Jüdisches Auswandererlehrgut Gross-Breesen

In the spring of 1936, the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland formed the Jüdisches Auswanderungslehrgut (Jewish Emigration Training Farm) in Silesia. The estate, known as Gross-Breesen, was donated by a Polish Jew named Willi Rohr, and was located near Obernigk in the district of Trebnitz. The goal of the institution was to provide young Jews agricultural skills in order to ease their emigration to other countries. The program, with about 120 participants, of which approximately 30 were girls, was led by psychologist and educator Dr. Curt Bondy (1894-1972). The curriculum was a mix of agriculture, Judaism, and German culture, and emphatically (and controversially) not Zionist. After the Kristallnacht in November 1938, 118 of the program's participants managed to leave Germany, primarily to England, the Netherlands, South America, and the United States. Bonds within the group remained strong, as newsletters and reunions continued into the 2000s.

Sources: Collection and Angress, Werner T. Auswandererlehrgut Gross-Breesen. Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook (1965) 10 (1): 168-187.

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