As toddlers,Yodi Gitelman, born in Poland to Holocaust survivors, and Pereets Damri, born in war-torn Tunisia, fled with their families to settle in pre-State Israel. As teens, the two majored in Printing at Boys Town Jerusalem amd wemt on to found one of Israel’s leading printing presses. Today, over 50 years later, the partners have sold the business and endowed their alma mater with a scholarship fund earmarked to give today’s needy BTJ students a head start for life.
BTJ gave Yosi and Peretz the education to build a business
“Not only did BTJ teach industrial printing some 60 years ago, but the school initiated and guided the IDF to create a unit to meet the Army’s printing needs. I was one of many grads to serve there,” Yosi noted proudly.
The young men opened a printing press in Jerusalem
“After our IDF service and the Six Day War that followed, Peretz and I took advantage of a government initiative to stimulate new businesses in newly-reunited Jerusalem. In 1969, at age 20, we opened the “Old City Press,” one of the first businesses in the revived Jewish Quarter. It measured 12 sq. meters.”
Old City Press is the largest printing press in Jerusalem
Today’s Old City Press boasts over 4000 sq. meters housing five separate departments. Not only is it the largest press in Jerusalem, but one of the nation’s largest, and a precedent-setter in thesophisticated Israeli and worldwide printing industry.
BTJ gave them the tools to be successful
“What we learned as Boys Town Jerusalem printing majors gave us the tools to immediately begin working and constantly advance,” Yosi stressed, adding with a smile that they soon reached the point where they employed their former BTJ instructors.
Yosi and Peretz proudly donated a scholarship fund to BTJ
Throughout a half-century of continuous hard work to build, operate and develop the Old City Press, the two grads never forgot the skills and support that Boys Town Jerusalem awarded them. “We’re now proud to donate a special scholarship fund to show our appreciation and improve the future of new BTJ graduates to come.”