Eleven thousand Jewish boys and girls in France, many of them orphans, are today receiving care in fifty-six orphan homes supported by the Joint Distribution Committee, or through other assistance provided by the J.D.C., it was reported today by Jacques Pulver, French underground leader and executive secretary of the Eclaireurs Israelites (the Jewish Boy Scouts of France) at a press conference here.
At the same time, Dr. Joseph C, Hyman, executive vice-chairman of the JDC, revealed that throughout Europe the J.D.C. is helping care for over 70,000 young Jewish survivors. In 250 orphan homes aided by the Committee’s funds, and through its relief, reconstruction and resettlement programs in nearly every country in Europe, the J.D.C. is now engaged in the greatest child-care activities in its history, he said.
Mr. Pulver disclosed that large funds for the underground activities during the war, in which the Eclarieurs Israelites alone saved nearly 6,000 Jewish children, were provided by the J.D.C. from Switzerland and by French individuals on the promise that the J.D.C. would repay them after the war. Stating that only six Jewish children were lost of the 6,000 rescued and hidden by the Eclaireurs Israelites, Mr. Pulver paid high tribute to the underground workers of the organization, of whom 140–out of 240–sacrificed their lives to protect their young charges.
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