The Joint Distribution Committee will hold its 49th annual meeting here tomorrow with community leaders from all parts of the country participating in the adoption of a wide range of welfare and rehabilitation programs for needy Jews in 30 lands. The delegates will also adopt a budget for JDC activities in 1964. The budget will be submitted to the three-day national conference of the United Jewish Appeal which will open on Friday. The budget of the JDC for 1963 totaled $30,769,000.
Moses A. Leavitt, executive vice-chairman of the JDC, in a report prepared for the annual meeting reviews the 1963 activities of the organization in Europe, North Africa, Israel and other parts of the world, The major part of the JDC work in Europe was conducted in France where approximately 51,000 Jews, most of them refugees from North Africa and Eastern Europe, received some form of JDC aid.
Mr. Leavitt reported also on JDC work in Poland, Austria, Belgium, West Germany, and Italy. “A more limited number” of JDC beneficiaries, he said, were aided in Greece, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia More than 3,000 were assisted in those countries.
90,000 JEWS AIDED IN MOSLEM LANDS; 83,320 ASSISTED IN ISRAEL
In North Africa, he reported, the number of Jews requiring JDC aid has shown relatively little decrease, despite the steadily shrinking Jewish populations in that area. Preliminary figures for the first half of 1963, he said, showed that almost 90,000 Jews in Moslem countries were assisted by JDC. Of that total, 66,720 were in North Africa; 21,100 in Iran; and almost 2,000 in other Moslem countries.
Emphasizing that in Israel, the JDC provided in 1963 some form of assistance for 83,320 men, women and children, Mr. Leavitt pointed out that of this number 47,675 were helped by JDC-Malben, the welfare program on behalf of aged, ill and handicapped newcomers in the country.
“During the first six months of 1963, 13,475 persons per month received grants from ‘Ma’anak’ to enable them to live outside of Malben homes,” Mr. Leavitt added. “This fund is supported by Malben, the Jewish Agency, the Ministry of Welfare and the municipalities. There was an increase of 300 persons among those living in the communities who were provided with housing, housekeeping or day-care services. During this period Malben provided technical assistance and financial aid to 38 Golden Age Clubs with a registered membership of some 4,200 elderly people and also provided technical assistance to another 11 Golden Age Clubs.”
Along with a wide range of other programs, Mr. Leavitt reported, Malben continued to provide other vitally needed assistance in Israel. During the first six months of this year, he stated, 117 constructive loans, amounting to $40,620, were given to 900 handicapped newcomers. Malben’s staff, he said, included, as of April 1, 1963, a total of 1,459, including 57 physicians, 286 nurses, nurses aides and other medical personnel, and 41 social workers.
LEAVITT STRESSES AID THROUGH LOANS AND VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS
During the first six months of 1963, Mr. Leavitt said in his report, 38 JDC-sponsored loan institutions made more than 2,800 loans amounting to $1,660,000. Twenty-one of these loan funds were in 12 European countries, others were in South America, North Africa, Israel and Australia; 14 of the institutions were jointly sponsored with the Jewish Colonization Association.
Between January 1st and June 30th, more than 24,500 students attended JDC-aided ORT vocational training schools and courses in Europe, Israel, and Moslem countries as well as the new ORT school in India.
Some 257,000 pounds of matzoh were shipped to Jewish communities in Albania, Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Yugoslavia. JDC also made special grants to about 60,000 needy Jews in Algeria, Iran, Morocco, and Tunisia to help them purchase matzoh locally. In addition, JDC assisted Jews in Poland to make matzoh, and the needy received it free.
More than 24,000 children and young people spent vacations in 116 summer camps organized with JDC’s financial and technical help, and sponsored by Jewish organizations in 13 countries. Of this number, more than 10,000 youngsters were in 71 camps in France; seven more camps have had to be opened to accommodate all the applicants, particularly the children of refugees from Algeria.
During the first half of 1963 nearly 9,000,000 pounds of food was contributed by the United States Government for JDC feeding programs, with Israel and Morocco receiving more than 3,000,000 pounds each. In addition, more than 2,100,000 pounds of Government-contributed food was sent by JDC for general distribution in Tunisia. The JDC agreed to contribute $6,200 toward the construction of a school for Samaritan children in Jordan. JDC has, since 1949, been assisting the Samaritan community, the majority of whom live in Nablus, Jordan. There is a smaller group in Israel.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
