Hungry people greet an American relief worker in Poland

Adults and children in Dachowa await relief in a photograph taken by an American relief worker on an inspection tour. In 1918-1919, Jews in Poland lived through a reign of terror. While the country was at war with its neighbors to the east and the south, there were anti-Jewish pogroms and other attacks. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a humanitarian organization formed at the beginning of World War I, conducted relief activities for the endangered Jewish population. After the war, JDC provided food to Jews in Polish towns and villages; dispatched delegations of doctors, public health experts, and social workers; set up soup kitchens; rebuilt hospitals; and opened orphanages.


presentation Section: Previous Generations
Source: JDC