German Jewish Aid Committee collection

The German Jewish Aid Committee was founded as the Jewish Refugees Committee in 1933 by the Jewish Banker Otto Schiff under the aegis of the Central British Fund for the Relief of German Jewry. Its purpose was to assist Jews to escape from Nazi Germany to England. At first, the organization took upon itself the costs of arranging for the admission of refugees to England and their maintenance, training, and employment. After the Kristallnacht, the number of immigrants was more than the organization could support and it almost collapsed. Since there was no assistance on the part of the English government, the representatives of the organization were forced to find businessmen, donors and families who could undertake the support of the refugees. The German Jewish Aid Committee collection documents the committee’s efforts to help Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany obtain English visas. The collection primarily includes the correspondence of committee representative Fritz Goldschmidt with refugees from Frankfurt am Main, Essen, Cologne, the Kitchener Camp for Refugees, and other locations. The collection comprises letters, postcards, and supporting documentation revealing the bureaucratic difficulties of receiving visas; efforts to obtain supporting funds from banks, organizations, and private business owners; and the stories of the applicants. Some letters refer to the children of the applicants and document transfer of guarantees, confirmation of foster families, and the transfer of children to England. The collection also includes a German Jewish Aid Committee pamphlet describing how the committee supported young men coming to Great Britain under a trainee program.