Association des Israelites Pratiquants. Association of Orthodox Jews Kehillat Haharedim (RG 340)
Extent and Medium
28,060 digital images, JPEG
21 microfilm reels (digitized), 35 mm
Creator(s)
- Kehillat Haharedim (France)
Biographical History
Association des Israelites Pratiquants. Association of Orthodox Jews (Kehillat Haharedim) was organized in 1936 by Rabbi Schneur Zalmen Schneersohn (Chneerson), to conduct religious and educational activities throughout France. During the German occupation, the organization engaged in underground activities, rescuing and supporting Jews, especially children. Originally centered in Paris, its headquarters were moved to Marseilles in 1940, to Demu in 1942 and to St. Etienne-de-Crossey in 1943. After the war, the organization concerned itself chiefly with searching for children hidden in Christian homes throughout the French countryside and with working for their return to a Jewish environment. A questionnaire was distributed by the Kehillat Haharedim to numerous municipalities in France, inquiring about the existence of Jewish children and expressing the organization's willingness to take custody of such children and to provide for them.
Archival History
Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
Acquisition
Source of acquisition is the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO), RG-340. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the collection from YIVO via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in Sept. 2017. This collection is a part of the Museum joint project (YIVO and USHMM) to film the Holocaust related records kept at YIVO archives in NYC.
Scope and Content
Records of the Kehillat Haharedim (Association des Israelites Pratiquants. Association of Orthodox Jews). Consist of correspondence, letters, list of refugees and internees, lists of students, lists of members of Kehillat Haharedim in Paris, bulletin of the organization, financial records, questionnaires, statistical reports, and minutes. Most of records constitute of correspondence with children's homes, internees of camps, rabbis, with the organizations as: the Union générale des israélites de France (UGIF), Hias-Ica Emigration Association (HICEM), World Union OSE (OSE), Federation de Societes Juives de France, Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC), Comite d'Aide Immediate aux Deportes et Victimes de la Guerre, and branches of the Kehillat Haharedim in Moirans, Toulouse, Marseilles. The records relate to the Kehillat Haharedim's activities during and after the World War II, including providing relief work in the camps, sending clothes and religious articles, organizing vocational courses such as tailoring, rescuing Jewish children, organizing Kehillat Haharedim school in Paris, sending relief packages of kosher food, organizing relief projects for Nazi victims.
System of Arrangement
Arranged in 11 series: 1. General Administrative Records, 1936-1944; 2. Child Care and Maisons d'Enfants, 1941-1945; 3. Correspondence with Internees and Refugees in Concentration and Labor Camps in the Unoccupied Zone, 1940-1946; 4.Correspondence about Various Matters, 1939-1946; 5. Finances, 1940-1944; 6. Post-War Location and Care for Saved Children, 1944-1947; 7. Maisons d'Enfants, Schools, and Other Post-War Activities to Benefit Children and Youths, 1944-1950; 8. General Religious Activities, 1936, 1944-1947; 9. Kashrut and Orthodox Burials, 1941, 1945-1947; 10. Victims of Nazism, 1944-1947; 11. Correspondence with Organizations about Post-War Aid, 1944-1949.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Copyright Holder: Yivo Institute for Jewish Research
People
- Schneersohn, Schneour Zalman, 1898-1980.
Corporate Bodies
- Rivesaltes (Concentration camp)
- Hias-Ica Emigration Association
- Les Milles (Concentration camp)
- Gurs (Concentration camp)
- Le Vernet (Concentration camp)
- Union générale des israélites de France
- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Subjects
- Judaism--Customs and practices--France.
- Europe--Emigration and immigration--History--20th century.
- Gers (France)
- Moirans (France)
- Children--Nazi persecution--France.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--France.
- Isere (France)
- Research institutes
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees.
- Jewish refugees--France--History--20th century.
- Marseilles (France)
- Saint-Etienne-de-Crossey (France)
- Toulouse (France)
- France.
- Hidden children (Holocaust) France.
- Jewish children in the Holocaust--France.
- Jewish religious schools--France--History--20th century.
- Rivesaltes (France)
- War relief--France--History--20th century.
- Nice (France)
- Humaniatarian assistance
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue--France.
- Paris (France)
- Jewish orphanages--France--History--20th century.
- Le Vernet (France)Marseille (France)
Genre
- Minutes.
- Questionnaires.
- Financial records.
- Registers.
- Bulletins.
- Document
- Correspondence.
- Statistics.
- Reports.