Activities of the ORT-OZE Committees: from the history of Jewish transnational philanthropy in 1920s – 1940s

Abstract

The article examines activities of two large Jewish philanthropic organizations – the Union of Societies of Handicraft and Agricultural Work among Jews (ORT Union) and the Union of Societies for the Protection of the Health of the Jewish (OZE Union), that actively cooperated in the period between the First and Second World Wars. The main goal of cooperation between these organizations was to provide urgently needed assistance to the Jewish population of Eastern Europe, which was in a state of permanent crisis and therefore sought to emigrate to the more prosperous countries of Western Europe and to the United States. The author analyzes of previously unpublished archival sources and limited editions of the 1920s – 1930s shows how the ORT-OZE transnational network, which included the local branches, regional public committees, financial corporations, vocational and medical institutions, was able to function successfully, to mobilize all available resources for its constructive work and to conduct a number of social and educational programs directed toward rehabilitation of the Jewish emigrants, despite the difficult political situation in the world. The institutional ideologies of ORT and OZE played an important role in the success of these activities, due to which it was possible to overcome the mistrust between emancipated and religious Jews, between Westjuden and Ostjuden.