American Federation of Jews from Central Europe Collection

The American Federation of Jews from Central Europe (the Federation) was an organization that assisted Jewish immigrants in the United States with many services and advocated for the rights of these immigrants in their new home. The activities of the Federation include supporting restitution efforts, guarding American civil rights of German-Jewish immigrants, and providing educational and other social services to new immigrants.

The American Federation of Jews from Central Europe grew out of the activities of several New York City Jewish-German clubs that served as community centers for German-Jewish immigrants during the first decades of the twentieth century. Many of these clubs were brought together in 1926 under a central office, the German Jewish Center, which served German Jewish immigrants in New York with legal advice, job placement, immigration paperwork, and health care. Many of the leaders of the German Jewish Center later became board members of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, which was formally founded in 1939 in New York.

In 1941, the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe was incorporated, and its main focus became immigration. The Federation fought, albeit unsuccessfully, to exempt German-Jewish refugees from enemy alien status, which was assigned to them when the U.S. entered World War II. The Federation also filed affidavits for many Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and proposed opening free ports that would offer temporary protection to Jewish refugees.

The American Federation of Jews from Central Europe took on the concern of restitution and indemnification as early as 1942, raising money to help Jewish survivors of Nazi persecution and lobbying for the passage of restitution laws after the end of the war. To provide fair legal representation for inexperienced claimants, the United Restitution Organization was formed in 1948 with branch in New York City that functioned as part of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe.

In 1945, the Council of Jews from Germany was founded as an umbrella organization to represent Jewish survivors of Nazi persecution in restitution matters. The Federation was one of the founding member organizations, along with the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain and the Irgun Olej Merkas Europa in Palestine.

Further activities of the Federation included providing cultural support for German Jewish immigrants in the U.S., particularly through cooperation with the Leo Baeck Institute and the Research Foundation for Jewish Immigration.

References

American Federation of Jews from Central Europe. Former Jewish Communal Property in Germany: A Questionnaire Survey Compiled and Analyzed by the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe. New York: American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, 1947.

Teifer, Hermann. “History of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe.” American Federation of Jews from Central Europe. 50th Anniversary Luncheon. 24 November 1991.