With the declaration of Israel's independence, the country was immediately plunged into war with its Arab neighbours. Flight technicians with Israel's fledgling air force had already received training with ORT in Italy. Naval cadets had also received training in Britain, using a small decommissioned naval vessel.

Along with its fight for survival, Israel also needed to build up its infrastructure including its education system. The first ORT School was established in Israel in 1948 when its staff and pupils emigrated from Sofia, Bulgaria. Today there are 160 schools operating under the ORT Israel banner.

Further expansion and the creation of the international cooperation wing: 1955 to the present

In the 1950s and 1960s ORT's operations expanded to include India, Iran and North Africa, all of which had impoverished Jewish communities. The coming of independence movements to North Africa saw the emigration to France of many Jews and the expansion of ORT's network there.

With Israel still labouring under the Arab Boycott, ORT's International Co-operation department was established, in 1960, to act as a proxy for the State and to carry out Tikkun Olam, righting the world, work in developing countries. With established expertise in the field of education and training, ORT's work on such a large scale with refugees in the 1940s brought it to the attention of the United Nations, the World Bank and other aid agencies. In the last 50 years ORT has maintained projects in some 60 countries around the world from Albania to Vietnam, providing know-how and instruction in areas as diverse as road building to child nutrition and from forestry to vocational training for the visually impaired. In this way ORT acts as an ambassador for Israel and for the Jewish people.

Returning to Russia and the Former Soviet Union: 1989 to the present

Following the collapse of communism in 1989, ORT returned to Russia, the country of its birth. Initially programmes in the former Soviet Union consisted of establishing technology courses in existing Jewish schools. By 1999 some 4,000 students benefited from ORT activities annually. The following year saw the launch of the Regeneration 2000 initiative to expand ORT activities across the region. Since then, the number of ORT students in the CIS and Baltic States has risen to more than 28,000 at 52 schools and educational institutions. British ORT donors played an integral part in the establishment of the ORT School in Kazan, a semi-autonomous Muslim republic of Russia with Jewish population of around 10,000, and the integration into the ORT network of the Aleph School in Zaparoje, Ukraine.

For more information about ORT's modern day activities around the world, visit http://www.ort.org and the International Co-Operation site.