American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

The German-Jewish Children's Aid, later known as the European-Jewish Children's Aid, was involved in bringing Jewish children to the United States from Europe before, during, and after World War II. The records in this collection are comprised of correspondence, reports and case files, which may contain biographical information as well as questionnaries and correspondence concerning the case.

The records of the People's Relief Committee for Jewish War Sufferers consist of correspondence with Jewish communities and relief organizations in Europe, Palestine, Cuba, South America, the United States, and Canada; as well as scrapbooks containing U.S. and Canadian Yiddish and English newspaper clippings and printed promotional literature pertaining to the fundraising activities of the People's Relief Committee in North America and abroad.

These records detail the history of the displaced person camps in the American zone in Austria. They include the records of the individual camps as well as political and cultural groups that operated within the camps. The collection primarily consists of administrative records such as reports, correspondence, and lists as well as cultural materials from political, vocational, and cultural groups, as well as personal papers. There are also records of the U.S. Army, UNRRA, and IRO’s actions in the camps.

These records detail the history of the displaced person camps in Germany, primarily in the American zone. They include the records of the individual camps as well as political and cultural groups that operated within the camps. The collection primarily consists of administrative records such as reports, correspondence, and lists as well as cultural materials from political, theatrical, and literary groups. There are also a large number of records of court proceedings, centering on accounting for actions taken during the Holocaust as well as the formation of new families in the DP camps.

These records detail the history of the Displaced Person camps in Italy. They include the records of the individual camps as well as political and cultural groups that operated within the camps. The collection primarily consists of administrative records such as reports, correspondence, and lists as well as cultural materials from political, theatrical, and literary groups. There are also a large number of records of court proceedings, centering on accounting for actions taken during the Holocaust as well as the formation of new families in the DP camps.

This collection mainly consists of documents related to Kurt Baeck’s emigration to the Dutch East Indies and Shanghai and immigration to the United States. The materials include immigration documents, identity cards, financial papers, travel documents, and employment records.

This collection contains writings, minutes, financial records, correspondence, printed materials, newspaper clippings, and photographs relating to Broido's employment, investments, and Jewish and non-Jewish communal activities. It includes material regarding the department store, Gimbel Bros. (1934-1966), where he was associated with Bernard Gimbel, and where he served as Executive Vice President and as Chairman of the Advisory Committee (1953-1961); Temple Emanu-El (1957-1970), where he served as trustee and opposed secession from the Union of American Hebrew Congregations; the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (1944-1976), serving as President from 1965-1975, and where he was involved in the investigation of the Charles Jordan murder in Prague (1967); the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (1953-1972) where he served as trustee and played an active role in financial matters and relations with the Hebrew Union College; the United Jewish Appeal (1941-1972) where he served as President (1951-1952), trustee and member of the Board of Directors; the New York City Community College (1956-1972) where he served as trustee; and the Department of Commerce and Industrial Development of the City of New York (1961-1971) where he served as Commissioner (1961-1966).

This collection, which is a sub-group of RG 294 Displaced Persons Camps, consists of the records of Leo W. Schwarz, the Director of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC/JDC) for the U.S. Occupation Zone in Germany during the years 1946-1947. The papers pertain to his work with the JDC in Germany and to the history of the Jewish displaced persons in Germany after World War II.

This collection, which is a sub-group of RG 245 HIAS, includes the records of the main HICEM office in Europe prior to and during World War II. There are also some records from the post-war period relating to the dissolution of HICEM, HIAS’s taking over of HICEM’s operations and HIAS’s work with displaced persons.

This collection contains mainly correspondence between staff of the JDC Landsmanshaftn Department and members of various landsmanshaftn, benevolent organizations of immigrants originally from the same communities, as well as between the Landsmanshaftn Department and the interest-free loan associations (gmilas khesed societies) and heads of the various Jewish communities, mostly in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Established in 1912 in St. Petersburg by a group of Jewish doctors, lawyers and prominent public figures, OZE sought to create an all-Russian Jewish welfare system with the goal of promoting the study and knowledge of medical and sanitary practices, detecting and curing diseases among Jews, preventing epidemics, and creating living conditions conducive to the normal physical and mental development of Jewish children. TOZ, established in Poland in 1921, remained closely associated with OZE and shared the same program of activities. Because of World War I and its disarraying consequences, especially in the eastern regions of the Polish state, TOZ concentrated its relief efforts primarily on battling contagious diseases and epidemics caused by poverty, malnourishment and the deplorable sanitary conditions of the Jewish population. The collection is of mixed provenance and fragmentary nature, and consists of miscellaneous materials that relate to the activities of OZE and TOZ in Eastern Europe, and to some extent, in Western Europe.

The Vilna Collection represents fragmentary materials that were part of the original YIVO Archives in Vilna before WWII. The collection includes a wide array of materials dealing with a great variety of aspects of Jewish life in the Pre-revolutionary Russian Empire and post-revolutionary Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Soviet Russia. The Collection consists of personal correspondence, official correspondence with organizations and governmental institutions, financial and statistical reports, minutes of meetings of Jewish communal and political organizations, bibliographic materials, including card catalogues and bibliographies. Also included here are vital documents, such as birth certificates and birth registers, affidavits, certificates, diplomas, and travel documents. Additionally, there are petitions, resolutions, appeals, printed materials, manuscripts, lists, and questionnaires. There is a wealth of materials dealing with Jewish book trade and publishing, youth and sports organizations, education, Jewish communal life, and political activities.