Hachschara brickworks Polenzwerder - Polenzwerder estate

The Polenzwerder estate was acquired in 1923 by the brothers Julius and Gustav Meyer and used as a brickworks and agricultural business. The brickworks was out of operation from 1932, after which Polenzwerder was only used for farming. Gustav Meyer's son Max was the manager of the estate until 1937.
On 10 July 1937, a lease agreement was concluded between the Meyer brothers and the Staatszionistische Organisation e.V. Berlin. A contract term of four years was agreed. Accordingly, Polenzwerder became an agricultural training center for young people from July 1, 1937. The sponsor was initially the youth organization Jüdisch-nationale Jugend Herzlia (Betar). Herzlia was the youth organization of the Zionist Revisionists (state Zionists), but it did not have a large membership in Germany and was relatively isolated. Its principles included Legionism, the conquest of Palestine by military force if necessary, which was also reflected in the Chalucian education of the young Betarim. Thus, military discipline, appeals and sporting activities were part of the hachshara of Herzlia.
Parallel to this, Polenzwerder was also used as a training center for military personnel. In the first two weeks of August 1937, a so-called instructor course took place with around 35 participants, all Betarkenanim (Betar local group leaders), under the direction of the Austrian engineer Simon Lustgarten.
In the summer of 1938, the State Zionist Organization and the Jüdisch-national Youth Herzlia were dissolved. In November 1938, there was a raid by the Gestapo during the Pogrom Night. They forced all participants to lie on their stomachs and were then counted. In contrast to many other hachsharot in Germany, the hachshara in Polenzwerder was able to resume operations after the pogrom.

From: https://hachschara.juedische-geschic