The Palestine Vocational Service, New York, New York, United States of America
| Street | East 70th Street |
| City | New York |
| State/ Province | New York |
| Country | United States of America |
Narrative
The Palestine Vocational Service began in the New York offices of Habonim Dror, to continue with the now-expanded recruitment program.
The Palestine Vocational Service established an office on the premises of the Jewish Teachers' Seminary, in New York, ostensibly to supply vocational information and assistance to prospective settlers in Palestine, but it worked clandestinely, finding candidates from amongst Jewish sailors who were recommended from mouth to ear, to whom they offered jobs for seamen: deck officers, engineers, navigators, ship stewards, radio personnel, and, above all, able-bodied seamen, with or without experience.
Yehuda Silverman Sela cites: "There was not too large a choice so there also could not be too much of a selective process. Actually, just about anyone who applied and had the proper papers was accepted. Since this process took quite a long time, the first two vessels, the „Wedgwood‟ and the „Hagana‟ (they left the States in April 1946) had a minimum of trained, experienced seamen and a maximum of men from the Zionist youth movements."
Ralph Goldman served as Director of the Palestine Vocational Service, prior to becoming Executive Director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.