UNITED JEWISH RELIEF AGENCIES (UJRA)

The United Jewish Refugee and War Relief Agencies of Canada was established with the assistance of Samuel Bronfman in 1938. Later known as the United Jewish Relief Agencies, or UJRA, it at first helped escapees, evacuees, and interned refugees from England, providing food, shelter, and diplomatic and moral support. There were as yet no Jewish refugee immigrants to aid, due to Canada's restrictive wartime immigration policies. After the war, UJRA sent supplies and helped trace families for DPs, brought skilled immigrants to Canada, facilitated the immigration of refugee youth ("The War Orphans Project"), and also sent aid to the new State of Israel. Working with other organizations, it sent Passover supplies to needy Jews in Israel, Europe and Canada and with the Canadian Jewish Congress formed the United Restitution Organization for war reparations. Though its duties lessened over the decades, the UJRA continued to function for several decades after WWII. This fonds is divided into 11 major series, relfecting the principal activities of the organization, with an emphasis on the WWII and postwar period.