Haapalah / Aliyah Bet

Moritz Moshe and Recha Freir moved to Eschwege, where he was already a Rabbi.

In 1937, Shalhevet Freier left for England.
In 1938, Moritz Freier followed.
Their other sons. Recha and her husband, who had been separated for a long time, never again lived together.

Recha Freier conceived Aliyat haNoar, stating:
"The utter senselessness of Jewish life in the Diaspora stood palpably before my eyes,"
She devotedher life to the rescue of Jewish children and arranging for their transport to Palestine.
Recha Freier traveled to publicize her idea and raise funds.
She also contacted Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, and the labor movement in Palestine, and asked her to take over responsibility for the teenagers arriving in Palestine from Europe.
While Henrietta Szold refused to take part, having idea of the building danger to the Jews in Germany, and so thought it a pity to interfere with their education.
Henrietta Szold initially thought the plan was not feasible, but ultimately, she agreed to become the director of Aliyat haNoar's Jerusalem office and to coordinate accommodation for the young people in Palestine.

In 1938, Recha Freier worked to release Polish Jews interned in concentration camps, using certificates from Die Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland, headed by Rabbi Leo Baeck.
The certificates commited the Jews who were released, would leave Germany within two weeks.
Recha Freier had taken, without permission, 100 permits, and added the names of a hundred prisoners, who were released and were transported to Palestine.
When Rabbi Leo Baeck learned that Recha Freier had taken the permits, he banned her from taking additional certificates, and banned her from Berlin Zionist Executive roles, including chairmanship of Aliyat haNoar.

By 1939, Aliyat haNoar had saved 7,000 young people who immigrated to Palestine from Germany, absorbed working settlements

In 1940, Recha Freier was betrayed by colleagues, and having been forewarned managed to flee Germany to Yugoslavia, taking her daughter, Ma'ayan, and another 40 teenagers to Palestine with her.
the children were housed with Yugoslavian Jewish families, when eighty certificates arrived, eighty children traveled to Palestine, while the remaining forty reached Switzerland, where they remained till the end of the war.

Before immigrating to Palestine, Recha Freier helped smuggle an additional 90 Jewish children out of Yugoslavia.

In 1943, Recha Freier, founded המפעל להכשרת ילדי ישראל, to provide education for children from poor families, children living in poor social conditions.

Recha Freier and daughter, Ma'ayan, left Yugoslavia for Istanbul, and then proceeded to Syria..

Recha Freier wanted to continue her work with Aliyat haNoar, but Henriette Szold told her that there was no position her anywhere within the organization in Palestine.

In November, 1984, the City Council of Berlin-Charlottenburg affixed a commemorative plaque at the Jewish Community Center in Fasanen Strasse, honoring “Recha Freier, the Founder of Youth Aliya.”