Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society passenger cards of the MS St. Louis

Identifier
irn96117
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1989.115
Dates
1 Jan 1939 - 31 Dec 1939
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • English
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

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1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, was founded in the 1881 in the Lower East Side of New York City. Their original mission was to rescue Jews in Eastern Europe and Russia who were being persecuted and murdered in pogroms. They provided the recent refugees with meals and shelter, and helped them find jobs. In 1904, HIAS set up an office on Ellis Island and expanded their aid services to new arrivals, guiding them through the immigration process, preventing deportations, and searching for relatives. The organization expanded during the interwar years to ensure that Jewish refugees could find welcome and safety in their new countries. HIAS helped form HICEM, a joint bureau of three aid agencies established in Paris to centralize eastern European immigration. By the 1930s, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC) provided most of the money and HIAS provided the majority of the staff members. After the occupation of France by Nazi Germany in June 1940, the office moved to Marseille and an office was opened in Lisbon, Portugal. HIAS continued to assist refugees in America during World War II (1939-1945), but the restrictive immigration policies of the US government severely limited new arrivals. After the war ended in May 1945, HIAS was instrumental in the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of displaced persons to communities in the US and around the world. In this century, their mission was expanded to aid non-Jewish persons. HIAS continues to work on the front lines, assisting refugees no matter where they are.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) donated this collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in March, 1989.

Scope and Content

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society passenger cards of the S.S. [sic; actually M.S.] St. Louis were prepared to coordinate fundraising in support of individuals and families once the ship returned to Europe after an unsuccessful attempt to land in Cuba in 1939. The cards contain passenger information including names, locations, occupations, and status of immigration applications to the United States, if any. The cards also document the names of relatives in the United States and elsewhere, as well as money on deposit with the National Refugee Service on behalf of individual refugees.

System of Arrangement

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society passenger cards of the MS St. Louis are arranged as one series, in alphabetic order by passenger or family surname.

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.