Report by Earl Harrison advocating better treatment for Jews in DP camps alongside photograph of Dr. Joseph Schwartz (left) and Earl Harrison

As World War II drew to a close, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) marshalled its forces to meet a crisis of staggering proportions, racing to ensure that tens of thousands of newly liberated Jews would survive to enjoy the fruits of freedom. By late 1945, some 75,000 Jewish survivors of the Nazi horrors had crowded into the displaced-persons (DP) camps that were hastily set up in Germany, Austria, and Italy by the Allied forces. Conditions were deplorable, with many subjected to anti-Semitism and hostile treatment. In order to improve the climate of the camps, Earl Harrison, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, was appointed as a Special Envoy by President Truman. Harrison then asked Joseph Schwartz, JDC’s European director, to accompany him on his official tour of the camps. His landmark report (the Harrison Report) called for separate camps for Jewish displaced persons and for UNRRA’s (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) participation in administering them – with JDC’s help. To provide that help, Schwartz virtually recreated JDC, putting together a field organization that covered Europe and later North Africa, and designing an operational strategy that valued action and initiative. Supplementing the relief provided by the U.S. Army, UNRRA, and the International Refugee Organization (UNRRA’s successor agency), JDC distributed supplies that nourished both body and soul: food, medicine, clothing, tools, equipment, and educational, cultural, and religious materials including books, Torah scrolls, ritual articles, and holiday provisions. JDC funds supported medical facilities, schools, synagogues, and cultural activities, in addition to providing for vocational training programs, legal representation, and emigration assistance to survivors in the DP camps. JDC personnel helped organize communal life in many camps and represented the DPs before the military and other authorities.