“The first thing that must be insisted on is mastering the Hebrew language at school…” – six letters written by a Holocaust survivor in the displaced persons camp in Bad Reichenhall in the years 1946-1948. The writer, a Jewess named ‘Hadasa’ who taught in the camp, and the content of the letters deals with the subjects she taught and mainly the learning of the Hebrew language for children.
In her letters she mainly writes about the importance of learning the Hebrew language in the camp. For example, in letter date Shvat 1948: “The schools in Sherit HaPleita have been working for a year and a half… We have now reached such a level that we can conduct lessons in Hebrew… The first thing that must be insisted on is mastering the Hebrew language in school… The obligation to speak Hebrew will bring many blessings to the children’s progress in learning in general. ..” . In another letter she writes: “If you don’t find a person who is fluent in Hebrew, look for a person who understands Hebrew and knows arithmetic and is fluent in both languages…”. Some of the letters are written in Hebrew and some in Polish.
The displaced persons camp in Bad Reichenhall was established in a military base of the German army which was built in 1934, and was converted to serve as a Jewish displaced persons camp in 1945 by the occupation authorities of the American army. At its peak (October 1946), the camp numbered about 6000 people.
Due to its location, near the Austrian border, it was also used as an important transit point on the “escape” route of Jews towards Italian ports. In the camp, the two most important congresses of She’erit HaPleta were held (In the years 1947-1948) by the organization of the freed Jews in the American occupation zone. After the establishment of the state, most of the camp’s residents immigrated to Israel, and it was finally closed on 7/31/1951.
general condition good.
