A record number of 115 vacation camps for Jewish children are in operation this summer in 13 countries in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Charles H. Jordan, European director general for the Joint Distribution Committee, reported today. The camps are receiving financial aid from the JDC.
He said that more than 24,000 would enjoy camp holidays lasting from three weeks to two months. “These camps,” he stated, “serve many needs for the children. In some countries, the camps take them from crowded slums and ghetto areas into the healthy surroundings of the beach and the mountains.”
He added that in some countries, the camps brought together children from isolated Jewish communities and provided them with “a Jewish environment and companionship often with their only opportunity for religious instruction and observance of Jewish holidays and ritual.”
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.
