<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<ead xmlns="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="urn:isbn:1-931666-22-9 http://www.loc.gov/ead/ead.xsd">
  <eadheader countryencoding="iso3166-1" dateencoding="iso8601" scriptencoding="iso15924" repositoryencoding="iso15511" relatedencoding="DC">
    <eadid>us-005544-jdc_istanbul_office_records_1937_1949</eadid>
    <filedesc>
      <titlestmt>
        <titleproper>Records of the Istanbul Office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee</titleproper>
      </titlestmt>
      <publicationstmt>
        <publisher>American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee</publisher>
        <address>
          <addressline>711 Third Ave, 10th Floor</addressline>
          <addressline>NY 10017</addressline>
          <addressline>New York</addressline>
          <addressline>New York</addressline>
          <addressline>US</addressline>
          <addressline>2128850845</addressline>
          <addressline>http://archives.jdc.org/</addressline>
          <addressline>archives@jdc.org</addressline>
          <addressline>United States</addressline>
        </address>
      </publicationstmt>
    </filedesc>
    <profiledesc>
      <creation>This file was exported automatically from the EHRI database administration tool and represents a work-in-progress.
        <date normal="20210102">2021-01-02T18:55:07.529Z</date>
      </creation>
      <langusage>
        <language langcode="eng">English</language>
      </langusage>
      <descrules encodinganalog="3.7.2">EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0</descrules>
    </profiledesc>
  </eadheader>
  <archdesc level="collection">
    <did>
      <unitid>JDC Istanbul Office Records, 1937-1949</unitid>
      <unittitle encodinganalog="3.1.2">Records of the Istanbul Office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee</unittitle>
      <unitdate normal="19370101/19490101" encodinganalog="3.1.3">1937/1949</unitdate>
      <physdesc encodinganalog="3.1.5">Inclusive Dates: 1937-1949 (bulk dates 1942-1947)



</physdesc>
      <langmaterial>
        <language langcode="eng" encodinganalog="3.4.3">English</language>
      </langmaterial>
      <repository>
        <corpname>American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee</corpname>
      </repository>
    </did>
    <scopecontent encodinganalog="3.3.1">
      <p><![CDATA[The Istanbul Collection testifies to JDC’s efforts from 1942-1949 (with a few earlier materials dating from 1937) to oversee the planning of rescue and relief operations from its office in Turkey, a neutral country strategically located at the crossroads of war-torn Europe and the nascent Jewish state in Palestine. These records highlight the Istanbul office’s partnership with other relief organizations--such as the Jewish Agency, the U.S. War Refugee Board, and the International Red Cross--in rescue operations and in large-scale enterprises to identify and locate survivors during and after World War II.

The digitized records include: correspondence with Jewish communities throughout Turkey, Romania, and Palestine; extensive documentation regarding shipments of food packages and other supplies to concentration camps such as Theresienstadt and Bergen-Belsen (including a postcard sent by Rabbi Leo Baeck, the renowned German scholar, from Theresienstadt acknowledging receipt of a JDC care package); cables and news releases; lists of survivors, including thousands of files from the Central Location Index; wartime testimonies; and correspondence regarding Joel Brand’s and Rudolf Kasztner’s negotiations in 1944 with Nazi officials in an attempt to save Hungarian Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.

This collection also contains documentation on JDC's extensive support for refugees passing through Turkey en route to Palestine and to passengers on the SS Drottningholm, a rescue ship used for repatriation of civilians and prisoners of war; and eyewitness accounts, including an account of the sinking of the SS Mefkure, a rescue ship traveling from Romania to Palestine, by torpedoes in the Black Sea on August 5, 1944.]]></p>
    </scopecontent>
    <arrangement encodinganalog="3.3.4">
      <p><![CDATA[The Istanbul Office records are arranged into four subcollections:

- Administration

- Organizations

- Subject Matter

- Countries and Regions]]></p>
    </arrangement>
    <altformavail encodinganalog="3.5.2">
      <p><![CDATA[The records in this collection have been digitized and are searchable online through the textual collections portal of the [JDC Archives database](http://archives.jdc.org/archives-search/).

The collection has also been microfilmed on 41 reels.]]></p>
    </altformavail>
    <originalsloc encodinganalog="3.5.1">
      <p><![CDATA[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Jerusalem Archives ]]></p>
    </originalsloc>
    <bioghist encodinganalog="3.2.2">
      <p><![CDATA[The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is the world's leading humanitarian assistance organization. Formed in 1914 in response to the onset of World War I and the devastation it wreaked on thousands of Jewish communities across war-torn Europe, JDC has served over the past century as the overseas arm of the American Jewish philanthropic community, providing rescue, relief, and rehabilitation services to global Jewish communities and individuals in need worldwide.

In the present day, JDC continues its efforts to alleviate hunger and material hardship, rebuild and sustain Jewish cultural and social service infrastructures and communal institutions worldwide, aid at-risk Jewish communities and individuals, and provide critical relief and long-term non-sectarian development assistance services for victims of man-made and natural disasters in more than 90 countries across the globe.

The JDC Archives holds, describes, preserves, and makes accessible the organization's institutional records. These records include: approximately 3 miles of textual records; a photo collection of approximately 100,000 photo images; over 1,300 films; and a collection of over 1,000 sound recordings, which document JDC's history and its global activities. ]]></p>
    </bioghist>
    <accessrestrict encodinganalog="3.4.1">
      <p><![CDATA[The collection is open to researchers with the exception of files that are restricted due to the nature of their contents. Restricted files can include legal files, personnel files, case files, and personal medical diagnoses, etc. Please see our [Access and Restrictions Policy]( http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/access-and-restriction.html) for further details. ]]></p>
    </accessrestrict>
    <userestrict encodinganalog="3.4.2">
      <p><![CDATA[Copyright held by The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Inc. Other intellectual property rights may apply. The publication of JDC records in any format requires the written permission of the JDC Archives. Users must apply in writing for permission to reproduce or publish manuscript materials found in this collection. Please see our [Access and Restrictions Policy]( http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/access-and-restriction.html) for further details.

For further information, email archives@jdc.org]]></p>
    </userestrict>
    <otherfindaid encodinganalog="3.4.5">
      <p><![CDATA[This collection was processed by Ayala Levin-Kruss in 2011. Its finding aid was produced by Tamar Zeffren in 2015.]]></p>
    </otherfindaid>
    <odd encodinganalog="3.6.1">
      <p><![CDATA[Preferred Citation
Repository, Title of Collection, Folder number, Title of item, Date of item.
Example: JDC Archives, Records of the Istanbul office of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Folder IS. 218, "Holland 1945-1946." ]]></p>
    </odd>
    <dsc>
      <c01 level="subcollection">
        <did>
          <unitid>Administration</unitid>
          <unittitle encodinganalog="3.1.2">Administration</unittitle>
          <physdesc encodinganalog="3.1.5">91 files</physdesc>
        </did>
        <scopecontent encodinganalog="3.3.1">
          <p><![CDATA[This subcollection covers the years 1942-1947 and reflects the JDC Istanbul office's activities during World War II and in the immediate aftermath of the war: coordinating the shipping of relief supplies to wartime Europe; cooperating in rescue operations; and assisting with searches for Holocaust survivors. Of particular note are reports received from various Jewish communities in Iran, Iraq, Romania, and Yugoslavia. The files comprise correspondence, cable registers, invoices, and news releases.]]></p>
        </scopecontent>
        <arrangement encodinganalog="3.3.4">
          <p><![CDATA[This Administration subcollection contains five Record Groups:

[Financial](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection1.html#financial)

[General](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection1.html#general)

[Individual Cases](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection1.html#indiv)

[JDC Offices](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection1.html#offices)

[Publicity](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection1.html#publicity)]]></p>
        </arrangement>
        <controlaccess>
          <persname>Resnick, Reuben</persname>
          <persname>Passman, Charles</persname>
          <persname>Trobe, Harold</persname>
          <persname>Viteles, Harry</persname>
          <persname>Adania, Regina</persname>
          <persname>Kessler, Mordecai</persname>
          <persname>Magnes, Judah</persname>
          <persname>Fishzohn, Arthur</persname>
          <persname>Hirschmann, I.A.</persname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <corpname>Bank Holantse</corpname>
          <corpname>Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)</corpname>
          <corpname>Central Bank of Cooperative Institutions in Palestine, Ltd. (changed to Canada-Israel Central Bank Ltd) </corpname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <geogname>Istanbul</geogname>
          <geogname>Canada</geogname>
          <geogname>Izmir</geogname>
          <geogname>Lisbon, Portugal</geogname>
          <geogname>Jerusalem</geogname>
          <geogname>New York</geogname>
          <geogname>London</geogname>
        </controlaccess>
      </c01>
      <c01 level="subcollection">
        <did>
          <unitid>Countries and Regions</unitid>
          <unittitle encodinganalog="3.1.2">Countries and Regions</unittitle>
          <physdesc encodinganalog="3.1.5">59 files</physdesc>
        </did>
        <scopecontent encodinganalog="3.3.1">
          <p><![CDATA[These records detail the scope of the relationships between JDC's Istanbul office and refugees and survivors in Europe in the immediate aftermath of WWII. The files contain extensive information on the shipment of relief supplies, including shipping over 250,000 packages for Jewish refugees in Russia via Tehran; eyewitness accounts; inquiries regarding wartime rescue; and reports on JDC relief activities in Balkans, Romania, and Turkey, among other localities. ]]></p>
        </scopecontent>
        <arrangement encodinganalog="3.3.4">
          <p><![CDATA[The Countries and Regions subcollection is divided into 26 Record Groups:
Australia 
Austria
Balkans 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czechoslovakia 
France 
Great Britain 
Greece 
Holland 
Hungary 
Iran
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Rhodes
Romania
Russia
Slovakia
South Africa
South America
Sweden
Switzerland 
Turkey
Yemen 
Yugoslavia 
]]></p>
        </arrangement>
        <controlaccess>
          <subject>Eyewitness Accounts</subject>
          <subject>Country situation reports</subject>
          <subject>Relief Supplies</subject>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <persname>Kessler, Mordecai</persname>
          <persname>Magnes, Judah</persname>
          <persname>Siegel, Manuel</persname>
          <persname source="ehri_pers" authfilenumber="000116">Filderman Wilhelm</persname>
          <persname>Fishzohn, Arthur</persname>
          <persname>Costiner, E.</persname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <geogname>Cairo, Egypt</geogname>
          <geogname>Holland</geogname>
          <geogname>Bucharest</geogname>
          <geogname source="fast-subjects" authfilenumber="fst1206109">Hungary--Budapest</geogname>
          <geogname>Balkans</geogname>
          <geogname>Teheran</geogname>
          <geogname>Sofia, Bulgaria</geogname>
          <geogname source="jc-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.603">Romania</geogname>
          <geogname source="jc-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.316">Portugal</geogname>
          <geogname source="jc-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.427">Poland</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.578">Jerusalem</geogname>
          <geogname>Izmir</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.ITI.1619">Istanbul</geogname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <corpname>Mosaiska Forsamlingen, Stockholm</corpname>
          <corpname>Tasit, Istanbul</corpname>
          <corpname>Peltours</corpname>
          <corpname>Caisse de Petits Prets d'Istanbul</corpname>
        </controlaccess>
      </c01>
      <c01 level="subcollection">
        <did>
          <unitid>Organizations </unitid>
          <unittitle encodinganalog="3.1.2">Organizations </unittitle>
          <physdesc encodinganalog="3.1.5">24 files</physdesc>
        </did>
        <scopecontent encodinganalog="3.3.1">
          <p><![CDATA[This subcollection covers the years 1937-1949 (the majority of the materials date from 1942-1946) and details the relationships and collaborations among JDC Istanbul's office and other Jewish organizations, NGOs, and governmental agencies and personnel. The files contain correspondence, cables, invoices, names lists, and expenditure statements.

Prominent correspondents include: the Jewish Agency for Palestine, whose rescue efforts were JDC-financed; the International Red Cross, under whose auspices JDC sent care packages to Jewish communities in Romania and Slovakia and to prisoners in the Theresienstadt concentration camp; and the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. During World War II, mail from JDC's Istanbul office traveled via diplomatic pouch of the US Consulate in Istanbul. After the establishment of the U.S. War Refugee Board, of which JDC was the primary funder, in 1944 ([learn more here](http://archives.jdc.org/educators/topic-guides/jdc-and-the-us-war-refugee-board.html)), JDC staff worked even more closely with the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Laurence Steinhardt.]]></p>
        </scopecontent>
        <arrangement encodinganalog="3.3.4">
          <p><![CDATA[This Organizations subcollection contains three Record Groups:

[Government](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection2.html#gov)

[Jewish Organizations](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection2.html#jewish)

[Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection2.html#ngo)]]></p>
        </arrangement>
        <controlaccess>
          <subject>Relief Supplies</subject>
          <subject source="ehri_terms" authfilenumber="214">Rescue</subject>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <persname>Barlas, Charles</persname>
          <persname>Fishzohn, Arthur</persname>
          <persname>Kessler, Mordechai</persname>
          <persname>Resnick, Reuben</persname>
          <persname>Schwartz, Dr. Joseph J.</persname>
          <persname>Simond, G.E.</persname>
          <persname>Steinhardt, Laurence A.</persname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <corpname>American Consulate, Istanbul</corpname>
          <corpname>U.S. Embassy, Ankara, Turkey</corpname>
          <corpname>International Red Cross</corpname>
          <corpname>Jewish Agency for Palestine (JAFP)</corpname>
          <corpname source="jc-organisations" authfilenumber="ORGANISATION.JMP.4327">National Refugee Service (NRS)</corpname>
          <corpname>United Jewish Appeal (UJA)</corpname>
          <corpname source="ehri_cb" authfilenumber="001704">United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration</corpname>
          <corpname>Agudath Israel</corpname>
          <corpname source="ehri_cb" authfilenumber="361">Alliance Israélite Universelle</corpname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.415">Geneva</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.ITI.1619">Istanbul</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.578">Jerusalem</geogname>
          <geogname>Algiers</geogname>
          <geogname>Ankara</geogname>
          <geogname>Antalya, Turkey</geogname>
        </controlaccess>
      </c01>
      <c01 level="subcollection">
        <did>
          <unitid>Subject Matter</unitid>
          <unittitle encodinganalog="3.1.2">Subject Matter</unittitle>
          <physdesc encodinganalog="3.1.5">99 files</physdesc>
        </did>
        <scopecontent encodinganalog="3.3.1">
          <p><![CDATA[The bulk of this subcollection, which contains materials from 1942-1947, concerns the rescue and transportation of Jewish refugees during and after World War II from countries such as Bulgaria, Germany and Romania, as well as attempts to identify and locate survivors. The files contain lists of survivors, correspondence, shipping manifests, and cables.

Additionally, these records contain substantial material on passengers on the SS Drottningholm, an exchange ship which carried Jews from concentration camps, including Buchenwald, and on the SS Mefkure, a rescue ship bombed and lost at sea in 1944. ]]></p>
        </scopecontent>
        <arrangement encodinganalog="3.3.4">
          <p><![CDATA[The Subject Matter subcollection is divided into 10 Record Groups:

[Emigration](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#emigration)

[Individual Cases](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#indiv)

[Lists of Arrivals](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#lists)

[Location/Tracking Service](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#location)

[Refugees](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#refugees)

[Relief Supplies](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#relief)

[Repatriates](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#repatriates)

[Rescue](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#rescue)

[Sailings](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#sailings)

[Survivors](http://archives.jdc.org/explore-the-archives/finding-aids/istanbul/subcollection3.html#survivors)]]></p>
        </arrangement>
        <controlaccess>
          <subject>Names Lists</subject>
          <subject source="ehri_terms" authfilenumber="214">Rescue</subject>
          <subject>Medical Supplies</subject>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <persname>Costiner, E.</persname>
          <persname>Blum, Joseph</persname>
          <persname>Katzki, Herbert</persname>
          <persname>Fishzohn, Arthur</persname>
          <persname>Resnick, Reuben</persname>
          <persname>Lightman, D.B.</persname>
          <persname>Schwartz, Dr. Joseph J.</persname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.ITI.547">New York</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.ITI.1401">Paris</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.578">Jerusalem</geogname>
          <geogname source="jc-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.JMP.317">Lisbon</geogname>
          <geogname source="jc-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.ITI.7592">Buenos Aires</geogname>
          <geogname>Ankara</geogname>
          <geogname source="terezin-places" authfilenumber="PLACE.ITI.1619">Istanbul</geogname>
        </controlaccess>
        <controlaccess>
          <corpname>Gilchrist, Walker: Steamship Forwarding Agents</corpname>
          <corpname source="ehri_cb" authfilenumber="440">War Refugee Board</corpname>
          <corpname>U.S. Consulate, Jerusalem</corpname>
          <corpname>Antalya Forwarding Company</corpname>
          <corpname>Bank Holantse</corpname>
          <corpname source="ehri_cb" authfilenumber="001400">Central Location Index</corpname>
        </controlaccess>
      </c01>
    </dsc>
  </archdesc>
</ead>