Selma Wideroff papers

The Selma Wideroff papers consist of correspondence, reports, and photographs documenting Selma Wideroff’s work for the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Germany from 1945‐1946 in the Bergen‐Belsen displaced persons camp and later at the Blankenese children's center on the Warburg Estate near Hamburg. Correspondence and reports include descriptions of Wideroff’s work in Europe, the use of the Warburg estate, activities in the British Zone, displaced communities in cities around Germany, directives for education programs. This series also includes JDC letters of introduction and of recommendation for Wideroff, her movement orders, and her reports on her radio interviews about her activities in Europe. Photographs depict Selma Wideroff and other staff members and children at the Bergen‐Belsen DP camp and the Blankenese children’s center. Copyright Holder: Ms. Selma Wideroff Selma (Sally) Wideroff (1913‐2011) was born Selma Bendremer in New York City. She obtained degrees in child growth and development and joined the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in November 1945. She served first in the Bergen‐Belsen displaced persons (DP) camp as the liaison between representatives of the JDC, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and the DP camp's Central Jewish Committee. She also worked to establish educational, recreational and cultural programs. Later she supervised renovation of the Warburg Estate near Hamburg which became the Blankenese children’s center for children from Bergen‐Belsen without families. She served as the JDC's child welfare specialist at the center. In April 1946 she escorted a group of orphans to Marseilles on the first leg of their journey to Palestine as part of the first postwar Youth Aliyah transport. After she returned home in December 1946, she worked as a field representative for the JDC.