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39-634: World Agudath Israel was established by Jewish religious leaders at a conference held at Kattowitz (Katowice) in 1912. They were concerned that the Tenth Zionist Congress had defeated a motion by the Torah Nationalists Mizrachi movement for funding religious schools. Among the chief founders of the organization were Jacob Rosenheim (one of the leaders of German Jewry), and Rabbi Avrohom Mordechai Alter (the fourth Gerrer Rebbe ). The aim of World Agudath Israel

78-691: A hospital. In January 1948, the British turned this into the central Jewish hospital for their occupation zone. It was run by the Central Committee of Liberated Jews, supported by aid organisations. The survivors named it the Glyn Hughes Hospital after British Brigadier Hugh Llewellyn Glyn Hughes , the medical officer of the 11th Armoured Division . Later still this became part of the Glyn Hughes Barracks, in what

117-969: A key part in maintaining the Agudath Israel organization through World War II. In the post-war period, Agudath Israel was active in Europe to provide aid for Holocaust survivors. There was a branch in the World Agudath Israel World Organization in England located at 37/38 Mitre Street in London . Another branch was located in Switzerland, located at 59 Lavaterstrasseled which was led by Dr. Shlomo Ehrman . There were also branches in Allied-occupied Germany . The Central-Committee of Agudath Israel of

156-705: A kibbutz had 2,760 members. Also like the Poles, many of the Jewish survivors were young adults and in the first two years after liberation there were almost 1,000 Jewish weddings. By the time the camp was dissolved, over 1,000 children had been born in it. A Yiddish theatre called Kazet had been founded in July 1945 by Sami Feder. It staged plays on the fate of the Jews in ghettos and concentration camps, written by himself, as well as older Yiddish plays from Eastern Europe. Kazet

195-652: A self-determined Jewish presence in Palestine, even though they had not been Zionists before the war. Having lost their families, houses and possessions, they saw no future for themselves in Europe. DPs demonstrated against the British policy and sent protest notes. International contacts were established, e.g. to the Zionist Congress at Basel or the United Jewish Appeal to gain support abroad. In October 1945, David Ben-Gurion , president of

234-533: Is now Hohne-Camp . The British authorities renamed the camp 'Hohne', after a nearby abandoned settlement on the training area, in order to avoid the association with Nazi genocide at the concentration camp nearby, but the Holocaust survivors who were residents ( Sh'erit ha-Pletah ) in the camp refused to accept the name change and persisted in calling the DP camp 'Bergen-Belsen'. The name change only stuck after

273-640: The British Zone was led by Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Olewski , Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft and Efraim Londoner and was located in Bergen-Belsen . Yehuda Leib Girsht represented Agudath Israel on the camp committee of Bergen Belsen. The Central Committee of Agudath Israel of the American Zone was led by H. Parasol and N. Braunfeld and was located at Trogerstrasse 58/4 in Munich . When Israel

312-732: The Jewish Agency for Palestine , visited the DP camp. The refugees maintained active opposition to British restrictions on Jewish immigration to the British Mandate of Palestine , and until early 1949 (i.e. well after the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948), British authorities did not allow free passage in or out of the camp. Nevertheless, the Haganah managed to send in agents who held secret military training programmes on

351-544: The Knesset either as the Agudat Israel or in coalition with other Orthodox groups running under the name United Torah Judaism . The World Agudath Israel federation held international conferences and Torah congressional meetings known as HaKnessia HaGedolah ( Hebrew : הכנסייה הגדולה , lit.   ' The Great Congress '), which included many of its spiritual and political leaders, from Israel and around

390-605: The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) with camp directors that included Simon Bloomberg . Today, the camp is a Bundeswehr barracks, having been a British Army base (see Hohne Station ) until 2015. On 15 April 1945 the British Army liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp , which was handed over by the SS guards without a fight. Diseases and the terrible unhygienic state of

429-545: The British Zone took place in the former Wehrmacht officers' mess at Belsen—in the building later known as 'The Roundhouse'. Under the stewardship of Rosensaft and Norbert Wollheim and Rafael Olewski , the Central Committee grew into an organization that lobbied the British on behalf of the DPs' political, social, and cultural aims, including the right to emigrate to British-controlled Palestine. Many survivors supported

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468-515: The British zone, as many still hesitated to return to (now communist) Poland or to Soviet-occupied eastern Poland. Eventually, around two thirds of Polish DPs in the British zone returned to Poland, others went to the US and Canada. With the closure of the Polish section, Belsen became the only exclusively Jewish facility in the British sector, something for which the Jewish survivors had struggled with

507-671: The British. The camp was for a while the largest Jewish DP camp in Germany. Although some had left, in late 1945 thousands of Jews who had survived the Holocaust in Poland or Hungary emigrated westward and many of them came to Belsen, although the British initially refused to give them DP status. In August 1946, the DP camp still housed more than 11,000 Jews. From then on, the British Army tried to prevent any more Jews from joining

546-476: The DP camp was dissolved and the area was returned to military use. Today, the location of the former DP camp remains off-limits to the public. Even though many of the buildings are not in use any more, they are in a restricted military area. Conditions in the camp were initially quite poor, as the dire situation of the British economy prevented the Army from providing more than the bare necessities at first. There

585-612: The DP camp. A first Jewish camp committee was formed on 18 April 1945. Democratic elections were held in September 1945. The leader of the Jewish survivors, Josef Rosensaft became president of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the British Zone which represented not just the Belsen DPs but all Jewish DPs in the British zone. In September 1945 and July 1947 the first and second Congress of Liberated Jews in

624-629: The Grand Rabbi of Ger, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter. As a result of this collaboration, they developed the Agudath Israel organization, with the aim of unifying Eastern European and Western European Orthodox Judaism . Agudath Israel gained a significant following, particularly among Hasidic Jews. It had representatives running in the Polish elections after the First World War, and they won seats in that country's parliament ( Sejm ). Among

663-503: The Jewish Committee For Relief Abroad which helped provide rations for the DPs and facilitate their eventual resettlement. For their part, like the Poles, the Jewish refugees organized a vibrant community within the camp. Schools were established within months of the liberation. The DPs founded an elementary school as early as July 1945, and by 1948, 340 pupils attended the school. A high school, which

702-1123: The Jewish Committee in Celle and then by the Culture & History Committee of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the British Zone (headed by Olewski , Trepman, & Rosenthal). There was considerable rabbinical leadership in the camp. The rabbis of the camp were; Rabbi Dr. Herman Helfgot a.k.a. Tzvi Asaria (previously Rabbi of the Waliki-Beczkark community in Yugoslavia ), Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Meisels (previously, Rabbi of Veitzen), Rabbi Chaim Meisels (previously, Rabbi of Sarvash), Rabbi Yoel Halpern (previously, Rabbi of Jaslow ), Rabbi Yisroel Aryeh Zalmanowitz (previously, Rosh Yeshiva of Bursha ) Rabbi Issachar Berish Rubin, Rabbi Yitzchak Glickman and Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Olewski (previously, Rabbi of Radziov ). The Rosh Hashochtim (head of shechita ) and Rav Hamachshir of

741-472: The Polish camp. The Committee published newspapers. A choir, a brass band, an "International Cabaret" and a sports club ("Polonia") were established. On 2 November 1945 the Polish DPs had a service in which a wooden cross on the former concentration camp site was dedicated as a memorial. The Polish camp was disbanded in September 1946. The remaining 4,500 Polish DPs were transferred to other camps in

780-536: The Soviet Union had obtained consent from its Allies that its citizens would be sent back even against their own will. In early September 1945 there were still more than 25,000 people in the DP camp. This population consisted mainly of two groups: ( gentile ) Poles (around 15,000) and Jews (almost 11,000), most of them also from Poland. DPs of other nationalities were largely repatriated by the fall of 1945. From June 1945 Poles and Jews had separate sections in

819-772: The UNRRA), supported by other organizations like the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) or Jewish Relief Unit (JRU), supplied food, clothing and medicines. But the camp inhabitants otherwise ran their own affairs. The Jewish Committee established its own court and police force, whose tasks included maintaining public order and to fight black market activities. Former British soldier and officer in HM Colonial Service, Simon Bloomberg served as both UNRRA Director for Bergen-Belsen as well as European Director of

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858-470: The best efforts of the British Army, the British Red Cross and many others of various nationalities. By June 1945, around 11,000 of the former inmates still required emergency treatment. The DP camp was established in July 1945 by turning the hospital wards into living quarters. After summer 1945, only the former Wehrmacht hospital, around a kilometre from the barracks, was still used as

897-567: The camp grounds in December 1947. In mid-June 1945, Major Leonard Berney was made commandant of Camp 4. Both sections of the camp, Polish and Jewish, were largely self-administrating. External security was provided by the British Army. In March 1946, the British transferred administration of the camp to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency ( UNRRA ) but remained responsible for security. The British (and later

936-506: The camp was Rabbi Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft (previously, Rosh Hashochtim of Poland ). There was also a Yeshiva in the camp named “She’eris Yisroel” (the remnants of Israel), the Rosh Yeshiva was Rabbi Gershon Liebman , the administrator was Rabbi Yoel Meir Potashevitz and the mashgiach was Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Lubinsky . Large numbers of DPs began leaving the camp in 1947 as opportunities for emigration improved. Beginning in

975-456: The camp. In the Polish section, a lively social and cultural life developed. The Poles had established a Camp Committee on the day after liberation — initially its meetings were also attended by Polish Jews. A school opened in the summer of 1945, attended by up to 600 children, and two kindergartens cared for 100 children. Many Polish DPs were young adults and they started new families in the camp — there were almost 400 weddings and 200 births in

1014-462: The concentration camp buildings caused the British Army to relocate the former inmates and eventually to burn the prisoner huts. The survivors of the concentration camp became the first residents of the future DP camp, which was located around 2 kilometres from the main concentration camp area in former German Army barracks. These later became a British Army camp, known under the name Hohne Station . Initially, British medical staff used buildings in

1053-758: The elected representatives were Alexander Zusia Friedman , Rabbi Meir Shapiro , Rabbi Yosef Nechemya Kornitzer of Kraków , and Rabbi Aharon Lewin of Reysha . Prominent Torah scholars who led Agudath Yisroel included the Gerrer Rebbe , the Radziner Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Elazar Leiner , and the Chafetz Chaim . In Latvia between 1922-1934, members of the Agudath Israel faction, led by Mordechai Dubin , were elected to Saeima (The Parliament). Another prominent member of Agudath Israel

1092-425: The former Panzertruppenschule (school for Panzer troops) as an emergency hospital to treat the former inmates away from the disastrous conditions of the concentration camp. On 21 April the first patients were moved to the new location, disinfected and issued with new clothing. This movement of people was completed by 18 May and at that point the former barracks had around 12,000 hospital beds. The British also moved

1131-453: The spring of 1947, the British government allocated 300 certificates a month to Jews in the British occupation zone—these allowed legal emigration to Palestine. Between April 1947 and the founding of the State of Israel in May 1948 around 4,200 Jews from the British zone, most of them from Belsen, emigrated there legally. By March 1949, the population was down to 4,500. The DP camp at Belsen

1170-619: The world. To date, six congresses have been held, the last of which was in 1980. They were in 1923, 1929, 1937, 1954, 1964, and 1980. Kattowitz Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 201192364 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:50:49 GMT Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp

1209-577: The wounded German soldiers from the Wehrmacht Reservelazarett (reserve hospital, in a nearby spruce forest) to civilian hospitals and added the Reservelazarett to their hospital space. This raised the number of available beds by a further 1,600. Within the first four weeks almost 29,000 survivors from Belsen concentration camp were moved to the emergency hospital. Around 14,000 former inmates died after liberation despite

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1248-831: Was Michoel Ber Weissmandl . In Lithuania , Agudath Israel was active inside of Achdus , which merged into the Jewish Economical and Religious Party, and in Czechoslovakia, Agudath Israel first founded the Jewish Conservative Party , which than merged into the Jewish Economic Party and lastly into the Jewish Republican Party  [ sk ] . In the United Kingdom, the Agudath Israel movement

1287-501: Was a displaced persons (DP) camp for refugees after World War II , in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany , southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle . It was in operation from the summer of 1945 until September 1950. For a time, Belsen DP camp was the largest Jewish DP camp in Germany and the only one in the British occupation zone with an exclusively Jewish population. The camp was under British authority and overseen by

1326-539: Was founded, Agudath Israel reached a modus vivendi with the State of Israel, which was predominantly led by secularists . It helped secure an agreement between Ashkenazi rabbinical leaders and David Ben-Gurion which ensured Ashkenazi rabbinical co-ordination with the state, as well as the implementation of such guarantees as public observance consistent with the laws of the Sabbath and Kashrut . It has established itself as an Israeli political party winning seats in

1365-501: Was in operation until the summer of 1947. In 1946, Abraham Sandman founded the Socialist-Zionist Jiddische Arbeiterbühne . A Zionist newspaper known as Unzer Sztyme (Yiddish for "Our Voice") was published by the DPs of Belsen and became the main Jewish newspaper in the British sector. It was edited by Paul Trepman, David Rosenthal, and Rafael Olewski and had been published initially by

1404-417: Was not enough food, clothing and living space. In October 1945, there was a hunger strike and demonstration against conditions in the camp. Things started to improve only by the summer of 1946, when the population had decreased. Many of those DPs who were not in need of medical attention were speedily repatriated. In general, this was done voluntarily only, with the notable exception of Soviet citizens — as

1443-623: Was represented by the Adath Israel Synagogue, formed in 1909, and the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations , formed in 1926. By 1943 Agudath Israel represented approximately 5000 families and was led by Rabbi Dr Solomon Schonfeld . The British secretary of the Agudath Israel World Organization, the political wing of the movement, was Harry Goodman, publisher and editor of Jewish Weekly . He played

1482-650: Was staffed partly by soldiers from the Jewish Brigade (the Palestinian Jewish unit of the British Army) was established in December 1945. There was a kindergarten, an orphanage, and a yeshiva (a religious school). The Organization for Rehabilitation through Training (ORT) vocational training schools organized occupational education. By mid-1947 ORT had instructed around 1,500 people in training courses that mostly lasted six months. In 1947,

1521-596: Was to strengthen Orthodox institutions independent of the Zionist movement and Mizrachi organization. The advent of the First World War delayed development of the organisation, however. During the First World War , Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Kohn and Rabbi Dr. Emmanuel Carlebach (both from Germany), were appointed as the rabbinical advisors to the German occupying forces in Poland. In this position, they worked closely with

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