OUR CHILDREN
New York: Jewish Labor Committee, Child "Adoption" Program, 1949. Item #42893
1st edition. Original photographic color paper wrappers, oblong 4to (large), [16] pages. Multiple illustrations and portraits on every page. 20 x 28 cm. Primarily in English with Yiddish, Italian, and French.
Large inspiring colorful illustrated brochure on the Jewish Labor Committees famous Child Adoption Program to support Holocaust orphans in Europe and elsewhere after liberation. “After the war, the JLC [Jewish Labor Committee] organized a Child Adoption Program. The program was not meant to provide adoption in the usual sense, but rather to provide a mechanism by which Americans could contribute to the care of children living in Europe or Israel. At a cost of $300 per year, a union shop or local, fraternal society, Workmen's Circle branch, women's club, or any other group or individual could ‘adopt’ a child. Thousands of children were supported through this program into the 1950s” (Wikipedia).The US Holocaust Museum in Washington purchased the JLC’s original child adoption case files, organized alphabetically by name, in 2000, but, based on our research, lacks this illustrated promotional book for the program.
”When World War II began in September 1939, there were approximately 1.6 million Jewish children living in the territories that the German armies or their allies would occupy. When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, more than 1 million and perhaps as many as 1.5 million Jewish children were dead, targeted victims in the Nazis' calculated program of genocide….
All Jews were targeted for death, but the mortality rate for children was especially high. Only 6 to 11% of Europe's prewar Jewish population of children survived as compared with 33% of the adults….
Liberation from Nazi tyranny brought no end to the sufferings of the few Jewish children who survived the Holocaust. Many would face the future without parents, grandparents, or siblings….
Soon after liberation, Jewish agencies throughout Europe began tracing survivors and measuring communal losses. In the Low Countries, perhaps some 9,000 Jewish children survived. Of the almost 1 million Jewish children in 1939 Poland, only about 5,000 survived. Most of these youngsters survived in hiding” (USHMM). OCLC: 1007702517. OCLC-Worldcat lists only 3 copies worldwide (Harvard, Ntl. Lib & Archives Canada, Intl. Inst. Soc. Hist.), only 1 in the US.
An amazingly well-preserved copy. Very Good+ Condition. Rare and very important. A powerful display item (Holo2-162-23-XX-’+).
Price: $950.00