Solid Ground in a Shifting World

A Joint Effort: JDC's Beginnings, 1914-1921

Solid Ground in a Shifting World

The war's end did not bring safety or stability to the survivors. Soviet Russia and Poland now warred over vast disputed territories, while civil war, banditry, and pogroms brought further bloodshed to Belorussia (now Belarus), Ukraine, and other nearby regions where Jews still lived. In this difficult time, JDC increased its efforts, working cooperatively with governments and public service organizations, establishing a network of services, and reaching in some fashion to “every corner of Europe and to Palestine.”

ARA Director (and future U.S. President) Herbert Hoover recruited Boris Bogen to oversee relief distribution in Poland. JDC agreed to direct funds and supplies through ARA on a non-sectarian basis. In return, Bogen and other JDC commissioners serving as ARA officials received the necessary sanctions to provide needy Jews with their fair share. An early Bogen passport. <em>AR 19-21, File 31</em>.

Bogen arrived in Poland in November 1918 to study the needs and problems of Jews first-hand and begin to construct a more direct approach to relief distribution. In reports, he described his first impressions, including the disturbing sight of starved and homeless children: “If we asked one where he lived, he could not say, he could only tell us where he slept, under the steps of some house, he knew not where.” <em>AR 19-21, File 17</em>. One of the children left homeless and orphaned by war. Poland, c. 1919, <em>NY_02009</em>.

In 1919, JDC 's first ARA shipment traveled on the U.S.S. <em>Westward-Ho</em> with 3,500 tons of rye flour, 1,500 tons of condensed milk, 1,000 tons of packaged goods, 500 tons of cottonseed oil, and $100,000 worth of children’s clothing. The $2 million cargo was heavily financed by JDC. While all Poles were eligible to receive aid, Jews formed a large percentage of those in need. U.S., 1919, <em>NY_03479</em>.

JDC's first cargo of preserved kosher beef was consigned to ARA in June 1919 and sailed for Danzig on the U.S.S. <em>Ashburn</em>. The meat was prepared according to Jewish ritual law under the authority of four New York rabbis. U.S., 1919, <em>Underwood and Underwood</em>, <em>NY_03425</em>.

A Working Relationship

After the war, JDC embarked on a ground-breaking partnership. The government-initiated American Relief Administration (ARA) shipped more than 4 million tons of food and clothing to desperate countries in Eastern Europe. It welcomed donations from private organizations. JDC contributed $3 million, but also had a direct hand in the dispersal of goods.

Overseas Unit No. 1 arrived in Paris en route to Poland in February 1920. Their official dress was a modified version of the U.S. Army uniform. JDC's Director for Poland, Boris Bogen (seated, fourth from left), led the team. The Jewish Welfare Board's Overseas Director, Elkan Voorsanger (seated, fifth from left), was Unit Manager. A second unit followed later that year. France, c. 1920, <em>NY_03406</em>.

A chart from a five-month report showed Bogen's plan to divide up the continually expanding map of Poland into manageable districts. Unit members investigated local and regional needs firsthand and supervised the allocation of funds. A headquarters in Warsaw coordinated all work. But as the ongoing Polish-Soviet War changed the nation's borders, so did JDC's access to communities on the ground. <em>AR 19-21, File 191</em>.

Around this time, Dr. Julius Goldman became JDC's first Director-General for Europe, heading all activities from a central office in Paris. His assignment was formidable: supervise the regional representatives, negotiate with government officials, coordinate JDC's efforts with other organizations in the European Children's Fund, systematize the transport of goods, and communicate overall conditions in Europe so that shipping and appropriations could be managed effectively. <em>AR 19-21, File 36</em>.

Coordinated Action

Dozens of qualified field workers, primarily American social workers, were recruited to plan activities in late 1919. The members of Overseas Unit No. 1 to Poland represented "every element of American Jewry." Branching out from Warsaw the following February, they set up urgently needed sanitary, medical, and child care programs throughout the region.

Overseas Unit members started out learning the local needs and conditions in specific communities. Their input led to JDC restructuring its work along more functional lines. Many of these now-seasoned employees were appointed to run the new departments. <em>AR 19-21, File 68.2</em>.

A new Publicity and Information Department drew from staff field reports and newly gathered surveys to inform the public and press. They also prepared in-house documents to aid in analyzing successes, failures, and further needs. This chart for relief funds spent in Poland covered the crucial post-war period prior to implementing new programs.<em>Book of Statistical Charts…Poland Branch, 1921.</em>

New Direct Support

It became clear that the greatest needs facing Jews could not be met through endless emergency relief. Also, uncoordinated distribution of funds through local committees was subject to factional disputes. JDC's Overseas Unit worked to reorganize funding procedures and establish new programs on a more "practicable and equitable basis."

Whenever possible, JDC partnered with regional and local organizations. The Society for Health Care of the Jewish Population (OZE) had 45 branches in 102 cities. An OZE field report on war refugees told the unfolding story of disrupted lives, terrible living conditions, and unleashed epidemics. The Revolution disrupted JDC’s direct access to OZE and the people it served. <em>AR 14-18, File 91</em>.

The Russian Revolution and subsequent civil wars sent thousands of Jews fleeing through Vladivostok to Manchuria, China, and Japan. Yokohama became an important resting point for these refugees. Working with HIAS, JDC funded housing and other refugee needs there until more permanent settlement became possible. Japan, 1918, <em>NY_04925</em>.

Russian Roulette

The Tsar’s armies had expelled hundreds of thousands of Jews from Russia’s Pale of Settlement, then looted and pillaged their homes. The Revolution made territories under Soviet control off-limits. JDC brought aid to Russian refugees wherever possible: in Siberia, areas of the Far East, and in Polish-occupied portions of Ukraine and Belorussia.

The destruction of a bridge between Brest and Kobryn was one of numerous obstacles that JDC field representatives faced. Abraham Zucker and I. M. Kowalsky posed en route with a Polish Government representative. Poland (now Belarus), c. 1920. <em>NY_01731</em>.

After the Kiev pogrom in May 1920, members of the Demiev Synagogue salvaged what they could of their congregation's torn Torah scrolls. Ukraine, c. 1920, <em>NY_00438</em>.

In the aftermath of the May 1920 pogrom, JDC sent Overseas Unit 1 representatives to Polish-controlled Kiev. Captain Elkan Voorsanger and Dr. Charles Spivak (respectively seated in uniform) helped community leaders establish a local relief committee, providing them with money, food, and emergency supplies. Ukraine, c. 1920, <em>NY_00440</em>.

In the Shadow of Battle

Jews in the disputed territories suffered repeated invasions from Ukrainian, Bolshevik, and Polish forces and the pogroms that often followed in their wake. JDC relief workers came after, often within days of territory changing hands. For areas under Soviet control, real access also required special U.S. State Department permission.

Among the organizations participating in the Soviet Committee to aid pogrom victims were some that had received JDC funds for years: the Jewish Committee to Aid War Victims (EKOPO), the Society for Crafts and Agricultural Labor among Jews in Russia (ORT), and the Society for Health Care of the Jewish Population (OZE). A Kiev home for orphans of the May 1920 pogroms. Most were refugees from nearby small towns. Ukraine, c. 1920, <em>NY_00430</em>.

A polyclinic was established in Kremenchug in 1920. Ukraine, c. 1920, <em>NY_00450</em>.

A May 1921 list from JDC's Vladivostok Auxiliary Branch named families in Krivoje-Ozero directly harmed in pogroms and the leaders of the armed groups responsible. Even the barest facts conveyed the tragic impact of violence inflicted on Jewish families and communities. <em>AR 19-21, File 260</em>.

Window of Opportunity

In June, a Soviet-authorized "United Jewish Social Committee" of Russian Jewish civic and political organizations was formed to aid victims of pogroms in Ukraine. As the sole American participant, JDC could appoint a representative, and provide financial aid and goods for a time.

Solid Ground in a Shifting World

A Joint Effort: JDC's Beginnings, 1914-1921

Solid Ground in a Shifting World

A Working Relationship

Coordinated Action

New Direct Support

Russian Roulette

In the Shadow of Battle

Window of Opportunity

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