Jugend-Alijah – Portfolio of Youth Aliyah Photographs – Photographs by Walter Zadek, Lu Landauer, and Others – ...

Jugend-Alijah – Portfolio of Youth Aliyah Photographs – Photographs by Walter Zadek, Lu Landauer, and Others – Berlin, 1937
Jugend-Alijah [Youth Aliyah], a portfolio containing reproductions of photographs and a chart of Youth Aliyah’s activities in 1937. Berlin: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kinder-und Jugend-Alijah, [1937]. German.
The portfolio contains 12 plates with reproductions of photographs by Walter Tzedek, Lu Landauer, Herbert Sonnenfeld, and G. Sochaczewski. The photographs depict youth in the Jugend-Alijah school in Berlin before their immigration to Palestine and youth in Tel Aviv, Ein Harod, and other places after immigrating to Palestine via Youth Aliyah, showing young people at work in the fields, tending flocks, and during leisure time, learning trades, and studying religious texts. An additional photograph depicts the Youth Aliyah buildings in Ein Harod. One plate contains photographs of Recha Freier and Henrietta Szold.
The photographs are accompanied by a folded leaf enumerating Youth Aliyah’s activities and accomplishments, with some text on one side and an illustration and a chart on the other. Among the statistics given are: The number of young people brought to Palestine, the number of young people who completed their professional training, and the number of residential communities in Palestine that absorbed the them.
A photograph by Walter Zadek, depicting a teenage girl from Kibbutz Ein Harod playing the accordion, is printed on the cover of the portfolio.
The purpose of the organization's official German name, Jüdische Jugendhilfe [Jewish Youth Aid], was to disguise the organization’s Zionist purpose. Established by Recha Freier in 1933, the organization worked to unify the Jewish youth movements, provide professional training to their members, and obtain permits for immigration to Palestine. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the recipients of these permits were chosen with extreme care, and even given medical and physical examinations, due to the difficulty in obtaining immigration permits and absorbing additional immigrants in Palestine.
[12] plates, 15X23 cm + 21X29 cm leaf. Good condition. A small number of stains. Many stains and small tears on the cover. The cover is reinforced and restored with tape.
Provenance: Rimon Family Collection.