A Jewish Labor Committee Appeal Booklet to Support the Jewish Children Who Survived the Holocaust

Featured Artifact from the Jewish Labor and Political Archives

This in an appeal booklet that comes from YIVO’s Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) collection. It seeks support for Jewish children who had survived the Holocaust and were living in one of the children’s homes built and run by the Jewish Labor Committee. With texts in Yiddish and English, the booklet was distributed to Jewish children attending one of the Arbeter Ring schools in the United States. In an effort to help the children in the US connect with those in Europe, it features photographs of daily activities in JLC-supported homes in France and Belgium. The booklet reminds the children in the US that they are fortunate to have everything they need: “You have warm homes, you have love and affection, devoted parents, you have good schools, food and clothing.” In contrast, the booklet states bluntly, “But the children overseas have none of that,” and implores those in the US to “collect penny by penny” to help the JLC supply Europe’s surviving Jewish youth with winter coats, shoes, warm underwear, toys, and textbooks.