Drastic cuts in the budget of the Joint Distribution Committee were announced here today following a conference of heads of various J.D.C. departments here at which the financial position of the organization was discussed.
It was established at the conference that there is a large gap between needs which the J.D.C. has to meet and the financial resources it has at present at its disposal. It was also revealed at the parley that the monthly budget for the J.D.C. in France was reduced from 135,000,000 to 70,000,000 francs last December and that further cuts are envisaged.
Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, European director of the J.D.C., told the conference that because of insufficient funds, even immigration to Israel — which enjoys priority in the J.D.C. work — might be curtailed or possibly suspended in October. With rogard to the J.D.C. activities in France, he indicated that 200 aged Jews now being cared for by the J.D.C. might be transferred to the care of French authorities, while cultural and educational programs may be completely discontinued.
Dr. Schwartz emphasized that drastic reductions have been made necessary in view of the urgent needs imposed by the mass emigration to Israel of Jews from Iraq and Rumania at a time when the United Jewish Appeal failed to achieve anticipated results.
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.
