The American Federation of Jews from Central Europe was established in New York City in 1939 to coordinate services to German-speaking Jewish refugees entering the United States.[1][2] It was incorporated in 1941. The Federation offered social services, assistance with immigration paperwork, and support with education and job placement. It also put on cultural activities. The Federation focused on issues of immigration between 1939 and the end of World War II, after which it shifted towards issues of restitution. The first branch of the United Restitution Organization was founded in 1948 as part of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe,[1][3] and the federation helped distribute funds from the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization and the Jewish Trust Corporation.[4]
Dr. Hermann Müller was the federation's executive director from 1941 to 1963,[4] followed by Curt Silberman.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Teifer, Hermann. “History of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe.” American Federation of Jews from Central Europe. 50th Anniversary Luncheon. 24 November 1991.
- ^ Judith Marcus (1999). Surviving the Twentieth Century: Social Philosophy from the Frankfurt School to the Columbia Faculty Seminars. Transaction Publishers. p. 415. ISBN 978-1-4128-3547-3. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- ^ Grossmann, Kurt. Ten years : American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, Inc.: 1941-1951. New York: American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, 1952.
- ^ a b Strauss, H. A. (1971). "The Immigration and Acculturation of the German Jew in the United States of America". The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook. 16: 63–94. doi:10.1093/leobaeck/16.1.63.
- ^ Eli Lederhendler (2001). New York Jews and the Decline of Urban Ethnicity: 1950-1970. Syracuse University Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-8156-0711-3. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
External links
edit- Guide to the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe Collection at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York, NY.
- Yeshiva University Libraries hold a collection of similar materials: American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, Inc. Collection, 1933-1956.
- Archive of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe at the Center for Anti-Semitic Research in Berlin