Despite “hopeful signs that a new era is approaching” for needy Jews overseas, tens of thousands of men, women and children in Europe, Moslem countries and Israel still desperately require Joint Distribution Committee assistance, the agency’s 1953 annual report, issued today reveals.
To meet the needs of more than 165,000 Jews in overseas countries, JDC will require $2,186, 000 this year, the report indicates. In 1953 it spent some $22,187,000 to aid an estimated 162, 700 men, women and children in some 20 countries abroad.
Moses A. Leavitt, JDC executive vice-chairman, declares in the annual report that “those who today depend upon JDC are in most cases those who suffered most. ” He emphasizes that “many may require aid for the rest of their lives. They are men and women who, for reasons of health or physical handicaps, can never be self-sustaining; who, for the same reasons, are barred from emigration. ” At the same time, he cited the following developments during 1953:
1. The ending of JDC operations in Hungary early in the year, as the result of false charges leveled against the agency in that country. This ended all of JDC’s post-war operations in Eastern Europe, with the exception of Yugoslavia.
2. The closing of the headquarters of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work in Versailles, France, and the transformation of the school into an in-service training institution.
3. Expansion of JDC’s rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, through increased aid for ORT vocational training schools, including those in Israel; and the establishment of new credit institutions on behalf of Jewish artisans and professionals in French Morocco and Tunisia.
JDC’s help in 1954, M . Leavitt stated, will include: Expansion of the agency’s Malben facilities in Israel to care for thousands of aged, sick and handicapped immigrants still in reception camps or on waiting lists; extension of feeding, medical and other assistance provided in 1953 to some 100,000 in Moslem lands, chiefly children; intensification of attempts to achieve final solutions for the residual group of DP’s and refugees in Europe either through emigration assistance or through integration aid for more normal lives.
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