Switzerland

ORT Switzerland is today a fundraising organization working largely to support ORT programs in Israel, the Former Soviet Union, across Europe and other continents, where there is a need for education or help in emergencies.

After World War Two, ORT rehabilitated and trained thousands of Holocaust survivors in Switzerland to prepare them for new lives.

Today ORT in Switzerland operates out of two locations: ORT Suisse based in Geneva and ORT Zürich based in Zürich.

They run annual activities as wide-ranging as ski days, film premieres, classical concerts, and school visits in order to raise funds for World ORT’s activities.

They have provided financial support to World ORT’s large-scale redevelopment program at Kfar Silver Youth Village in Israel, as well as co-funding YOUniversity Centers of Excellence and science projects across the country.

Switzerland has supported a range of programs from adult education to services for students with disabilities, as well as providing annual funding towards transportation, teacher training and remuneration and informal education needs across the region. ORT Switzerland’s chapters have also acted quickly to contribute towards ORT emergency campaigns, including the provision of support for Israeli students under fire during escalations in conflict.

ORT’s great worldwide network, founded over 140 years ago, made a valuable contribution to scholarship and distance-learning support for schools across Europe during the Covid-19 pandemic. Humanitarian, educational, and infrastructural aid has also been provided to those affected by the conflict in Ukraine, whether they have remained in the country or been forced to move abroad.

The Anières Institute, which ORT supported, was a residential college near Geneva at which hundreds of Jews and non-Jews from dozens of countries pursued two- to four-year courses in the decades following World War Two. Its graduates went on to excel in education, industry and at World ORT itself. The Anières Elite Academy in Israel is named after the Swiss college and was made possible by the financial backing of an original Anières graduate.

View the ORT Zurich Website