OLLENDORFF, FRIEDRICH

OLLENDORFF, FRIEDRICH (1889–1951), German social welfare expert. Born in Breslau, Germany, Ollendorff studied law. After service in the German army in World War i, he was appointed legal adviser to one of the district municipalities of Berlin. He later turned to social welfare work and was one of the highest officials in the youth welfare and welfare administration of the Berlin municipality. He played an active role in preparing modern welfare legislation in Germany. In 1924 he left his post to become director of the "Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der deutschen Juden" (Central Office for Social Welfare of German Jewry) and co-editor, with Max Kreuzberger, of the Collection of Welfare Legislation. Ollendorff introduced many new ideas and practices in Jewish welfare work in Germany. In 1934 he immigrated to Palestine and together with his wife, Fanny, a trained social worker, became an adviser to Henrietta *Szold, then director of the social welfare department of the Vaad Leummi (General Council of Palestine Jewry). He introduced the Kartis ha-Kaḥol (the blue contribution card) as a means of collecting regular contributions for social welfare. He became the first honorary secretary of the Jerusalem social welfare council, which was composed of the director of social welfare of the Palestine government and representatives of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim welfare institutions. He was also one of the initiators of the International Conference of Jewish Social Work, which held its first meeting in 1928 in Paris.

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Biographisches Handbuch der deutschsprachigen Emigration… (1999), 540 (with bibliography).

[Giora Lotan ]