American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee

Founded in 1914, the American Joint Jewish Distribution Committee (JDC) sought to coordinate relief efforts for Jewish communities in crisis. During and after the Holocaust, the JDC provided food, clothing, medical care, and rescue assistance to Jewish survivors wherever Allied authorities permitted access. It played a key role in looking after members of the Boys immediatley after liberation.

The Boys were teenage and child-Holocaust survivors, who were brought to the UK after the war for rest and rehabilitation.

After liberation, JDC was involved in supporting Jewish Displaced Persons across Germany, Austria, and Italy. Its staff worked alongside UNRRA and the military authorities, providing social workers, teachers, medical staff, kosher food supplies, religious materials, and financial support.

In Belsen-Hohne, and other DP camps, JDC workers helped run children’s programmes, provided schooling and vocational training, and supported health and welfare services. The organisation also played a central role in the reconstruction of Jewish communal life in Europe and supported emigration efforts Legal and illegal) to Palestine and the United States.

The JDC remains the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian organisation. It operates in more than 70 countries, with a mission of rescue, relief, and Jewish community renewal.