Switzerland

ORT Switzerland is a fundraising organization supporting ORT programs in Israel, across Europe and other continents.

ORT Switzerland is 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 for help in emergencies.

It operates out of two locations – Geneva-based ORT Suisse and ORT Zürich – and runs annual activities including ski days, film premieres, classical concerts, and school visits in order to raise funds for World ORT’s activities.

It has 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.

ORT Switzerland’s chapters have 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. They have also acted quickly to contribute toward ORT emergency campaigns, including the provision of support for Israeli students under fire during escalations in conflict.

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

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 after 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.

Panama
The Colegio Isaac Rabin in Panama City is a Jewish school with more than 300 students, from preschool through to high school age.
France
ORT France operates in seven locations, including Paris, Strasbourg, Toulouse, and Marseille.
Belarus
Until 2022 ORT was active in Belarus through two KesherNet centres, located outside the country’s capital, Minsk.