Abstract
This contribution deals with the phenomenon of refugee schools in Prague during the First World War. Organising education for refugees was largely dependent on financial support from the state; however, it was also depended a lot on the help of charitable organizations, relief committees and the activities of philanthropists.
In the case of the elementary, secondary, and professional education of Jewish refugees, this was mainly organised by a newly founded School Office at the Jewish Religious Community in Prague, which was run by the Zionist Alfred Engel as well as the Viennese philanthropic organization, the Baron Hirsch Foundation. Primary schools for Polish and Ukrainian refugees were initially established mainly thanks to the initiative of the delegates of the Krakow archdiocese, then with the support of auxiliary committees for Polish and Ukrainian refugees.
In Prague, ten elementary refugee schools were gradually established as well as two grammar schools ensuring the continuity of education for high school students from Galicia and Bukovina. As part of Austrian war policy, refugee education was important not only as a means of preserving the continuity of the educational process for children away from home, but also as a way of filling their free time spent in the diaspora.