In 1943, Martha Sharp helped found Children to Palestine, an organization dedicated to resettling Jewish refugee children from Europe and North Africa in Mandatory Palestine. Children to Palestine regularly partnered with Youth Aliyah, a program for rescuing Jewish children from Nazi occupied zones, and Hadassah, a women’s Zionist aid organization. After the war, Children to Palestine turned its efforts to building and enriching communities, heavily supporting the youth village of Ben Shemen, established by Dr. Siegfried Lehmann in 1927.
During the first Arab-Israeli War in 1948, Ben Shemen was evacuated and the youth village was used as a headquarters for the Israeli army. In the wake of the fighting, Children to Palestine began fundraising to build the community anew in neighboring Kfar Vitkin. They founded a new school with help from Albert and Elsa Einstein. Martha first visited Ben Shemen in 1947, and maintained a long relationship with Dr. Lehmann and other humanitarians in Israel.
Exhibited items :
“Children to Palestine, Inc.”
Informational pamphlet, circa 1950
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Martha Sharp and Dr. Siegfried Lehmann with a dedication sign in Ben Shemen (Kfar Vitkin)
Photograph, 1949
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Entrance to Ben Shemen (Kfar Vitkin)
Photograph, 1949
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Dr. Siegfried Lehmann holding plan of the future Ben Shemen at Kfar Vitkin
Photograph, 21 August, 1948
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Proposed Einstein School building site at “The Samuel A. Eliot Village,” Ben Shemen (Kfar Vitkin)
Map produced by Children to Palestine, circa 1949
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Martha Sharp, Albert Einstein, and Children to Palestine donor examining a donated telescope
Photograph by Alan W. Richards, Princeton, N.J., 1954
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Excerpt from “On The First Anniversary of Albert Einstein”
Scrapbook presented to Martha Sharp on the Einstein School’s first anniversary, 6 April, 1956
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Dr. Siegfried Lehmann to Rev. Ralph H. Read, Executive Director of Children to Palestine
Typed letter, 28 December, 1953
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Dr. Siegfried Lehmann to Martha Sharp
Greeting card with photograph of Ben Shemen children, circa 1955
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection
Our World Cut-Out of the Month : Israel
William Elliott (author) and Hugh Laidman (illustrator)
Buffalo, NY : Foster & Stewart Publishing Corp., 1950
Martha and Waitstill Sharp Collection