DP Camps in Germany

Title: DP Camps in Germany

Inclusive Dates: 1945-1952

ID: RG 294.2

Extent Information

52'11"; 127 5"; 21 map folders

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series: I) Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the American Zone (folders 1-229); II) Camps & Centers, A-E (230-259); III) Camp Feldafing (260-557); IV) Camp Foehrenwald (558-762); V) Camps & Centers, F-Z (763-1046); VI) Union of Employees of the Central Committee (1047-1074); VII) Union of Invalids (1075-1190); VIII) Unions of Jewish students (1191-1276); IX) Landsmanshaftn (1277-1298); X) Jewish Actors Union (1299-1338); XI) Various D.P. Unions (13339-1352); XII) Zionist parties (1353-1389); XIII) ORT (1390-1496); XIV) AJDC (1497-1537); XV) Various organizations (addenda) (1538-1564); XVI) Miscellaneous printed materials (1565-1569); XVII) British Zone (1570-1627); XVIII) Berlin, French Zone (1628-1635); XIX) Supplements of various series (1636-1647)

Creators

Displaced Persons Camps & Centers In Germany

Administrative/Biographical History

The Displaced Persons Camps and Centers in the American Zone of Germany were established by UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency) and the U.S. Army in order to provide care to thousands of former inmates of Nazi concentration camps and forced labor units. Camp residents also included Holocaust survivors who did not wish to return to their country of origin such as Polish Jews who fled Poland after the pogrom in Kielce in 1946. The camps, which existed from 1945 until 1953, provided temporary shelter, health, cultural, educational and financial programs, and immigration services. Until 1947 the official administrator of the DP program was UNRRA. In 1947 the IRO (International Refugee Organization) took over this role. The internal administration of the camps as well as the assistance programs were handled by the Central Committee of Liberated Jews and its local branches. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee as well as other Jewish organizations such as the Jewish Agency and the World Jewish Congress provided substantial material support and immigration aid. The DP camps in the British Zone were administered by the British army. The DP population in the British Zone was represented by the Central Jewish Committee which had its seat in the Bergen-Belsen DP camp. By 1953 most of the camp residents had immigrated to Israel or the U.S. or to other countries. The flow of immigration was facilitated by the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 and the establishment of the State of Israel.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Communal Welfare Organizations
Crime and Criminals
Displaced Persons and DP Camps
Germany
Holocaust and Aftermath
Politics and Political Parties
Radio, Yiddish
Refugees
Religious Life
Survivors, Holocaust
Unions

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Documents - Records

Finding Aid Information

Inventory: English, 132 pp., typed

Administrative Information

Access Notes: YIVO Archives collections are open to researchers only by appointment with an archivist. To inquire about papers and records, write to Chief Archivist, archives@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about photographs and films, write to Photo and Film Archivist at Photofilm@yivo.cjh.org. To inquire about sound recordings, write to Sound Archivist, lsklamberg@yivo.cjh.org. For art works and artifacts, write to Chief Archivist at archives@yivo.cjh.org.

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Other Formats: MK 483 (117) [incl.#37A]

Description: Records relating to the camps in the American Zone of Germany: Files of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews in the American Zone and of its departments. Files of the Central Court of Honor. Minutes and other materials of First through Third Congresses of Displaced Persons in the American Zone. Files of local DP camps. These files are comprised of materials from centers, camp committees as well as local branches of DP organizations and relief agencies. In addition, the following localities are represented: Amberg, Augsburg, Bad Reichenhall, Bamberg, Berchtesgaden, Deggendorf, Eggenfelden, Eschwege, Frankfurt am Main, Fritzlar, Fulda, Gauting, Giebelstadt, Gersfeld, Hasenecke, Heidelberg, Heidenheim, Hofgeismar, Kassel, Krailing-Planegg, Lampertheim, Landau, Landsberg, Munich, Neu Freiman, Neu-Ulm, Plattling, Pocking-Waldstadt, Poppendorf, Regensburg, Rochelle, Schwabach, Schwaebisch Hall, Straubing, Stuttgart, Tirschenreuth, Vilseck, Wetzlar, Windsheim, Zeilsheim, Ziegenheim. By far the largest in this series are records of camps Feldafing and Fohrenwald. Files of professional, social, cultural and political organizations. Included are: Union of Employees of the Central Committee, Union of Invalids, Union of Jewish Students, Jewish Actors Union, *landsmanshaftn*, political parties, ORT, AJDC. Eyewitness accounts and other materials on the Holocaust collected by the Central Historical Commission. Records of the DP camps in the British Zone. Includes materials of the Congresses of Survivors in the British Zone and files of the Central Committee in Bergen-Belsen. Announcements, files on religious affairs, lists of communities and committees. Reports of the Central Historical Commission. Police and court documents relating to former kapos, blackmarketeers and thieves. Miscellaneous organizational files. Materials of the French Zone and of Berlin, including reports, lists and statistics pertaining to the Berlin Jewish community and to Jewish DP's. Election leaflets, printed matter about religious affairs, cultural materials, newsletters, Yiddish radio announcements, JDC reports and correspondence.