Fritzlar DP camp was located in a small town in northern Hesse in the American occupied zone of Germany. The camp had about 900 inhabitants and was badly neglected. Already in mid 1948 IRO considered closing it on the basis of bad sanitary conditions.

Despite deplorable living conditions, the camp had an extensive cultural life. It maintained an elementary school, a Tarbut school and a Talmud Torah. ORT vocational school in Fritzlar, located in a building that had previously been used as the stable of a German cavalry regiment,  ran courses in radio technology, locksmiths training, auto mechanics and dressmaking. They were attended by fifty-five students. Visiting the school, in August 1947, an ORT inspector noted typical problems of a newly established vocational institution and problem-solving skills required of school inspectors in DP camps:

‘This school was taken over by ORT only a month ago, some of the activities having been conducted by the camp committee. The transition has been attended with many difficulties. The present director has been inherited from the former management and is not the right man. He is only there because he represents a party. The boys do not like him because he antagonises them. There are also difficulties with the assistant director, so it is the inspector’s intention to drop both of them.

In general, the school is poorly kept. It needs a general house cleaning. At the end of a session there was a woman sweeping up the auto shop. Good training would indicate that the boys should have taken care of this themselves. During the visit the boys spoke to us about their desire to drive cars without being accompanied by an instructor, both within and outside the camp. Mr. Solun and I impressed upon them the danger of any such practice. Of course, driving outside the camp at any time would require a licence. The young men have organized a student council and thus have incurred the dislike of the camp committee. It is difficult for an outsider to judge the merits of the controversy, but there are indications that they are on the side of young men.’[1]

The camp closed down at the beginning of 1949.