Jewish Orphanage Pankow

The orphanage was founded in response to the pogroms against the Jewish population after the assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. In the course of this, the Berlin Relief Committee brought 39 Jewish boys aged 6 to 11 from Russia to Berlin in 1882. For their accommodation, a plot of land was purchased in Pankow at Berliner Strasse 121, which was occupied on October 22, 1882. Free places were filled with orphans from the Jewish community in Berlin. Financially, the orphanage was supported by numerous foundations, one of which allowed the purchase of the annex building in 1901, creating capacity for more boys.

The daily routine at the orphanage was strictly structured. The day was filled from 6 to 21 o'clock with housekeeping, lessons and sport. In the breaks a music cabinet, library and garden were available. Furthermore, the children could participate in the orchestra, choir and school newspaper. At the age of 14, the boys were placed with craftsmen for apprenticeship, e.g. as carpenters, gardeners and tailors. After completing their apprenticeship, the children were still supported financially if necessary. Until 1910 198 children received a place in the orphanage, 114 of them had learned a trade.

After a fire had destroyed the building in 1911, a new building was built between 1912/13 under the direction  Alexander Beers and inaugurated on 21.09.1913. From 1935 the school was enlarged in the course of the increasing exclusion of Jewish pupils from the general school system, and from 1936 girls were admitted for the first time. After the orphanage was stormed by Nazis in the summer of 1938, some of the children were able to escape with Kindertransport in the same year. After 1940, the orphanage was merged with the Auerbach orphanage in Prenzlauer Berg, from where deportations to extermination camps took place. In 1942, the building was confiscated by the SS, which put an end to the Jewish use of the building.