Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany

The American Federation of Jews from Central Europe Collection consists of the Federation’s office files. This includes professional correspondence, by-laws, materials related to meetings and lectures, newspaper clippings, photographs, meeting minutes, reports, speeches, drafts, financial records, legal documents and forms, materials related to immigration and naturalization, newsletters and circulars, membership records, personnel files, restitution materials, oral history transcripts, and items of various related organizations and synagogues. There are also some personal documents sent to the AFJCE by members of the public.

The collection documents American Jewish Committee’s efforts to combat all forms of discrimination against the Jews in the United States. Additionally, there are materials pertaining to AJC’s work regarding other minority groups in the United States. The collection offers researchers a unique chance to see how and what was done prior to the changes in public opinion and civic and legal laws. The American Jewish Committee Records, Subject Files consists of materials created by executive offices, departments, local offices and chapters of the Committee concerning a variety of matters; foremost Jewish civil and religious rights, immigration, and the Holocaust.

This collection contains records of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. The bulk of the collection consists of confidential summaries of applications and communications from applicant organizations. Other materials include reports, agendas, memoranda, and communications of the Executive Committee, as well as documents from the founding of the Claims Conference.

The work of the New York office of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany is documented in this collection via reports, financial statements and memorandum dating from 1955 to 1972.

The collection documents the life and interests of Curt C. Silberman. There are only a few materials related to his life in Germany and his and family's immigration. The bulk of the collection consists of documents and correspondence related to his involvement with Jewish organizations in the US and his visits to Germany, especially his hometown Wuerzburg.

This collection contains post-World War Two restitution matters primarily sent from the Council of Jews from Germany. It includes meeting minutes as well as internal and external correspondence relating to Council for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Jews From Germany (later the Council of Jews from Germany), as well as other organizations including the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany (Claims Conference), the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI), and the United Restitution Organization (URO). Some documents have annotations from the German-Jewish attorney Hermann Simon.

This collection contains the economist Leon Zeitlin's personal and professional correspondence, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as a number of economic and autobiographical manuscripts.

Papers of Louis Kraft: social worker, writer, and executive director of the Jewish Welfare Board, 1938-1947. The collection is valuable to researchers studying the Jewish Community Center movement, in particular the activities of the National Jewish Welfare Board during the 1940's, as well as the reestablishment of Jewish community life in Europe after World War II. The collection contains correspondence, minutes, financial and fund raising documents, newspaper clippings, publications, agenda of meetings and conferences, resolutions, annual reports, and handwritten notes. Also included are personal items such as certificates, scrapbooks, diaries, greeting cards, and photographs.

The collection consists of 6 boxes and 46 folders.

Various materials in 3 folders concerning Jewish claims and options of compensation for lost property after the end of War World II. Included are correspondence and various writings; minutes of meetings; as well as newspaper clippings.