National Youth Administration's Community Program for Jewish Refugee Resettlement

National Youth Administration's Community Program for Jewish Refugee Resettlement

National Youth Administration Programs

Georgia Newspaper describing National Youth Administration's impact on Jewish teens interested in agriculture and vocational training.

Makenzie Smith

The Southern Israelite

February 28, 1941

Eugene Oberdorfer, President of Georgia Farm School and Resettlement Bureau, Inc.

public domain

Newspaper Article

English

Temple Bulletin

Through the cooperation of the National Youth Administration the program was adapted to an arrangement whereby youthful candidates for agricultural and vocational training were enabled to pursue such
courses in existing National Youth Administration training centers in various sections of Georgia. The cost of tuition and maintenance of each individual refugee youth under this plan was paid to the National
Youth Administration institution concerned, from the funds raised by the local committee for agricultural resettlement. In the training centers which were under the complete and direct control of the National Youth Administration the teachers were young, intelligent,
and progressive, and the faculties were both cooperative and understanding. However, the student body came largely from the rural
areas of Georgia. The cultural background and the sophistication of these Viennese youths (for most of them came from Vienna) irritated many of the students. The continental European customs, habits, standards of dress, and appearance were additional causes of friction with the rural native students. We soon realized that the smaller
the group of refugees the easier would be their acceptance and the more natural their contacts.

Newspaper Article