The British Fund for Jewish Relief and Rehabilitation announced today it would make a special appeal for funds to aid the Jewish refugees from Algeria who have been settled in France.
The plan was announced after officials of the fund heard a report that French Jewish community leaders were unable to cope with the vastness of the needs of the thousands of Algerian Jews who poured into France in the weeks before the July 1 referendum which made Algeria an independent Moslem country.
Oscar Joseph, chairman of the British Fund, and Charles H.Jordan, director general of the Joint Distribution Committee, made the reports. Mr. Joseph recently visited France and Mr. Jordan had just returned from a survey of conditions in Algeria. It was indicated that even with substantial help from the JDC, the French Jewish community found it could not meet the needs of the resettled Jews.
Fund officials were told that provision of religious, cultural and educational facilities for the refugees, so that they could maintain their religious life, morale and self-respect, was an urgent priority equalled only by the desperate need for suitable housing for them. Fund officials agreed on the need to help but indicated that financial problems made it possible for the fund to provide only 15,000 pounds ($42,000).
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.