Collection of Rafael Gerstenfel Collectie Rafael Gerstenfel (P-122)

Personal papers of Dr. Rafael Gerstenfeld relating to his activities in social work in the Netherlands. Includes minutes, reports, correspondence of the Joods Maatschappelijk Werk, JMW (Foundation of the Jewish Social Work), letters and applications for assistance (alphabetical order), various announcements, bulletins and correspondence (alphabetical order), and financial documents of the Verbond van Midden- en Oost-Europese Joden in Nederland (Federation of Central and Eastern European Jews in the Netherlands), other materials: List of people who received assistance, various documents related to the refugees (HIAS, JMW, Nederlandse Federatie voor Vluchtelingenhulp, NFV (Dutch Federation for Refugee Aid)), newspaper clippings, list of donations, art programs, and articles for publication on the 20th anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Dr. Rafael Gerstenfeld was born in 1900 in Kolomea, East Galicia (then in Austro Hungary, today in the Ukraine). He moved to Vienna where he attained a PhD., and in 1938, fled to the Netherlands, with his wife Mina and their son Manfred, where they spent the war in hiding. After World War II, Gerstenfeld devoted himself completely to the welfare of Jews in the Netherlands. He established the foundation, "Joods Maatschappelijk Werk" ("Jewish Social Work") and was active in the "Verbond van Midden- en Oost Europese Joden in Nederland" (Federation of Central and Eastern European Jews in the Netherlands). He died in Jerusalem in 1976. [Source: The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP)] Copyright Holder: Arkhiyon ha-merkazi le-toldot ha-ʻam ha-Yehudi