Guide to the Records of the German-Jewish Children's Aid (GJCA)
(1933 - 1953)

RG 249

Series I: Administrative Correspondence, 1933-1956.

Arrangement:

Series I contains two subseries: Domestic Administrative Correspondence and European Affiliates Correspondence.

Scope and Content:

Series I consists of administrative correspondence of the German-Jewish Children's Aid. The first subseries focuses on correspondence within the U.S., mainly that of the Executive Director and the Placement Director. Subseries 2 holds correspondence with affialiated aid agencies who were identifying and gathering children in Europe for relocation to the United States.

Subseries 1: Domestic Administrative Correspondence  1933-1956

Scope and Content:

Beginning with the documents of incorporation (1934), this material consists of correspondence, mainly of Cecilia Razovsky (Executive Director of the German-Jewish Children's Aid) and of Lotte Marcuse (German-Jewish Children's Aid Placement Director), with members of the German Jewish Children's Aid Board of Directors, the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Refugee Service and other aid agencies in New York. There is also correspondence with field offices of the above agencies, U.S. government departments and with prospective foster parents throughout the U.S.

Documents concerning the founding of the organization include copies of articles of incorporation, amendments to the articles, copies of the German-Jewish Children’s Aid’s constitution and bylaws. Other documents concerning the start of the organization include the appointment of Cecilia Razovsky as the Executive Director of the German-Jewish Children’s Aid, and the plans of the organization for a large-scale children’s immigration program. Materials concerning the functioning of the organization include minutes of German-Jewish Children's Aid meetings, including those of the Board of Directors, staff, and the Finance Committee, as well as information on the changing of the organizations’s name to the European-Jewish Children’s Aid and information on the tax status of the organization. In addition, there is also a history of the German-Jewish Children's Aid located in this subseries.

The majority of documents found in this suberies is correspondence. A large amount of correspondence here is between the German-Jewish Children's Aid and other aid organizations, including the National Refugee Service, the National Council of Jewish Women, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the U.S. Committee for Care of European Children, among others. There is also a great deal of correspondence with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which focuses on immigration forms and regulations, such as affadavits of support for sponsored children, government publications on the rights and restrictions of resident aliens, and discussing the immigration of groups of children. A few folders contain correspondence concerning activities for children such as summer camps and scholarships. Subseries 1 also contains documents concerning the German-Jewish Children's Aid’s support of the Wagner-Rogers bill, which would have allowed the immigration of refugee children from Europe outside of the quota system.

The greatest amount of correspondence located here is between the German-Jewish Children's Aid and other agencies concerning the placement of children in homes, and concerning field visits by the German-Jewish Childen's Aid to other agencies. There are also many lists of children needing homes, as well as biographical information on individual children, and lists of homes where they were placed. Statistical reports on the activity of the German-Jewish Children's Aid are also in this subseries, as well as reports to the German-Jewish Children's Aid from affialiated agencies.

Subseries 2: European Affiliates Correspondence  1934-1949

Scope and Content:

Subseries 2 contains correspondence between New York and affiliated aid agencies in Austria, England, France, Germany and Holland, who were gathering European orphans and unaccompanied children, in preparation for emigration to the United States.

The majority of correspondence in this subseries is between the German-Jewish Children’s Aid and other refugee organizations or local offices and concerns arrangements made for specific children in these countries. Such efforts were coordinated with such groups as the Quakers, the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden , the Jewish Communities of Vienna and Amsterdam, the Clara de Hirsch Home and various English groups. Two folders contain correspondence with the Reichsvereinigung der Deutschen Juden from the time of the ending of emigration programs for children. Several folders also contain letters from individuals attempting to get their children out of Germany.

A) Austria

B) England

C) France

D) Germany

E) Holland

Series II: Emigration Correspondence, 1933-1950.

Arrangement:

By country.

Scope and Content:

Series II holds correspondence between the German Jewish Children's Aid (New York) and various affiliated aid agencies and individuals throughout the world regarding emigration arrangements for specific individuals or groups. It includes correspondence with relatives already in the U.S.

This series includes biographical information on children as well as lists of children who were to emigrate to the United States, Canada, or in a few cases, Israel. A large amount of correspondence is between the German-Jewish Children’s Aid and the Refugee Children’s Movement of London, the Central Jewish Welfare Office in Berlin, as well as with U.S. relatives of emigrating German children. Several folders contain information about retrieving affadavits of support for children emigrating to the United States. Much of the correspondence in this series is from Lotte Marcuse, the Placement Director of the German-Jewish Children’s Aid.

A) Algeria 

B) Austria 

C) Belgium 

D) Canada 

E) China 

F) Cuba 

G) Czechoslovakia 

H) Danzig and Denmark 

I) England 

J) Finland 

K) France 

L) Germany 

M) Greece 

N) Holland 

O) Hawaii, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan and Mexico  

P) Palestine 

Q) Poland 

R) Portugal 

S) South America 

T) Spain and Sweden 

U) Switzerland 

V) Trinidad 

W) West Indies 

Series III: Children's Case File Correspondence, 1939-1952.

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged by European city of emigration and then alphabetically by child's last name.

Scope and Content:

Correspondence about cases of specific children waiting in Europe to emigrate, regarding final arrangements for their transportation and reception/handling in the U.S.

This series is comprised of case file correspondence. A case file can include an initial questionnaire for the applicant, a biography on the child's family experiences and current status, medical or psychological history and correspondence with the sending agency and government personnel.

Series IV: Children's Closed Cases, 1946-1951.

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically by child's last name.

Scope and Content:

Contains post-war "closed" cases of children already settled in the U.S. or no longer being considered, for various reasons.

Series V: Reception Reports, 1935-1944.

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged chronologically, by name of arriving ship.

Scope and Content:

This series consists of narrative reports written by adult escorts for groups of traveling children or by agency personnel meeting them at the U.S. port of entry. Material includes correspondence with the Pleasantville (N.Y.) Reception Center.

Series VI: Transportation Fund-Raising, 1934-1944.

Scope and Content:

Material in this series consist of fund-raising letters and administrative correspondence with transportation companies. In addition there is a list of children transported between 1939-1941.

Series VII: Identity Papers, 1941-1948.

Arrangement:

By name of ship, and then by adult's last name.

Scope and Content:

This series contains identity papers of specific children: some issued officially by United States consulates abroad; others issued mainly by the Quakers, in lieu of official passports.

Series VIII: "Children Abroad" Case Files, 1945-1949.

Arrangement:

Alphabetically arranged by last name of the child.

Scope and Content:

Correspondence from Lotte Marcuse regarding the coordination of responsibilities and arrangements with other aid groups looking after specific children still in Europe after the war.

Series IX: Administrative Reports, 1934-1952.

Arrangement:

Most of the folders are arranged chronologically.

Scope and Content:

This material consists of statistical, financial and narrative activity reports for the German-Jewish Children's Aid/European-Jewish Children's Aid.

Reports found in Series IX focus on such topics as the organization's activities, finances, and the placement of children. In addition, this series also contains accounting correspondence as well as records of cash disbursements and cash books.

Series X: Jewish Child Care Association Case Files, 1947-1948.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by children's last names.

Scope and Content:

Series X holds correspondence with the Jewish Child Care Association (New York) with case files of children in the United States under their care. Case files contain questionnaires, biographies and medical histories.