ÚŽ leadership, it tarnished the ÚŽ's reputation in the Jewish community, which persisted even years after Hochberg had lost power. Retraining and labor camps As an outgrowth of the work of the welfare department, a retraining department led by Oskar Neumann ran retraining courses for Jews put out of work, supposedly in preparation for emigration to Palestine. However, Neumann was able to use his position in order to extend aid to the Zionist youth movements, which had been banned. By February 1941, 13,612 people had applied for these courses but only a few could be accommodated. In June, 63 courses were retraining 1,300 Jews for agricultural work. Craft retraining programs were more difficult to organize because Jewish businesses were rapidly liquidated. Nevertheless, by July there were 605 participants in such courses. Many graduates later worked in the labor camps in Slovakia. The ÚŽ paid for the courses, which included instruction in the Hebrew language and life in the future Jewish state. In a further step to reduce unemployment, the ÚŽ established labor camps and centers, an activity approved by an April 1941 decree. Although this effort was connected to the discriminatory conscription of all Jewish men aged 18–60 for labor, it had a beneficial effect for unemployed Jews. The first center was established at Strážke in spring 1941; by September, about 5,500 Jews were working at 80 sites. The companies employing the Jews enjoyed cheap labor, but the ÚŽ had to subsidize their wages to meet the legal minimum. By the end of the year, most of these centers were dissolved, officially due to the harsh weather conditions. According to Slovak historian Ivan Kamenec, the real reason was that the Slovak State was planning to deport the Jewish workers. Instead, three larger camps were established at Sereď, Nováky, and Vyhne. The ÚŽ financed the construction of these camps in the fall of 1941; however, the government began to discourage construction (because it planned to deport Jews instead) in the fall of 1941. During the deportations, the welfare department provided aid to Jews forced into concentration centers for deportation, providing blankets and other supplies to indigent Jews to take with them. However, its efforts were inadequate to alleviate the poor housing, food, and sanitary conditions. During the deportations, the desperate Slovak Jewish leadership tried to use the camps as a way to save the Jews imprisoned there. Alois Pecuch, the director