JDC in the 1990s
Evacuation from Sarajevo to Split.
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1993. Photographer: Doron Tashtit.
JDC’s first cargo of preserved kosher beef is loaded aboard the SS Ashburn.
New York harbor, June 1919
The fall of Communism and the dissolution of the former Soviet Union galvanized JDC in efforts to rebuild and reinvigorate Jewish communities throughout the region, and to assist Soviet Jewry in rediscovering their Jewish heritage. JDC responded to emergency situations in the Balkans and helped to rescue Jews from Ethiopia and elsewhere. JDC worked extensively in Vienna and Rome to support a comprehensive relief program for Soviet Jewish émigrés in transit awaiting visas for Western countries.
In Depth
1990s : Rescue, Relief, and Renewal Remain JDC’s Hallmarks as the Twentieth Century Draws to a Close

An Ethiopian immigrant learning car maintenance as part of a vocational training program
Israel, c.1990. Photograph: Vera Etzion.

Ethiopian refugees at Ben Gurion Airport upon arrival to Israel
Israel, 1991. Photograph: Richard Lobell.

A Soviet immigrant with two young Ethiopian immigrants together
Akko, Israel, 1993.

A JDC-established library at the Miklos cultural center in Moscow
It is one of twenty JDC-created Judaic libraries in the FSU.
Moscow, Russia, c.1990

Essential food packages stored in a warehouse in St. Petersburg for JDC’s nonsectarian programs
St. Petersburg, Russia, 1992.

Maccabi games
Bulgaria, 1992.

A community seder in Sofia organized by JDC
Sofia, Bulgaria, 1993.

Evacuation from Sarajevo to Split
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1993. Photographer: Doron Tashtit.

Jews in Yemen
Yemen, 1990s.

Hot kosher meals are served daily to the elderly in Warsaw
Warsaw, Poland, 1995. Photograph: Gary Gelb.

A group of children hold hands during the inauguration of Beit David, a synagogue and cultural center at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation-JDC International Summer Camp at Szarvas, Hungary
Szarvas, Hungary; 1998. Photograph: Mircea Cernov.