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On the Eve of War”: A Rare 1939 National Refugee Service Letter & 12-Page Report — American Jewish Relief and the Rescue of European Refugees
This remarkable and historically significant original 1939 Jewish refugee document offers a rare firsthand window into the desperate humanitarian work being carried out for European refugees in the United States at the very moment the world was entering the Second World War.
Dated September 27, 1939, just weeks after the outbreak of World War II, the letter was issued by William Haber, Executive Director of the National Refugee Service, Inc., from the organization’s headquarters at 165 West 46th Street, New York City. It was addressed to Mr. Max Sklar of Monongahela, Pennsylvania, and accompanied by an extensive 12-page monthly report covering the organization’s activities for July 1939.
The report provides an extraordinary contemporary record of the scale and complexity of the refugee crisis. It describes the National Refugee Service’s efforts in immigration, employment, relief, resettlement, medical assistance, transportation, and emergency aid to refugees arriving in America.
