Project Category: JDC and the Children of the DP Camps

Bare Necessities The U.S. Army and UNRRA provided a bare minimum of rations and clothing; JDC made up the difference. The first goal in aiding Jewish displaced persons was to ensure their survival. Malnutrition was a common condition, and timing was critical. As JDC resolved the difficulties of raising sufficient funds, assessing the needs of a shifting population, and procuring supplies in post-war Europe, it provided as steady and comprehensive an array of services as could be mustered. Something to wear The first shipments sent by JDC consisted of clothing. In 1947, it shipped approximately 79,000,000 pounds of shoes...

Starting Over Eastern European Jews fled eastward to escape the Nazis. On return to their countries of origin, they were often met by anti-Semitism and violent encounters. Desperate, they then headed to the relative safety of camps in the U.S.-Occupied Zones. This flood of refugees taxed the already chaotic camps. But it also introduced a more intact communal life into the camps which benefited all. The growing population of babies born there brought a new element of joy. the first flood – a place to go Those fleeing Eastern Europe, including large numbers of families and orphaned children, overwhelmed...

what now In spring 1945, liberated Jews who had survived the Nazi concentration camps ended up in displaced persons (DP) camps in the occupied zones of Germany, Austria and Italy. They were soon joined by those rescued from other occupied areas, and by those who had survived the war hiding in forest and caves, resisting in partisan bands, or passing as Christians. Among nearly 1½ million people of all nationalities living in these camps by late September, more than 53,000 were Jews. A Place of Refuge? The camps were intended as emergency shelters for those displaced by the war....