Letter from the War Refugee Board in 1944 to the Vaad Hatzalah regarding the Vaad Hatzalah’s work in Rescuing Persecuted Jews
1944
caption:
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
WAR REFUGEE BOARD
WASHINGTON 25, D.C.
OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JUN 6 1944
Dear Sirs:
Thank you for your letter of June 2, 1944, in which you ask the Board to state its position with respect to the part played by private agencies in the relief and rescue of the victims of enemy persecution.
Private organizations, such as yours, are making a significant contribution to such work. As you know, it is not the intention of the Board to supplant such agencies. On the contrary, I assure you that it is the Board’s policy to aid and facilitate their work in every possible way.
Very truly yours,
J.W. Pehle
Executive Director
Vaad Hahatzala Emergency Committee
132 Nassau Street New York 7, N.Y.
Identifer: CJF.2016.020.053
Medium
Paper
Topics
Vaad Hatzalah & WWII Rescue Efforts
Description
The original purpose of the Vaad Hatzala was to raise funds for rabbis, yeshiva students and their families who fled to Vilna, Lithuania after the Soviet invasion in September 1939.
During the year 1944, the Vaad Hatzalah sent many telegrams to different branches of the United States government, alerting officials to the systematic exterminations of Jews taking place in ghettos and concentration camps throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. The Vaad did succeed in actually rescuing thousands of Jews from concentration camps and bringing them to Switzerland in 1945, transmitting sums of money to agents to negotiate with officials in Germany.
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