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Title
Date(s)
- 1940 (Creation)
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1 file
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Biographical history
The Central Council for Jewish Refugees was originally called the Council for German Jewry. This was a British Jewish organisation established in 1936 with the goal of aiding German Jews to leave Germany in co-ordinated emigration. Organisationally, the CFGJ succeeded and absorbed the Central British Fund for German Jewry (CBF), established in May 1933. In reaction to the Nuremberg Laws of September 1935, British Jewish leaders, in consultation with German Jewish leaders, formulated an emigration plan for 100,000 German Jews aged 17-35. Half of the immigrants would settle in Palestine, and half in other countries. It was hoped another 100,000 would emigrate without assistance. The council's founders sought to forge a partnership in this endeavour with American Jewry. Personal and organisational differences nearly prevented the formation of the council. Its first meeting was held in London on March 15, 1936, but the two major American groups, the Joint Distribution Committee and the United Palestine Appeal, joined formally only in August. The council never assumed the stature its founders had hoped it would. It was hampered by British immigration policies in Palestine, emigration obstacles in Germany, the growing impoverishment of German Jewry, and the exacerbation of the situation following the Anschluss. Yet, the council did manage to help nearly 100,000 Jews emigrate by the outbreak of World War Two, and it also funded numerous vocational training programs in Germany and elsewhere.
With the outbreak of the war, the council was forced to limit its activities to refugees in Britain, and its name was changed to the Central Council for Jewish Refugees. Following the war, the needs of displaced persons and refugees brought another reorganisation and name change, to the Central British Fund for Relief and Rehabilitation. This organisation still exists in the CBF's original offices in Woburn House, London.
Repository
Archival history
GB 1556 WL 1469 1940 Collection level (fonds) 1 file Central Council for Jewish Refugees
The Central Council for Jewish Refugees was originally called the Council for German Jewry. This was a British Jewish organisation established in 1936 with the goal of aiding German Jews to leave Germany in co-ordinated emigration. Organisationally, the CFGJ succeeded and absorbed the Central British Fund for German Jewry (CBF), established in May 1933. In reaction to the Nuremberg Laws of September 1935, British Jewish leaders, in consultation with German Jewish leaders, formulated an emigration plan for 100,000 German Jews aged 17-35. Half of the immigrants would settle in Palestine, and half in other countries. It was hoped another 100,000 would emigrate without assistance. The council's founders sought to forge a partnership in this endeavour with American Jewry. Personal and organisational differences nearly prevented the formation of the council. Its first meeting was held in London on March 15, 1936, but the two major American groups, the Joint Distribution Committee and the United Palestine Appeal, joined formally only in August. The council never assumed the stature its founders had hoped it would. It was hampered by British immigration policies in Palestine, emigration obstacles in Germany, the growing impoverishment of German Jewry, and the exacerbation of the situation following the Anschluss. Yet, the council did manage to help nearly 100,000 Jews emigrate by the outbreak of World War Two, and it also funded numerous vocational training programs in Germany and elsewhere.
With the outbreak of the war, the council was forced to limit its activities to refugees in Britain, and its name was changed to the Central Council for Jewish Refugees. Following the war, the needs of displaced persons and refugees brought another reorganisation and name change, to the Central British Fund for Relief and Rehabilitation. This organisation still exists in the CBF's original offices in Woburn House, London.
Robert Weltsch
Six copies of a donation form of the Central Council for Jewish Refugees/London, special emergency appeal by N M Rothschild, 1940. English
N/A
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
English
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
March 2008 Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief x World Jewish Relief x Central British Fund for German Jewry x Council for German Jewry x Central Council for Jewish Refugees x Central British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation Jews Migrants Refugees Religious groups
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Robert Weltsch
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Six copies of a donation form of the Central Council for Jewish Refugees/London, special emergency appeal by N M Rothschild, 1940. English
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
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N/A
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
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Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
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Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English