Dr. Bernhard Kahn, a vice-chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, who devoted more than 50 years of his life to welfare and relief activities on behalf of needy Jews overseas died today in White Plains Hospital. He was 79. Funeral services will be held Thursday afternoon in New York.
Dr. Kahn was born in Oscarshamn, Sweden. He began his career of service in 1904 when he became secretary general of the Hilisverein der Deutschen Juden. In 1921 he became head of the refugee department of the JDC, and from 1924 to 1939 he served as JDC European director. In 1939 when the advance of Nazism and the outbreak of World War II drove him to the United States he was elected honorary chairman of the JDC European Council, a post which he held until 1950 when he was elected a JDC vice-chairman.
He was a member of the board of directors of the Palestine Economic Corporation, Palestine Foundation Fund and the Haffkine Foundation, a vocational training institution. He also served as chairman of the advisory council of OSE from 1945, and as executive member of the Jewish Agency from 1929-31.
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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.
