05 February 2010 Top ranking for World ORT websites The relevance and quality of World ORTs on-line resources have been proven with searches on Google ranking four of its websites at number one. Unlike some organisations, World ORT does not pay to have its resources included in search results nor does it employ search engine optimisation tactics to inflate the volume of traffic to its websites. On Monday, World ORTs websites Music and the Holocaust, Learning about the Holocaust through Art, and Navigating the Bible came top of specific searches on Google. The Jewish Way of Life website, which was funded by the Pears Foundation and put together by World ORT in conjunction with the Board of Deputies of British Jews, also came top. World ORTs Head of Jewish Education, Judah Harstein, said the particularly high ranking may be connected to interest in the topics generated by Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. These resources usually come high up in the rankings of search engines, Mr Harstein said. But the fact that they have come top at this time of year shows not only that many people are motivated to seek out information about the Holocaust and Jews on Holocaust Memorial Day but that many find what they need on our websites. With Holocaust denial and Holocaust relativism at unprecedentedly high levels the presence of thorough, informative and attractive resources such as World ORTs on the Internet is more important than ever. Our websites clearly fulfil a real need to provide accurate, substantive information, said Sadler Johnson, World ORTs Software Developer. We are profoundly satisfied to have been able to produce a counterweight to the plethora of lies and half-truths about this darkest chapter in the modern history of mankind. Learning about the Holocaust through Art ( http://art.holocaust-education.net/home.asp langid=1 ) is a major collaborative project between World ORT and Beit Lohamei Haghetaot (The Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum and Study Centre), with principal sponsorship from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. The primary goal of this project is to create a significant, high-quality resource about the art of the Holocaust for researchers, educators, students and the wider public. On the Music and the Holocaust website ( http://holocaustmusic.ort.org/ ), one can learn about diverse composers and musicians, including those who supported the Nazis and those who became their victims. The site includes a wide range of sound recordings and an interactive map to facilitate the exploration of musical life in ghettos and camps across Europe. The Jewish Way of Life ( http://www.jwol.org.uk/index.php id=home ) resource has been created for teachers, to give them all they need for their pupils to engage in effective and enriching learning about Judaism. At Navigating the Bible ( http://bible.ort.org/ ), visitors can journey into the world of the Jewish Bible, studying the weekly portions, hearing the melodies with which they are sung in synagogues, follow the themes and learn what the scholars say. It is an opportunity to explore the Jewish Bible as history, literature and religion. World ORT Director General and CEO Robert Singer said the websites were an increasingly effective way of pursuing the organisations goals of education and tolerance. Our professionally produced, multi-lingual resources are reaching hundreds of thousands of people around the world with the factual material they need to preserve historical truth and increase tolerance and understanding between communities, Mr Singer said.