Records of the Jerusalem Office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian assistance organization. The JDC was founded in 1914 to assist Jewish persons in Palestine during World War I. The Holocaust and World War II caused the JDC to ramp up its relief efforts. With the end of the war in 1945, Jewish survivors were placed into hastily created displaced persons camps throughout Europe. Along with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), the JDC helped administer these camps and provide supplies. The JDC has aided millions of Jews in more than 85 countries. 

Records of the Jerusalem Office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 

38 microfilm reels (digitized), 35 mm digital images, 

This collection consists of records relating to relief initiatives overseen by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Jerusalem Office (JDC) in the aftermath of World War II in the Yishuv/Israel and internationally. Includes records of the JDC’s partnerships with Jewish communities worldwide, such as those in Australia and South Africa, to send essential supplies to recipients in Palestine, later Israel, and to detainees in the British internment camps on Cyprus; records of shipments of food packages to European survivors, especially to the Soviet Far East, through Teheran and Istanbul; records of the rescue Operation Magic Carpet, bringing nearly 50,000 Jews from Yemen, Aden, Djibouti, and Asmara, Eritrea to Israel between December 1948 and September 1950; correspondence, memoranda, cables, reports, bulletins, restitution cases, and financial matters; records related to the visits of press, prominent individuals, and some JDC personnel, to Israel and Europe. Visitors include Franklin Roosevelt Jr., Governor and Mrs. Lehman, and Harry Rosenfield, the only Jewish member of President Truman's DP Commission. Includes administrative records of relief efforts in Cyprus, Iran, Israel, the Middle East, and Turkey, in addition to its assistance to Jewish communities in Muslim countries, and also includes newspaper cuttings, publications, press releases, and speech transcripts, drawn from publications worldwide as well as those produced by JDC's New York, Paris, and Jerusalem offices. JDC’s Jerusalem office had nearly 70 staff dedicated to assisting people in searching for their relatives in the aftermath of the Holocaust, and to compiling and publishing survivors’ names. Note: This is ongoing project. Microfilm reels 31-38 are restricted. 

Copyright Holder: American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 

Arranged in four series: 1. Aden; 2. Administration; 3. Subject Matters; 4. Countries and Regions. The Aden series is arranged into three subseries: Administration, Aliya, and Camps; within each subseries, files are organized thematically. The Administration series is arranged into 8 subseries: Conferences; Finance; General; Individual Files; Legal; Personnel, Publicity, VIPs; within each subseries, files are arranged alphabetically. The Subject Matter series is organized into 10 subseries: Aliya; Cultural/Religious, Emigration, Individual Cases, Medical, Packages, Publications, Supplies, Yeshivot; within each subseries, files are organized alphabetically. The Countries and Regions series is arranged into 5 subseries: Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Middle East, and Turkey; each geographical subseries is organized by subject files. Note: This is ongoing project.. As of January 2019 only copies of records of series 1. Aden, and 2. Administration, microfilm reels 1-38 are located in the Musuem Archives. Reels 31-38 are restricted.