JDC Archives

08/19/2026

This and , we're highlighting the work of photographer Al Taylor, who spent more than three decades documenting JDC's humanitarian work across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

His late-1940s photographs of Morocco capture everyday Jewish life alongside JDC assistance that included educational programming, vocational training, and food distribution. Through his lens, we see not only the people JDC served, but the strength and vibrancy of the Moroccan Jewish community.

Explore the gallery: https://archives.jdc.org/project/al-taylor-morocco-late-1940s/

08/18/2026

Join us on Tuesday, September 8th at 12PM (ET) for the webinar "The Aumônerie générale des israélites de France 1940-1944: From Spiritual Aid to Active Resistance" led by Emmanuelle Moscovitz.

Register today: https://jdc-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AG64S9rgTdiR4rWNimyAAw #/registration

In this presentation, Emmanuelle Moscovitz will explore the history of the General Chaplaincy of the Jews of France—a unique group of rabbis accredited by the Vichy Ministry of the Interior to enter French internment camps and provide religious support to thousands of detained foreign Jews. She will examine how these rabbis, though strictly authorized only for spiritual aid, utilized their exceptional access and relationships with Vichy officials to assume roles that transcended the religious sphere. Drawing on a range of sources, including the JDC Archives, the presentation will highlight the evolution of their actions from spiritual aid to humanitarian relief, rescue, and active resistance. By focusing on this distinct rabbinical leadership, the presentation will shed new light on daily life within the Vichy camps and the multi-layered role of religious leadership during the Holocaust.

Emmanuelle Moscovitz is a researcher at the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem and serves as the National Coordinator for European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI-Israel). She has been with Yad Vashem since 2012, serving in various roles as a tour guide within the Historical Museum, in the Archives, and currently at the Research Institute. Since 2022, she has also been a lecturer at the The Weiss-Livnat International MA Program in Holocaust Studies at the University of Haifa, where she teaches a course on the Holocaust in Western Europe. She holds a PhD from Tel Aviv University, completed in June 2026 under the supervision of Prof. Havi Dreifuss and Dr. Jean-Marc Dreyfus (University of Manchester). Her dissertation examines the General Chaplaincy of the Jews of France (Aumônerie générale des israélites de France) and the efforts of consistorial rabbis on behalf of Jews detained in French internment camps during the Second World War.

08/13/2026

08/12/2026

In August 1946, the British government initiated a policy of deporting Jews who tried to enter Mandate Palestine illegally, in violation of the immigration quotas for Jews set by the White Paper of 1939. These Jewish refugees, the majority of them Holocaust survivors, were caught in limbo, marooned on the British-controlled island of Cyprus and housed in internment camps.

JDC offered its assistance by providing supplementary food rations, clothing, equipment, vocational training programs, educational and religious materials, legal representation, and emigration assistance.

To learn more, view our Topic Guide "Detained in Cyprus": https://archives.jdc.org/topic-guides/detained-in-cyprus/

08/06/2026

In 1941, a young Jewish refugee named Chaya Leah (Walkin) Small arrived in Shanghai after escaping Nazi-occupied Europe with her family on a rare visa issued by Chiune Sugihara. As conditions worsened in Shanghai during the war, JDC stepped in to provide food, education, vocational training, medical assistance, and emergency relief that helped sustain thousands of Jewish refugees like Chaya Leah. Today, her family’s wartime experience and entire journey through Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and China is documented in the JDC Archives.

How many stories like hers are waiting to be discovered?

Today, we’re excited to unveil the newly revamped JDC Archives Names Database, making it easier than ever to search for hundreds of thousands of individuals found in JDC’s historical records.

🔎 Start searching: https://names.archives.jdc.org/

For more on Chaya Leah's story, read here: https://archives.jdc.org/reflections-on-shanghai/

08/04/2026

Two signatures. Two giants of Jewish history.

In 1924, Albert Einstein and renowned historian Simon Dubnow signed a letter thanking JDC for its support of Jewish higher education in Kovno, Lithuania.

Preserved in the JDC Archives, this remarkable document highlights how JDC, together with leading Jewish intellectuals, helped strengthen Jewish educational and cultural life in the aftermath of World War I.

🔗 Read more: https://archives.jdc.org/archival-letter-bears-two-famous-signatures/

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The next edition is out at the beginning of September!

07/30/2026

ICYMI: Na’ama Seri-Levi's lecture on the JDC Parcels Operation in the Soviet Union during WWII is now up on our website!

Watch now: https://archives.jdc.org/naama-seri-levi-lectures-on-jdc-parcel-operation/

Her lecture examines the parcels operation conducted by the JDC in the Soviet Union during World War II and its significance for the history of Jewish refugees. During the war, hundreds of thousands of food and aid parcels were sent to Jewish refugees and evacuees scattered across Soviet territories. The distribution of these parcels generated detailed lists that recorded the names, locations, and addresses of recipients. The talk highlights how these records preserve a remarkable documentary trace of the lives of refugees during the war.

Na’ama Seri-Levi is the Editor-in-Chief of Yad Vashem Publications. She is the recipient of the 2025 Max and Cecil (Steuer) Chesin/JDC Archives Fellowship.

07/28/2026

Tonight is the start of Tu B'Av, the Jewish day of love. Celebrate by perusing our images of global Jewish weddings through the decades: https://archives.jdc.org/project/jewish-weddings/

07/19/2026

Treat yourself to a scoop this Sundae … we mean Sunday.

07/16/2026

In the aftermath of World War II, thousands of Jewish Holocaust survivors found themselves stranded in displaced persons camps across Europe, dreaming of rebuilding their lives in Mandatory Palestine.

In July 1947, over 4,500 survivors set sail from France on the SS Exodus bound for Haifa, only to be intercepted by British forces before arrival. JDC stepped in to provide food, medicine, and relief supplies for children to the trapped passengers. Sent back to camps in Germany, JDC’s staff worked tirelessly to support the Jewish refugees through months of hardship and uncertainty.

Our Topic Guide, The Odyssey of the SS Exodus, explores this remarkable chapter of Jewish history through original photographs, press releases, letters and more from the JDC Archives.

Explore the guide: https://archives.jdc.org/topic-guides/the-odyssey-of-the-ss-exodus/