Beniaminas Jocheles with his students at the ORT Vilna Technicum, 8 April 1930. VGSJM ORT in Vilnius The Jews' Vocational School The ORT Vilna Technicum 1 The ORT Vilna Technicum 2 Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum
Dr Matitjahu Schreiber, Head of the ORT Vilna Technicum in his office, 1935. World ORT Archive. After the liquidation of the ghetto he was sent to the Klooga forced labour camp in Estonia, where he perished.
Zemach Szabad, 1935. VGSJM
Cover of the statutes of the Society for the Promotion of Skilled Trades and Agricultural Labour among Jews, Vilnius 1919. LCVA
Beniaminas Jocheles, a teacher of the ORT Vilna Technicum, and his family, May 1937. Fania Brancovski’s personal archive
The Society for the Promotion of Skilled Trades and Diligence among Vilnius Jews The society was established in 1918 and continued its activities during 1920–1939 after Poland occupied Vilnius and its environs and in 1939 when Lithuania regained the occupied area. At the beginning Dr Zemach Szabad, a known Vilnius public figure, headed the society. In Vilnius the organisation supported a technical college and a vocational school, offered various courses, and kept model farms and workshops. In addition, it supported the needy who wanted to study a trade, by providing them with benefits, tools and materials; learning a trade helped them find work. Before 1940, more than 10,000 people had enjoyed such support. The organisation received donations from the public, especially from charitable Jewish organisations abroad, for instance, the Jewish relief organisation the American Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). ORT Vilnius expanded its activities in 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War. After Poland fell the Vilnius area was flooded by refugees, and the municipalities and state authorities were unable to support them all. During the first half of 1940 alone, the organisation gave support to over 5,000 people, providing them with work, benefits, and food; the Jewish health organisation OZE provided them with the necessary medical help.
Teacher of electrical engineering, Beniaminas Jocheles, who worked at the Technicum between 1927 and 1941. Fania Brancovski’s personal archive
Lecture on mechanics for secondterm students with teacher Dr Matitjahu Schreiber, 1920–1930. World ORT Archive The organisation’s goal was to promote an affinity for work in society From a request to the Minister of the Interior by Jokubas Švarcas, an engineer and the organisation’s authorised person. Vilnius, 22 April 1940
List of the teachers and instructors of schools supported by ORT, 1939. LCVA
ORT in Vilnius