German Jewish Aid Committee collection
Extent and Medium
boxes
2
Creator(s)
- German Jewish Aid Committee
Biographical History
The German Jewish Aid Committee was founded as the Jewish Refugees Committee in 1933 by the Jewish Banker Otto Schiff under the aegis of the Central British Fund for the Relief of German Jewry. Its purpose was to assist Jews to escape from Nazi Germany to England. At first, the organization took upon itself the costs of arranging for the admission of refugees to England and their maintenance, training, and employment. After the Kristallnacht, the number of immigrants was more than the organization could support and it almost collapsed. Since there was no assistance on the part of the English government, the representatives of the organization were forced to find businessmen, donors and families who could undertake the support of the refugees.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection. The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.
Funding Note: The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.
Acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018. The acquisition of this collection was made possible by the Crown Family.
Scope and Content
The German Jewish Aid Committee collection documents the committee’s efforts to help Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany obtain English visas. The collection primarily includes the correspondence of committee representative Fritz Goldschmidt with refugees from Frankfurt am Main, Essen, Cologne, the Kitchener Camp for Refugees, and other locations. The collection comprises letters, postcards, and supporting documentation revealing the bureaucratic difficulties of receiving visas; efforts to obtain supporting funds from banks, organizations, and private business owners; and the stories of the applicants. Some letters refer to the children of the applicants and document transfer of guarantees, confirmation of foster families, and the transfer of children to England. The collection also includes a German Jewish Aid Committee pamphlet describing how the committee supported young men coming to Great Britain under a trainee program.
System of Arrangement
The German Jewish Aid Committee collection is arranged alphabetically.
Corporate Bodies
- Kitchener Camp for Refugees
- German Jewish Aid Committee
Subjects
- Jewish refugees--Great Britain.
- Germany--Emigration and immigration--History--1933-1945.
- World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Great Britain.
- London (England)
- Great Britain--Emigration and immigration.
Genre
- Document
- Correspondence.