HIAS Foreign Relations Bureau Family-Search Case Files
Scope and Contents
This record subgroup contains the "case files" of people in the United States who sought the help of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in locating their relatives in Europe after World War I and during the interwar period. The files consist of letters of inquiry, HIAS search application forms, correspondence with the inquiring parties, financial support letters and some official U.S. government correspondence.
Dates
- Majority of material found within 1914 - 1923
Extent
23 Reels
Language of Materials
English
Yiddish
German
Lithuanian
Polish
Russian
Arrangement
The records in this series do not appear to have been arranged in any particular order, other than a general chronological order among the microfilm reels. They were microfilmed as found, after which the original documents were destroyed. The documents are bundled by last name of the person requesting the search, but there is no alphabetical order by name or country. Neither is there any systematic sequential numbering. Adjacent microfilm reels often have overlapping date ranges.
Custodial History
These records were received by YIVO from the United HIAS Service in 1954. They were microfilmed in 1976, after which the originals were discarded.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Repository
