The principal mission of the American Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC) since its founding has been to deliver aid to Jews in distress, usually as the result of war and discrimination. The founders had hoped that they would be able to close their doors after World War I but that proved not to be the case and with the rise of the Nazis their mission became one of helping Jews to emigrate and deal with the refugees who had fled but had nowhere to go. The basic division of labor between the AJDC and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) is that the AJDC helped refugees to emigrate and HIAS helped them once they reached their safe haven.
The Evian Conference of 1938 foresaw the need for a concerted effort to help the refugees and established the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees (IGCR). During the war, a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operated in Europe: Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Quakers, Red Cross, etc. The representatives of these organizations were attached to the ICGR. Jewish activities were under the auspices of the AJDC; their field workers were officially part of the IGCR and, as such, wore special patches on their uniforms and were permitted to us the Army Postal Service.The IGCR was subsumed in to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) on December 9, 1944. This arm of the UN was formed well before the formal establishment of the UN itself on May 7, 1945 and, indeed, functioned under the UNRRA name even before December 9, 1944. Its initial headquarters were in Italy, being the first Axis country fully occupied by the Allies. The modus operandi was established there and, by the end of the war in Europe, offices throughout the rest of Europe could be set up quickly.
Much like the AJDC in WWI, UNRRA initially hoped that their mission would be over relatively quickly. It wasn’t until the war ended that the full magnitude of the “displace persons” (DPs) was understood and UNRRA realized the enormity of the task before them. The UN recognized this by creating the Preparatory Commission of the International Refugee Organization (PCIRO) in December 1946. PCIRO began formal operation on June 30, 1947. The AJDC field workers were now under the aegis of PCIRO.
When the 15th member of the UN ratified the UN constitution in 1948, PCIRO was no longer a PC and bacme the IRO. The IRO continued its activities until February 1951 at which time it handed over operations to the United Nations High commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
It was not until February 1957 that the last DP camp, Foehrenwald, was closed.
This collection shows some of the many locations in which the AJDC served and is organized according to the organizational name in either the return address or printed corner card. There may be some overlap of dates since old stationery was often used even after the official name had changed. In some cases the organizational initials are not included on the cover and it is placed where is should be according to the “official” dates.
--Michael D. Bulmash, K1966
Browse the Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection.