The British occupational zone of Germany consisted of the districts of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and what is now North Rhine-Westphalia. The headquarters of the Central Commission for Germany- British Element were placed in Bad Oeynhausen.

ORT’s work in the British Zone of Germany began in the former concentration camp of Bergen Belsen in December 1945. It was a direct result of the founding of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews- an institution meant to represent the interests of all Jews in the British Zone of occupation. The congress postulated primarily for the opening of the possibility of immigration to Palestine and immediate segregation of Jewish and non-Jewish DP camps. It also decided on ensuring that all DPs under the age of eighteen were in full time study and on the need of immediate establishing of the training schools in the camp, which would provide vocational skills for young people wishing to emigrate. Within days, twenty nine cases of tools  and forty sewing machines were sent to Belsen.Next schools were opened in Hanover, Northeim, Ahlem and Neustadt. Altogether schools were organized in eleven camps and cities. By May 1947 there were forty-four teachers and 583 pupils in the British zone.

ORT’s work in the British zone was less intense than in the American as the Jewish population of the zone remained stable at around 16,000 people. Since borders were more closely guarded and  infiltrees were treated much stricter than in the American zone, the majority of those crossing the borders illegally tried to get to the American zone. Unlike in the American zone, there was therefore no constant fluctuations of numbers of DPs in British-zone camps and no need for opening and closing schools accordingly.

Unlike in the American zone, where Jewish and non-Jewish DPs were given separate camps. In the British zone it was only Bergen Belsen that had Jewish-only population. The British opposed the separation of Jews from non-Jews on the basis that they did not accept any segregation that was racially or religiously motivated. The Jewish life of the British zone was therefore centralized in Belsen and it is there that ORT concentrated its efforts and set up its headquarters in the zone.