Beit Jeladim Ivrit – Jewish Children’s Home, 1946-1948
The first wards admitted to the DP International Children’s Centre in Indersdorf were children rescued from German concentration camps such as Dachau, Mauthausen-Gusen and Flossenbürg. Others survived the war in hiding or under falsified identities.
Many young people, especially from Poland and the USSR, were brought to Germany for forced labour. The centre also housed boys and girls from ‘Germanisation programmes’, as well as children of forced labourers.
The centre also received many children of Jewish origin, especially from Poland and Hungary. In 1946, even more arrived. Organised into kibbutz groups, they hoped to be able to leave the ”European cemetery” and emigrate to Eretz Israel. At that time, a Jewish Children’s Home was set up at the Indersdorf monastery, which operated from August 1946 to August 1948.
“The importance to the children of being considered individuals upon reception at the center was obvious. They were welcomed by a team member, who introduced himself, explained the center and the reception process rather than instructing the child to do this and go there. Newcomers were immediately introduced to “oldtimers” who were asked to take them in tow and show them the center.” *
Greta Fischer, UNRRA
1. Scene in the courtyard of the monastery, US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.
UNRRA co-worker Marion E. Hutton with her charges at the Indersdorf convent.
2. Children getting out of a vehicle, Vancouver Holocaust Education Center.
3. André Marx greets a child, Vancouver Holocaust Education Center.
When children deprived of family and home arrived at the centre, a warm welcome awaited them.
4. A group of Polish young people, early 1946, private archives of Stanisław Janowski.
Polish youths rescued from concentration camps and forced labour in their bedroom.
5. Kibbutz group ‘Eytan,’ Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, Israel.
Jewish survivors from Poland, ‘Eytan’ kibbutz group, with teacher Miriam Wolpe. At the monastery farm, the youngsters prepared for life in Eretz Israel. ‘Eytan’ means ‘strong’ in Hebrew.
* See: Anna Andlauer, The Rage to Live. The International D.P. Children’s Centers Kloster Indersdorf 1945 – 1948, pg 53.