Aliyah: pl. aliyot (Heb., ascent), term for Jewish immigration Eretz Israel / Palestine from 1882.
Since the emergence of political Zionism in the 19th century, the term has meant “Jewish immigration” to Palestine, or since 1948, to Israel in general.
B
Berufsumschichtung: 1: a term used since the late 19th century for vocational training of young Jews in so-called “practical professions”; 2: in the context of the database, the term is used to differentiate between non-Zionist (occupational retraining) and Zionist training (Hakhshara).
Beth halutz: pl. bate halutz (Heb., Pioneer house), state-run dormitories for Jewish youth organizations offering vocational training. Young people lived there together in kibbutz-like communities.
Boded (m) / bodeda (f): pl. bodedim (m ) / bodedot (f) (Heb., lone), halutzim (m pl.) and halutzot (f pl.), who completed their Hakhshara training alone or the individual members of the HeHalutz.
C
Chevra: (Heb., society).
E
Eleve/Elevin
Eretz Israel: (Heb., Land of Israel), Biblical term for the Israelite Land of Canaan, more modern usage refers to the British-controlled Mandatory Palestine, particularly in Zionist circles.
G
Galut / golah: (Heb., exile), has been used to describe the living situation of Jews outside of Eretz Israel in the diaspora since antiquity.
H
Hakhshara: pl. Hakhsharot (Heb., preparation) used for the self-organized training of adolescents and young adults in agriculture, horticulture, practical trades and home economics as a prerequisite for immigration to the British-controlled Mandatory Palestine.
Halutz (m) / halutza (f): pl. halutzim (m) / halutzot (f) (Heb., pioneer), term for the activists building up Palestine.
Hashomer Hatzair: Socialist-Zionist youth association; founded in Galicia in 1913; foundation of the German national association in 1931.
K
Khaver (m) / khavera (f): pl. khaverim (m ) / khaverot (f) (Heb., comrade), term used for comrades in the youth movement, in trade unions or in political parties, also for members of a kibbutz.
Kibbutz: pl. kibbutzim (Heb., gathering, clustering), Jewish communal settlements in Palestine/Israel based on the collective regarding property, class and the division of labor.
Kibbutz movement: Associations in which the communal settlements have joined together since the 1920s. The associations were either social-democratic, leftist-socialist or religiously oriented.
Kvutza: pl. kvutzot (Heb., group, community), term for smaller communal settlements founded by pioneers of the second Aliyah (1904–1914) which developed into the kibbutz movement.
M
Madrikh (m) / madrikha (f): pl. madrichim (m) / madrikhot (f) (Heb., leader), term for the mostly young leaders of Jewish youth groups.
Makkabi-Hazair: Zionist youth association; formed in 1934 from a merger between the Jewish Scout Association (IPD) and the Makkabi sports club; from the mid-1930s, the Jewish youth association with the largest membership in Germany.
Merkaz: (Heb., center).
Mittleren-Hachschara (MiHa): Zionist training opportunity from 1935 for younger youths (15-17 years); training similar to Hakhshara; was only conceived and practiced as communal training in groups.
O
Olim: (Heb., ascent), used to describe immigrants to Eretz Israel in Zionist circles.
P
Pegisha: pl. pegishot (Heb., meeting), organized meeting of a group or several organizations for a particular purpose.
Polenaktion: In late October 1938, under the name “Polenaktion,” ("Polish Action") the Nazi regime ordered the arrest throughout the German Reich of approximately 17,000 Jews who held Polish citizenship or were stateless, and forcibly transported them to the Polish border. The aim was to deport them before the Polish government could revoke their citizenship. Approximately 8,000 of them were detained in Zbąszyń (on Polish territory, immediately adjacent to the German border) with no chance of returning, while at the same time the Polish government denied them entry into the country. Among those who arrived there were also some halutzim and halutzot who were rescued and brought to the Hakhshara. Some of the Jewish youths who had been arrested at their Hakhshara sites in Germany and deported to Poland formed youth Aliyah groups there.
Praktikant:innen: 1: Self-designation of Zionist retrainees from the “Blau-Weiss” Jewish Traveling Association until the mid-1920s; 2: Designation of non-Zionist trainees (e.g. in Groß-Breesen) as a distinction from the term “Chaluz”.
S
Shaliach (m) / shlicha (f): pl. shlichim (m) / shlichot (f) (Heb., messenger), youth leaders who were sent by various kibbutz movements to help with organizational and educational work.
Sicha: pl. sichot (Heb., conversation, speech).
Snif: pl. snifim (Heb., local branch, group).
Stamchaluzim: Term for halutzim or halutzot who belonged to the Hechaluz, but not additionally to one of the youth leagues.
T
Tarbut: (Heb., culture), tarbut work is the teaching of Jewish culture and history.
V
Vorlehre: Project developed in 1934 by the Youth Welfare Department of the Jewish Community of Berlin (and later in other cities) to make Jewish youth who had left school “professionally ready”; training mainly in cities and in the trades; politically "neutral" counterpart to the Zionist “Mittlere Hachshara”.
W
Werkleute: Jewish youth association that emerged in 1932 from a branch of the disbanded "Deutsch-Jüdischer Wanderbund Kameraden"; committed to Zionism and aliyah from 1933; joined the Artzi kibbutz association in Palestine at the end of the 1930s.
Y
Youth Aliyah: Organized immigration of Jewish youths aged 14 to 18 to Palestine/Erez Israel; initiated by Recha Freier in Berlin in 1932/33 and later implemented by Henrietta Szold in Palestine; several weeks of preparation in the Galut; after the Aliyah, communal training in groups (mainly in kibbutzim).
Z
Zeire Misrachi: (= the young Mizrahist; actually: Brith Hanoar schel Zeire Misrachi); Orthodox-Zionist youth league; connected to the Orthodox pioneer organization "Bachad".
Zionism: the goal of the Zionist movement was the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. The Zionist movement arose in the 19th century. There were both religious as well as secular forms existing side by side within the Zionist movement.