Jewish Labor Committee (U.S.) Records, Part I: Holocaust Era Files

The Jewish Labor Committee, an umbrella group of Jewish or Jewish-led trade unions and fraternal organizations, was founded in New York City in 1934. Its primary purposes were to organize anti-Nazi and anti-fascist activity and to provide assistance to European Jews and others persecuted by these movements. During World War II, it maintained close ties with European resistance movements and was able to effect the rescue of hundreds of labor and socialist activists and their families. After the War, it helped to reunite families and resettle survivors. The original donation of JLC records to NYU included more than 800 linear feet of material. This guide describes the first portion of the JLC records; included are general administrative records for the Committee’s earliest years as well as files documenting anti-Nazi activity (including relations with other Jewish organizations), rescue and aid activities, and overseas work in general. Most documentation of the JLC’s domestic anti-discrimination work, which increased in intensity in the post-war years, is included in later series.