ORT's activities in Germany
The main function of ORT in Germany was short-term vocational training of Jewish DPs in order to facilitate their chances for emigration and resettlement overseas. No less importantly however it instilled an interest in learning and work into those who survived labour and concentration camps.
In the initial phase of its work in Germany ORT encountered a number of problems, starting with the fact that the majority of camps suffered form overcrowding, lack of food and poor sanitation. ‘One of the basic questions which faced ORT in 1946 and is still facing it today is the problem of feeding the ORT trainees. Hungry men, women and children who are constantly searching for ways and means to supplement their meagre food rations, are not ready either physically or morally to avail themselves of ORT vocational opportunities' - reported ORT in the summer of 1947.[1]
Setting up the schools was also difficult due to lack of appropriate space and materials. According to Franklin J.Keller, ORT school inspector, ‘To a certain degree, these schools were planned, but only in the most general way. For the most part, they are like any other military improvisations. DP’s were housed wherever military commanders could find rooms, often in old German army barracks, sometimes, as in Stuttgart, in a block of apartment houses, in others, as in Heidenheim, in fairly comfortable (except for the crowding) individual dwellings. Within these densely packed communities, badly needed living room had to be requisitioned for school use, both academic and vocational- all this amid unbelievable destruction.' [2]
One of the major problems that ORT faced was finding suitable teaching personnel. Teachers had not only to be highly qualified craftsman but also capable of teaching a class consisting of people of all age groups, different nationalities and with educational backgrounds ranging from university graduates to completely uneducated. In the beginning, most of the teachers were selected from among the survivors, but later, as they emigrated, local teachers took over the role. Teachers selected from within the DPs were to be paid later in the currency of their choice once they had settled in another country. During their stay in the camp they were to receive higher food rations.