Żydowskie domy dziecka na Dolnym Śląsku prowadzone przez Centralny Komitet Żydów w Polsce (CKŻP) – zarys problematyki
Jewish orphanages in Lower Silesia run by th Central Committee of Jews in Poland (CCJP) – an outline of the subject

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the issue of Jewish orphanages located in Lower Silesia and subordinate to the Central Committee of Jews in Poland. The first institution opened in 1945, and the end of its activity under the auspices of the CCJP came in January 1950, when it was nationalized. The establishment of numerous Jewish children’s institutions (orphanages, schools, kindergartens, and half-boards) in Lower Silesia was not a coincidence, as the region began experiencing an influx of Jews in 1945, while in 1947 the Lower Silesian Jewish committees had registered about 9,000 children. When establishing children’s institutions – both with educational and childrearing functions – the CCJP Department of Care attached great importance to the implementation of the tasks assigned to them. An effort was made to provide pupils with the best possible living and developmental conditions and to create a substitute for the family home lost during the war. Care was taken to teach the Yiddish and to preserve Jewish traditions, but even on Jewish holidays efforts were made to give them a secular dimension. With time, emphasis was placed on a socialist upbringing. In the first period of their existence, Jewish orphanages could count on financial support from foreign Jewish organizations, but they were maintained by the Central Committee of Jews in Poland. Their material needs were not fully satisfied. The staff of the institutions did not always have a proper education.

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