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Displaced Persons Camps

As World War II drew to a close, JDC marshalled its forces to meet a crisis of staggering proportions, racing to ensure that tens of thousands of newly liberated Jews would survive to enjoy the fruits of freedom. By late 1945, some 75,000 Jewish survivors of the Nazi horrors had crowded into the displaced-persons (DP) camps that were hastily set up in Germany, Austria, and Italy. Conditions were abominable, with many subjected to anti-Semitism and hostile treatment.

A Gift from Golda

A Gift from Golda

From the Collections

Unfurl a scroll presented to JDC/MALBEN by Prime Minister Meir in 1969 On October 19, 1969, Prime Minister Golda Meir presented JDC with a beautiful hand-lettered scroll in honor of the 20th Anniversary of JDC/MALBEN. Three hundred fifty members of the 1969 United...

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Reflections on Shanghai

Reflections on Shanghai

My Story

JDC documents trace Chaya Small’s personal journey through Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and China From 1938-1939, thousands of Central European Jews streamed into the Chinese city of Shanghai after the Nazi “Anschluss,” or annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938....

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Bringing Sights and Sounds of the JDC Archives to Life

Bringing Sights and Sounds of the JDC Archives to Life

News

Over 150 new additions to the JDC Archives’ Historic Film, Video, and Audio Collection To mark its recent and significant progress in digitizing and preserving previously “hidden” treasures—historic film, video, and audio materials, from the 1920s up through the early...

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It Started and Ended with a Newspaper Article

It Started and Ended with a Newspaper Article

My Story

Siblings’ journey from Nazi-occupied France to Chicago On June 26, 1942, Charlotte Coleman, the great-aunt of JDC Archivist Abra Cohen, saw a newspaper article in the New York Herald Tribune entitled “Refugees Reach Land of Freedom from the Prison That Is Europe.” The...

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Young people being shown how to transplant seedlings in a JDC sponsored training class at the Bergen-Belsen DP camp.
The care of orphaned children became a top priority for JDC. These Polish orphans came via Czechoslovakia to a transient camp in Vienna. After their immediate need for rest, food, clothing, and medical attention was addressed, orphans were sent to JDC children’s homes in France, Switzerland, England, and other countries when possible. Others were placed in separate children’s sections of the DP camps. Austria, c. 1946.
At a JDC-sponsored medical dispensary in Munich, children were inoculated against contagious diseases--a vital part of the health program. Germany, c. 1949.
These young boys received religious instruction at the yeshiva in Wels camp. Rabbis and teachers instructing the Jewish youngsters received special compensation from JDC. Austria, c. 1948.
During the war, Babenhausen was a crude barracks used to hold prisoners. The first Jews arriving there, in late September 1946, still faced deplorable conditions. JDC representatives met them with supplementary food and clothing and immediately began efforts to obtain better lodgings for the winter, especially for families with small children. By the time this Polish mother and her children arrived, a substantial community with several schools had been established. Germany, c. 1947.
In Vienna, too, a seemingly endless flood of Jewish survivors from Poland, then Romania, streamed in from Eastern Europe, overloading the established camps. JDC helped transform the dilapidated Rothschild Hospital into a makeshift camp and lobbied UNRRA to absorb it into the DP camp network. Normally housing 600, every inch of space was used to make room for the thousands of refugees heading towards the more permanent camps in Austria or Germany. Austria, c. 1947.
Students in Riedenburg camp's Hebrew School studied the "Shema" prayer, Austria, c. 1947, Jan Breit.
By September 1945, JDC had been given official sanction to aid in the DP camps, and its teams had begun to arrive. In Bamberg, JDC’s headquarters were noted on the U.S. Army camp sign. Germany, c. 1946, Al Taylor.
Foehrenwald had been one of the best-run. It became the last to close, functioning until 1957 as a home for those with no place to go. JDC maintained a presence there until 1954, helping residents financially until the end, but camp oversight was transferred to the German government by the end of 1951. Germany, c. 1951, Al Taylor.
Two refugees born in flight from Poland were held by their proud fathers in Vienna. At all stages of their journey, they received JDC assistance. Their well-being would be looked after in the more stable environment of a "permanent" camp, with supplementary food, medical and child care services provided by JDC. Austria, c. 1946.

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Jewish History Seen through the JDC Prism

Jewish History Seen through the JDC Prism

JDC Archives staff present at the World Congress of Jewish Studies JDC history was presented by JDC Archives team members in two sessions at the 18th World Congress of Jewish Studies in August 2022. This prestigious Congress takes place every four years in Jerusalem...

Memories of Tehran

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The evolution of life-saving packages and the man behind them. A lesser-known tale of Holocaust survival entails the journey of Jews who fled to eastern Poland following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and lived out the war in the Soviet Union and...

On Meditating Behind the Camera

On Meditating Behind the Camera

Former JDC photographer Roy Mittelman tells all A search in the JDC Archives Photo Collection will yield a plethora of images from around the world spanning over a century, but one thing these records can’t always convey are the intimate stories behind these...