Report to the ... Zionist Congress and to the Council of the Jewish Agency in ... · 1935-08-01 · 8.1935 · p. Seite 262

communities, such as milk distribution to infants, holiday camps for school children, etc. The Social Department of the Jewish National Council is being approached for confirmation of new schemes and is in constant touch with the WIZO's Social Department. The Palestine WIZO Federation, which counts 5,000 members in 21 groups, apart from its practical work for the upbuilding of the Jewish National Home, carries out cultural activities as well among the Jewish women of Palestine. It is also responsible for tourist activity on behalf of the WIZO during the tourist season. Hachshara and Ali yah. The growing tendency amongst young people in recent years towards Hachshara was introduced into the WIZO purview with the formation of the Young WIZO Movement. The strong desire to undergo Hachshara for which suitable facilities for girls were lacking, coupled with the difficulty of obtaining certificates for girls who were not members of a Haluz Organisation, imposed upon the WIZO the twofold task of investigating all the possibilities for the securing of girls' Hachshara and of making provision for certificates for them. The desirability of preserving the non-political attitude of the members of the Young WIZO, which is an essential characteristic of the Senior Movement, gave rise to a proposal that the girls anxious to undergo Hachshara and to emigrate should form themselves into special groups or sections, and as such, enter the Organisation and framework of the Hehaluz with full autonomy. There was also a feeling that " separate " WIZO Hachshara centres should be established for such girls. It became clear, however, after investigation, that co-operation with Hehaluz, with the assurance of complete autonomy, was possible and advisable, because by avoiding the creation of " separate " WIZO Hachshara, an additional split in the Hachshara and Aliyah Movement would be overcome. Negotiations were entered into in this connection with the Jewish Agency and the Zionist Organisation and contacts were also opened up with the Hehaluz Office in Warsaw. It was soon shown, however, that the only method of arriving at some definite conclusion would be by personal investigation, and accordingly Mesdames Sieff and Goodman proceeded to Poland—a visit which was followed up later by Miss Ada Fishman. The outcome of these visits was the realisation that under the then conditions it was not possible to proceed further; that the whole perplexing problem of Hachshara would have to be reviewed on the wider and more general basis of Hachshara as a whole. Meanwhile, a partial solution of the WIZO's special problem had been found in Czechoslovakia, where a department for Haluzoth had been established. This department consists of representatives of the Merkaz Hehaluz and the Executive of the Czecho-Slovakian Federation, and it lays down the guiding lines along which it is hoped that in future 262