Experience: UNRRA

Joseph Feibusch
Agnes Helfman
Kurt Hirschfeld
Selma Rich
Henry Upfall
“The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was created at a 44-nation conference at the White House on November 9, 1943. Its mission was to provide economic assistance to European nations after World War II and to repatriate and assist the refugees who would come under Allied control. The U.S. government-funded close to half of UNRRA's budget.” 

“UNRRA assisted in the repatriation of millions of refugees in 1945 and managed hundreds of displaced person camps in Germany, Italy, and Austria during that year. It provided health and welfare assistance to the DPs, as well as vocational training and entertainment. It administered the work of 23 separate voluntary welfare agencies, including the Joint Distribution Committee, the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training (ORT), and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). In late 1945, as the displaced person camps were given greater autonomy, the voluntary agencies increasingly operated independently. UNRRA continued to serve as a major employer of displaced persons.” 

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.” Holocaust Encyclopedia.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005685
Accessed on 6/12/11.

A welfare officer of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) assists Polish Jewish orphans en route to France and Belgium. Prague, Czechoslovakia, probably 1946.

— United Nations Archives and Records Management Section
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Photo Archives.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?ModuleId=10005685&MediaId=2760
Accessed on 6/12/11.


Jewish orphans fleeing Europe are fitted with shoes from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), en route to Allied occupation zones in Germany and Austria. Prague, Czechoslovakia, August 25, 1946.

— United Nations Archives and Records Management Section
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Photo Archives.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?ModuleId=10005685&MediaId=796
Accessed on 6/12/11.

Jewish refugees in Shanghai look for names of relatives and friends who may have survived the war. Awaiting repatriation, these displaced persons were under United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration care. China, 1946.

— YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Photo Archives.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?ModuleId=10005685&MediaId=1540
Accessed on 6/12/11.


Repatriated Austrian Jewish refugees, coming from Shanghai, arrive in Vienna. Their transport was organized by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. February 2, 1947.

— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Photo Archives.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?ModuleId=10005685&MediaId=2756
Accessed on 6/12/11.


Jewish refugee orphans pose for a group photograph at Lindenfels displaced persons camp, administered by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Germany, April 21, 1948.

— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Photo Archives.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?ModuleId=10005685&MediaId=2780
Accessed on 6/12/11.

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