The Heart of the City That Once Was

The ORT and Dzierżoniów 

The poster with Polish and Yiddish text shows the class schedule of a ten-month agricultural course held in Dzierżoniów. Hiding underneath these cold facts is the history of a certain place, certain people, and certain organisations making efforts to build a new world in the times of uncertainty and fear. 

Place 

Dzierżoniów in Lower Silesia was a unique spot on the map of post-war Jewish life in Poland. After the end of World War II, the small German town of Rychbach (Reichenbach) was incorporated into the Polish territory. It saw a change both in its name, becoming Dzierżoniów, and in the composition of its population. 

People 

In the post-war years of the „Great Fear”, Dzierżoniów was home to many Jews who had survived the Holocaust in hiding or in concentration camps, as well as for repatriates from the USSR. Between 1945 and 1950, a half of the population – from nine thousand up to as many as fifteen thousand people – consisted of Survivors. The other half were Poles looking for a fresh start in the so-called Recovered Territories. Jews would build their new lives in Dzierżoniów around legally operating Jewish welfare and educational organisations which used Yiddish alongside Polish. Contrary to Jews from Częstochowa, Kielce, Kraków, Rzeszów, and other localities where Survivors became victims of post-war pogroms, the people living in Dzierżoniów enjoyed a sense of safety. Here, the scale of violence was much smaller, and the possibilities to defend oneself broader. Although the post-war uncertainty, the trauma of Survivors, and the grief of losing family weighed heavy on the local Jews, they had plenty opportunities to start life anew. 

Organisation 

Many Jews of Dzierżoniów received vocational training, for example by attending courses organised by the ORT – the Organisation for the Support of Industrial, Artisanal, and Agricultural Production in Poland, founded in 1860. In 1946, the ORT coordinated four branches, and in 1948 – as many as twelve. The bilingual poster presented here is the class schedule of an agricultural course. It began in November and lasted until August – the period of harvest, with the trainees participating in the gathering of crops. They were taught soil science, basic chemistry and botany. They attended classes on animal nutrition, husbandry, and anatomy. They learnt about the vegetation cycle of plants and efficient management of a farm. The course also included a module of general subjects, including Polish, Yiddish, and maths. 

The ORT closed its operations in 1950. By then, the communist authorities had managed to gain control over all independent educational, cultural, and social institutions. One of the results of these actions was bringing an end to the phenomenon of Jewish settlement in Dzierżoniów. 

In our digital repository, the object can be viewed in the highest quality.

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