Centos, the Association of Societies for the Care of Jewish Orphans – Jewish welfare organisation established in 1924 in Warsaw.

Centos ran a number of orphanages and organised foster families for children (in 1938, the association had ca. 15,000 children under its care). It also provided medical care to children, ran sanatoria, and organised summer camps. Its activities were funded from member contributions (in 1936, the membership amounted to ca. 45,000 people) as well as central and local government subsidies. Another important source of funding was the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (nearly 50% of all funds received in 1932). The president of Centos was R. Szereszowski. One of the institutions overseen by the organisation was the Warsaw orphanage ran by renowned children’s author Janusz Korczak. The association remained active until 1939, later continuing its operation in ghettos during World War II.

The entry was written on the basis of source materials of the PWN printing house