I RANDOM SAMPLE
WZPS p hoto cou rtesy of Zion ist Archives
Sharon M. gave her first
gift to the Campaign
this month.
"My kids shamed me into it," she said.
"They asked me where their Bubba would live
if there were no Fleischman Residence."
March is New Gifts Month.
Make a difference. Make your gift to the Allied Jewish Campaign.
,‘$.,- It'174 ,,.,,
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1/41
Fzi
965-3939 -- New Gifts Department
Teachers and pupils at the school in Yaven'el, Israel, in 1912. The school
was established with the assistance of the Jewish Colonization
Association.
The Baron's Project
Is Still Helping Jews
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44
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1988
he Jewish Coloniza-
tion (JCA), founded in
1891 by the Baron
Maurice de Hirsch, is
celebrating its 97th anniver-
sary of Jewish resettlement
and social welfare. One of the
greatest philanthropic enter-
prises in the world in its day,
the JCA dispensed millions of
pounds sterling in loans and
grants to Jews throughout
the world for vocational and
agricultural training.
It all began following the
untimely and tragic death of
Baron de Hirsch's only son,
Lucien, after which the baron
devoted his energy and for-
tune primarily to philan-
thropic work. He incorporated
the Jewish Colonization
Association in London with
an initial capital of two
million pounds sterling, later
increasing it by endowment
to eight million.
Interestingly enough, the
initial objective was to relieve
the plight of impoverished
Russian Jews, by resettling
them in the New World
rather than Eretz Yisrael. In
Argentina alone, over 1.5
million acres of land were ac-
quired and by World War I,
some 20,000 families had
been settled in several new
settlements.
Brazil was another South
American country to which
the JCA directed Jewish
emigrants. As in Argentina,
a major operation was under-
taken to provide the in-
frastructure for the creation
of a Jewish community, but
despite all efforts the set-
tlements there never pro-
spered to the same extent as
those in Argentina.
The JCA assisted Jewish
emigrants from Eastern
Europe to settle in Canada as
well. By 1919, JCA had
founded or aided five set-
tlements in Saskatchewan
with a joint population of 800.
After World War II, farms
were bought in South Ontario
for families from DP camps,
who were joined by new
families from Hungary in
1956.
Soon after, Baron de Hirsch
put his great scheme into ac-
tion, for experience had
shown that his dream of emp-
tying Russia of its Jewish
population was not practical.
He realized that help would
have to be given to those who
remained and thus several
measures were adopted: JCA
established a network of voca-
tional schools with 3,600
pupils in 48 schools by 1914
in addition, some 10,000
children were educated in 98
primary schools with JCA's
support.
In Eastern Europe, artisans
and tradesmen of the villages
had difficulty in obtaining
credit. To fill this need, the
JCA pioneered a network of
cooperative loan and savings
banks. By World War I, some
680 such institutions, financ-
ed by the JCA, operated with
450,000 members.
The JCA's efforts in Eretz
Yisrael began in 1896 when
it first began helping settlers
in the new villages of
Rehovot, Nes Ziona and
others. In 1900, the JCA took
charge of the colonies set up
by Baron Edmund de
Rothschild and by 1921 the
population in the settlements
administered by JCA had
reached 11,000. Shortly
before World War II, the JCA
increased its settlement ac-
tivity in Eretz Yisrael by
founding Moshav Beer Tuvia
in 1934 and Kfar Warburg in
1940.