Rescue, Relief and Reconstruction of the 100th Joint in Poland, exhibition catalog, Galicia Jewish Museum, Krakow 2014, p. 136, dimensions 21 x 28 cm. Softcover, publisher. Publication in Polish and English.
Publisher's description:
"The year 2014 marks exactly 100 years since the establishment of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known in Poland as the Joint. The organization's task was to counteract the suffering suffered by the Jewish population in Eastern Europe and Palestine after the outbreak of World War I. From the very beginning, the Joint was very active in Poland, where its activities - in the face of war, pogroms and misery - focused on rescuing, supporting and assisting Jews by providing childcare, organizing medical care and supporting economic development.Between the wars, the Joint joined the effort for social reconstruction, by supporting existing community organizations and creating new ones. The Joint also financed the training of social workers, established nursing schools, subsidized Jewish schools and religious activities. One of the Joint's greatest achievements was the introduction of credit unions (providing interest-free loans), which assisted Jewish artisans and small business owners, allowing them to achieve financial independence.
It is estimated that between World War I and the end of 1941, the Joint provided some $30 million (equivalent to today's $450 million) in humanitarian and social assistance in Poland.
After the war, the Joint continued to help the few survivors. Thanks to the Joint's involvement, just a few months after Poland was liberated from German occupation, numerous Jewish institutions began operating in various parts of the country, including orphanages and children's sanatoriums, Jewish schools, hospitals and canteens. Vocational training programs and a number of other initiatives serving the Jewish community were also soon launched.
The Joint continues to operate in Poland today. After many years of operating in hiding, Jewish life has begun to flourish in Poland, especially in larger cities such as Warsaw and Krakow. More and more Poles are discovering their Jewish roots, and families that had been silent on the subject for years have begun to speak openly about their Jewish ancestry.
The organization seeks to meet the changing needs of Poland's increasingly young and active Jewish community, while at the same time committing itself to improving the living conditions of the elderly, especially Holocaust survivors. A key aspect of the Joint's activities in Poland today are its community development programs, focusing especially on reaching out to younger generations - the future leaders of the Jewish community."
