The Jewish Transmigration Bureau was a relief agency created by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in the early years of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to provide funds for the emigration of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

from

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an countries where they faced persecution. From 1940-56, the Bureau received donations from tens of thousands of

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donors to cover the travel costs of prospective emigrants. These funds allowed Jewish beneficiaries from

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Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, the

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and

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to settle in over 40 countries in Western Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, and Asia. "Deposit cards," thousands of which are extant and publicly searchable, link the names of emigrants with the depositor who provided the funds to cover the cost of their relocation.

History

Due to increasingly violent

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Europe in the 1930s and the rise of

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, which codified it in the

Nuremberg Laws The Nuremberg Laws (, ) were antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on 15 September 1935, at a special meeting of the Reichstag convened during the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. The two laws were the Law ...

of 1935, Jews were forced to consider fleeing their own countries in order to avoid persecution, imprisonment, and death. A leading force in assisting persecuted Jews was the

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Advert Where and how does this article resemble an WP:SOAP, advert and how should it be improved? See: Wikipedia:Spam (you might trthe Teahouseif you have questions). American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a J ...

(JDC), which provided relief in the form of programs for health, nutrition, and education. The JDC also supported early relocation efforts. From 1933-1939, JDC affiliates helped 110,000 Jews emigrate from Germany alone. Relocation efforts launched either by or in conjunction with the JDC, and to which the Transmigration Bureau was a successor, included the Service de Transmigration of the Comité d’Assistance aux Réfugiés Juifs (CARJ) (Committee for the Assistance of Jewish Refugees) in Brussels in 1938 and the Comité d’Aide et d’Assistance aux Victimes de l’Antisémitisme en Allemagne (Committee for Aid and Assistance of Victims of Antisemitism in Germany) in 1932. Building upon the success of these efforts, the Transmigration Bureau was established in

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on June 21, 1940. Around this time, the JDC moved its European headquarters from Nazi-occupied Paris to

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, which served as the port of embarkation for the majority of Transmigration Bureau beneficiaries. The mechanism used by the Bureau was simple but effective. American "depositors" would donate funds to the Bureau, which would then hold the funds in escrow until the "beneficiary" could make the necessary travel arrangements (reservations, permits, visas, etc.). A year after its founding, the Bureau had received over $3.7 million in contributions to support the migration of 29,000 Jews, and over 50,000 by the end of 1941.

References

{{reflist

External links

JDC Names Index
- A searchable database that includes, among other records, images of the original "deposit cards" issued by the Transmigration Bureau for approximately 60,000 individuals. Organizations established in 1940 Jewish refugee aid organizations Jewish-American political organizations The Holocaust and the United States Jewish community organizations Organizations based in New York City Charities based in New York (state)

History

See also

References

External links