The Jdc at 100 ― A Century of Humanitarianism

The JDC at 100: A Century of Humanitarianismtraces the history of the JDC—an organization founded to aid victims of World War I that has played a significant role in preserving and sustaining Jewish life across the globe. The thirteen essays in this volume, edited by Avinoam Patt, Atina Grossmann, Linda G. Levi, and Maud S. Mandel, reflect critically on the organization’s transformative impact on Jewish communities throughout the world, covering topics such as aid for refugees from National Socialism in Cuba, Shanghai, Tehran, the Dominican Republic, France, Belgium, and Australia; assistance to Holocaust survivors in Displaced Persons camps for rebuilding and emigration; and assistance in Rome and Vienna to Soviet Jewish transmigrants in the 1970s. Despite the sustained transnational humanitarian work of this pioneering non-governmental organization, scholars have published surprisingly little devoted to the history and remarkable accomplishments of the JDC, nor have they comprehensively explored the JDC’s role on the ground in many regions and cultures. This volume seeks to address those gaps not only by assessing the widespread impact of the JDC but also by showcasing the richness and depth of the JDC Archives as a resource for examining modern Jewish history in global context.

The JDC at 100 is addressed to scholars and students of humanitarian aid, conflict, displacement, and immigration, primarily in Jewish, European, and American history. It will also appeal to readers with a more general interest in Jewish studies and refugee studies, Holocaust museum professionals, and those engaged in Jewish and other relief and resettlement programs.

Avinoam Patt is the Philip D. Feltman Professor of Modern Jewish History at the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford and co-editor of The New Diaspora: The Changing Landscape of American Jewish Fiction (Wayne State University Press, 2015).

Atina Grossmann is professor of history at Cooper Union in New York. She is co-editor of Shelter from the Holocaust: Rethinking Jewish Survival in the Soviet Union (Wayne State University Press, 2017).

Linda G. Levi is the director of Global Archives at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and editor of I Live. Send Help: 100 Years of Jewish History in Images from the JDC Archives.

Maud S. Mandel is president of Williams College and professor of history in the program in Judaic Studies. She is co-editor of Colonialism and the Jews.