Metadata: Archives of ORT Belgium
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- ORT Belgium
- Holding institution (official language):
- ORT Belgium
- Postal address:
- Bruxelles
- Web address:
- http://www.ortbelgium.org/
- Email:
- info@ortbe.org
- Reference number:
- ORT-Brussels-Archives de l’ORT Belgium
- Title:
- Archives of ORT Belgium
- Title (official language):
- Archives de l’ORT Belgium
- Creator/accumulator:
- Obshestvo Remeslenofo zemledelcheskofo Truda
- Date(s):
- 2006/2013
- Language:
- French
- English
- Dutch; Flemish
- Extent:
- 2 linear metres
- Scope and content:
- This fonds contains about a dozen photographs, documentation concerning the activities of ORT Belgium, programs of activities mainly organised to raise funds for World ORT, flyers, posters of cultural and social activities or conferences, publications of World ORT, files concerning trips organised by ORT Belgium, material concerning donations, exhibition catalogues and bookkeeping records. The correspondence, lists of members and minutes of meetings are in digital form. We also note films produced by World ORT.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- ORT was created in St. Petersburg in 1880. ORT stands for Obshestvo Remeslenofo zemledelcheskofo Truda, meaning ‘society for commerce and agriculture’. The main goal of the organisation was to help young Jews to integrate into professional life by training them in various manual trades. After the First World War, the activity of ORT expanded to Central and Western Europe. It became an international organisation and changed its name to World ORT Union (WOU) in 1921. WOU united almost 54 sections in Central and Eastern Europe and a dozen in Western Europe and the United States. These local sections were primarily responsible for raising funds to finance the courses and schools of the organisation. ORT cooperated and allied itself with the Joint. ORT sections were also created in Belgium. They were notably organised by Léon Berlinn (1854-1935) and by Louis Oungre (1880-1966), director of the Jewish Colonization Association. The Belgian sections mainly engaged in fundraising for ORT activities in Central and Eastern Europe, although not exclusively. Courses were organised in Antwerp in August 1939, to teach trades to Jewish refugees from Central and Eastern Europe. After the Second World War, ORT attempted to help Shoah survivors. The organisation notably cooperated with the High Commissioner for Refugees to help and train survivors of the camps and displaced persons. The activities of ORT Belgium resumed in February 1946. At that time ORT Belgium had two offices, one in Brussels led by Roger Van Praag (1906-1967), the other in Antwerp, run by Alfred Ginsberg. From the beginning, contacts were established with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The first ORT school in Belgium opened in May 1946. Evening classes were also offered to adults and workshops were held for children and adolescents in the Jewish schools, providing training in sewing (for girls), woodwork, chemistry and mechanics (for boys). French classes were provided to Shoah survivors who had found refuge in Belgium so that they would fit more easily into the workforce. A school was established in Kessel-Lo, near Leuven, where young people were trained to work the land in preparation for aliyah and life in the kibbutzim. ORT was also active in the homes for children and adolescents managed by the AIVG. In three years, over 1500 people followed ORT training courses in one of the seven schools and twenty workshops of the organisation in Brussels and Antwerp. Until 1952, the Brussels representatives on the board of ORT Belgium formed a majority, reflecting the activity of the organisation which was predominantly situated in the capital. The situation changed following the closing of the school in Brussels due to the decreasing number of students; the central bureau of ORT Belgium moved to Antwerp. Some courses were still taught in Brussels, in the Jewish schools and after 1957 for the Polish refugees. The courses and training provided in the schools experienced a greater success than the evening classes for adults. ORT also organised courses in the Jewish schools such as Tachkemoni and Jesode-Hatora. Training courses related to the diamond industry were taught in Antwerp; the young girls were oriented towards secretarial courses, notably for working in the diamond sector. The programs of ORT Belgium ended in the mid-1960s. Only in 1991 the non-profit association ORT Belgium was created at the initiative of David Susskind. This association has been led by Charlotte Gotman-Fischgrund since 2006. The association raises funds for the activities of World ORT, and organises trips to visit World ORT institutions around the world. It offers its members and anyone interested political and cultural lectures and film screenings. ORT Belgium participates in various events including the Peace Festival. The headquarters of World ORT is currently located in London. The organisation is active in more than sixty countries. Its primary purpose remains education and vocational training. (Conversation with Charlotte Gutman-Fischgrund, July 2012; P. Glogowski & L. Courtot, Mazl. La bonne étoile. L’histoire de l’ORT et de sa destinée, Strasbourg, éditions du Signe, 2013; G. Kamps, "L’ORT fête ses 130 ans", in Regards, no. 709, 6 avril 2010, pp. 24-25; G. Kamps, "Charlotte Gutman : "À quand une nouvelle école ORT à Bruxelles ?", in Regards, no. 730, March 15, 2011, p. 1; K. Person, ORT and the rehabilitation of Holocaust survivors. ORT Activities 1945-1956, Londres, World ORT, 2012, p. 58; J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2002, pp. 30, 49, 132, 268, 335 and 349 ; L. Shapiro, The History of ORT. A Jewish Movement for Social Change, Londres, World ORT, 2010; V. Vanden Daelen, Laten we hun lied verder zingen. De heropbouw van de joodse gemeenschap in Antwerpen na de Tweede Wereldoorlog (1944-1960), Amsterdam, Aksant, 2008, pp. 136-146.)
- Access, restrictions:
- Consultation requires the authorisation of the president of the organisation.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
