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Following the Liberation, those Jewish craftsmen who survived the torment were utterly destitute, with their homes destroyed, their families scattered all over the country, and their premises and equipment despoiled, without which they were unable to resume their professional activities. Returning to normal life was a most difficult experience for them. Aware of this problem, ORT decided to help them resume their activities by granting equipment and providing training for various jobs dealing mainly with clothing, the famous shmattes in Yiddish. With the help of the ORT France archives, including an important iconographical collection, this paper sets out what was done in this area. Although the present stage in these investigations does not allow us to give an accurate number, many hundreds of people were thus able to make a fresh start in life.