The World Jewish Congress New York office records. Series A (Central Files)

The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is an international organization founded by resolution of the First World jewish Congress, which took place in August 1936 in Geneva. The organization goal is to defend the political, social, and economic rights of Jews throughout the world. Its governing bodies were elected at the First World Jewish Congress: the executive committee headed by Stephen Wise (also the organization’s chairman), an administrative committee, headed by Nahum Goldman, and a central council headed by Louis Lipsky. At the first session of the executive committee, Sept. 6, 1936, it was decided to establish regional offices of the WJC in Geneva, New York, and London, and a central bureau in Paris. The central bureau coordinated the WJC’s work, collected information on the situation of Jews in various countries, published materials, and also lobbied at the League of Nations. In 1940, with the Second World War under way, the central bureau was transferred to New York, and a European office was established in London.

American Jewish Archives

The World Jewish Congress collection was donated to the American Jewish Archives by the World Jewish Congress in 1982. All materials donated prior to 2002 have been arranged and described in the American Jewish Archives inventory. Series A (Central Files) of the collection was microfilmed and sent to the United States Holocaust Museum in Mar. 2003. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum International Archives Project transferred the collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives in Apr. 2003.