Manuel Siegel, Joint Distribution Committee representative who carried on its relief program for 20,000 Jewish refugees in Shanghai, and who was interned by the Japanese in February, 1943, has been liberated, it was announced here today. A cable from Shanghai via Switzerland to the J.D.C.’s New York office, said he had resumed direction of the relief program pending his repatriation.
Last week the Swiss offices of the J.D.C. received the first direct word from Shanghai since 1941. A cable from the representatives of the Jewish community there expressed their deep gratitude for the assistance rendered them and added that they were “all cheerful and in good health.” At present J.D.C. allocates $100,000 monthly for the maintenance of the Shanghai-group.
For a period during the Japanese occupation of the city, funds for the relief program were obtained by borrowing against J.D.C. credit on arrangements made when war seemed imminent. These loans, repayable “not later than six months after the declaration of peace between Japan and the United States” total $500,000. Then arrangements were made for the extension of funds by the Swiss office of the Joint Distribution Committee.
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.
