American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC / Joint)

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJDC / Joint) was founded in 1914 as a Jewish-American welfare organization with the aim of providing economic support to Jews in Eastern Europe and Palestine. During World War II the organization helped Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. After the Shoah, the Joint initiated an extensive aid program for survivors in the German, Austrian, and Italian DP camps. In addition, the Joint organized and financed emigration to Israel and other countries overseas.

Together with the religious organization Vaad Hatzalah (Heb. Rescue Committee), the Joint also distributed prayer shawls and prayer books, mezuzot and Seder plates so that survivors could lead an autonomous Jewish religious life once again. Although only a minority of the DPs were religious, everyday Jewish traditions played an important role for the Sh’erit ha-Pletah. The Joint’s Department for Religion in Munich commissioned Jewish DPs in Marktredwitz in Upper Frankonia, for example, to make more than two thousand Seder plates which were then distributed among DPs in camps and private homes for Passover.