JDC Geneva Office Records, 1945–1954 | Countries and Regions
Archives of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc.
Email: archives@jdc.org
Subcollection:
Countries and Regions
Extent: 11, 265 files
The Countries and Regions subcollection of the Geneva Collection for the
years 1945-1954 includes material on 71 separate countries and regions at
the record group level. This material consists of correspondence, cables,
reports, statistical material, names lists, audits, minutes of meetings, and
other documents that chronicle the activity of JDC to rebuild Jewish life in
Europe and provide aid to Jews and Jewish communities throughout the world
during these years. In displaced persons camps in Germany and Italy and in
devastated Jewish communities throughout Europe, JDC supplied food,
clothing, and equipment; set up cultural and vocational training programs;
provided medical care; distributed educational and religious materials; and
provided legal representation and emigration assistance. Medical efforts
included an extensive care system for treatment and reintegration of
tuberculosis patients. The subcollection also details JDC's aid for
emigration to Israel and countries of immigration around the world. JDC
facilitated these movements through its own emigration offices and
cooperation with other international organizations such as the International
Refugee Organization and Jewish organizations including the Jewish Agency
and HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society).
Another major aspect of the JDC program was support for economic
reconstruction through the establishment of loan institutions and support
for new producer cooperatives. This subcollection also documents the
negotiations between JDC and military and diplomatic personnel stationed in
Germany regarding the passage of survivors and refugees from countries in
Eastern Europe to the safety of the American Zone in Germany. It contains
JDC Legal Department files with detailed information on Nazi war criminals.
It also sheds light on the JDC Location Service that worked to reunite
survivors. Another aspect of the JDC's work was to provide legal aid to
Jewish communities to document heirless Jewish property and achieve
restitution for such properties. Whereas JDC operated directly in the DP
camps, its activities in most countries were conducted through local Jewish
communities and institutions or by subvention of international Jewish
organizations providing specific types of services. This subcollection
chronicles how JDC was instrumental to differing degrees in recreating,
funding, and guiding Jewish communal institutions in the various countries
of Europe.
The subcollection also includes information on the initiation and growth of
JDC programs in North Africa and the Middle East, particularly in the fields
of health, education, and aliyah. By far the most extensive material on an
individual country appears in the Germany record group, but there are also
significant amounts of material from Austria, France, Hungary, Israel,
Italy, Morocco, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland. In addition to documenting
the services provided by JDC, the subcollection contains extensive
information on administrative and financial matters, including budgets,
audits, JDC offices, and material relating to the complex currency
transactions involved in running an international aid organization during
this period.
Arrangement
The Countries and Regions subcollection includes record groups organized
alphabetically by country. Within these record groups, files are organized in the
following series: Administration, Organizations, Subject Matter, and
Localities.
The Countries and Regions subcollection is arranged into the following 71
record groups. Please select from the drop-down list:
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