Organizations Involved in Holocaust Rescue - Part 9 (W-Z)

 

A-B          C-D          E-H           I           J-N          O-R           S           T-V          W-Z

 

Note: +arrested; †tortured; *killed; ●Righteous Among the Nations (honored by the State of Israel)

 

Wallenberg Mission, Budapest, Hungary, see also Swedish Legation, Budapest, 1944-1945

(Anger, 1981; Asaf, 1990, p. 107; Bierman, 1969; Braham, 1981, pp. 788, 840, 845, 849, 850, 853, 1085-1091, 1130, 1132; Breitman, 1987, pp. 212-219; Gutman, 1990, pp. 1588-1591; Lévai, 1948, pp. 231, 355, 364-365, 369, 371, 378-379, 381-383, 391, 405-407, 410-411, 413-414; Lévai, 1948/1988; Levine, 1998, pp. 247, 265-266, 277; Skoglund, 1997; Wallenberg, 1995; War Refugee Board Papers and Files, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (FDRL), Hyde Park, New York; Werbel, 1982; Yahil, 1983, pp. 7-54)

Raoul Wallenberg volunteered as a civilian employee of the American War Refugee Board in 1944.  He was credentialed as a diplomat by Sweden and arrived in Budapest on January 9, 1944.  His mission was to save as many Budapest Jews as possible.  Raoul Wallenberg redesigned the Swedish protective papers.  Wallenberg issued Swedish diplomatic papers to thousands of Hungarian Jews.  He prevented the Nazis from deporting and murdering Jews in the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  With his staff of Jewish volunteers, Wallenberg rescued thousands of Jews who were being forced on death marches.  He also established dozens of safe houses throughout Budapest.  He tirelessly protected the safe houses from Nazi and Arrow Cross raids.  In January 1945, Raoul Wallenberg was arrested by the Russians and disappeared. He was honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1963.  In 1981, Wallenberg was bestowed the title of honorary citizen of the United States, at that time, an honor reserved only for Winston Churchill.  In addition, he has been honored all over the world for his life-saving activities.  After 60 years of investigation, his whereabouts or fate in the hands of the Soviet Union has never been proven.

Raoul Wallenberg●+* (1912-?)

Raoul Wallenberg volunteered as a civilian employee of the American War Refugee Board in 1944.  He was credentialed as a diplomat by Sweden and arrived in Budapest on January 9, 1944.  His mission was to save as many Budapest Jews as possible.  Raoul Wallenberg redesigned the Swedish protective papers.  Wallenberg issued Swedish diplomatic papers to thousands of Hungarian Jews.  He prevented the Nazis from deporting and murdering Jews in the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  With his staff of Jewish volunteers, Wallenberg rescued thousands of Jews who were being forced on death marches.  He also established dozens of safe houses throughout Budapest.  He tirelessly protected the safe houses from Nazi and Arrow Cross raids.  In January 1945, Raoul Wallenberg was arrested by the Russians and disappeared. He was honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel in 1963.  In 1981, Wallenberg was bestowed the title of honorary citizen of the United States, at that time, an honor reserved only for Winston Churchill.  In addition, he has been honored all over the world for his life-saving activities.  After 60 years of investigation, his whereabouts or fate in the hands of the Soviet Union has never been proven.  (Wallenberg, Raoul, translated by Kjersti Board. Letters and Dispatches, 1924-1944. (New York: Arcade Publishing, 1995).  Yahil, L. “Raoul Wallenberg: His Mission and His Activities in Hungary.” Yad Vashem Studies, 15 (1983), pp. 7-53.  Braham, Randolph L. The Politics of Genocide: The Holocaust in Hungary. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 788, 840, 845, 849, 850, 853, 1085-1091, 1130, 1132. Asaf, Uri. Christian support for Jews during the Holocaust in Hungary. In Braham, Randolph L. (Ed.) Studies on the Holocaust in Hungary, pp. 65-112. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), p. 107. Lévai, Jenö. Black Book on the Martyrdom of Hungarian Jewry. (Central European Times Publishing, 1948), pp. 231, 355, 364-365, 369, 371, 378-379, 381-383, 391, 405-407, 410-411, 413-414. Levine, Paul A. From Indifference to Activism: Swedish Diplomacy and the Holocaust: 1938-1944. (Uppsala, Sweden: 1998), pp. 247, 265-266, 277. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 1588-1591. Skoglund, Elizabeth R. A Quiet Courage: Per Anger, Wallenberg’s Co-Liberator of Hungarian Jews. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1997). Lévai, Jenö, translated by Frank Vajda. Raoul Wallenberg: His Remarkable Life, Heroic Battles and the Secret of his Mysterious Disappearance. (Melbourne, 1988, originally published in Hungarian in 1948).)

Elisabeth (Kasza) Kasser+, interpreter for Raoul Wallenberg, wife of Alexander Kasser

Elisabeth Kasza-Kasser was a Jewish volunteer for the Swedish legation in Budapest, 1944-45.  On many occasions, she was the personal interpreter for Raoul Wallenberg on his numerous missions to save Jews from Nazi and Arrow Cross deportation.  Her husband was Alexander Kasza-Kasser.

Hugo Wahl (Jewish), see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Vilmos Langefeld+* (Jewish), driver, helper

Margarete Bauer, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Brigit Brulin, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Mrs. Istvan Csanyi, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Gedeon Dienes, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Béla Elek

Károly Szabó, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Pal Szalai, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Géza Szentes●, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Eva Bihari Wimmer, see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Bela Forgács (Jewish), see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Vilmos Forgács (Jewish), see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary

Thomas Veres (Jewish), see Swedish legation, Budapest, Hungary


Hans Walz Rescue Operation, Germany (Gutman, 2007, p. 159)

German industrialis Hans Walz● founded and operated a rescue organization that raised funds and ransomed German Jews from Nazi concentration camps and helped them emigrate from Germany.

Hans Walz● (b. 1883), German industrialist, Bosch Works, Stuttgart, Germany

Robert Bosch, founder Bosch Works

Dr. Karl Adler (Jewish), Jewish Mittelstelle, Stuttgart

Carl Goerdeler, former Mayor, Leipzig, worked with the Reich Representation of the Jews in Germany, Berlin

Rabbi Leo Baeck, director (Jewish)

Otto Hirsch, deputy director (Jewish)


War Refugee Board (WRB), US Treasury Department, USA, established January 1944

The United States War Refugee Board (WRB) was created in response to the disclosed failure of the US State Department and other branches of the US government to aid and protect refugees in World War II.  Until 1944, the US State Department, in fact, obstructed virtually all of the immigration of refugees to the safe haven of the United States.

By the end of 1944, the WRB played a crucial role in saving the lives of thousands of Jews and other refugees.  Thousands of Jews were evacuated from Nazi-occupied territory, as were more than 20,000 non-Jews.  More than 10,000 refugees were protected within Axis Europe by clandestine activities financed by the WRB.  Further, the WRB took measures to protect refugees holding Latin American passports and visas.  Diplomatic pressure by the WRB, reinforced by its program of threatening Nazis with post-war prosecution, was instrumental in saving thousands of Jews in Transnistria who were moved to safe areas in Romania.

The WRB similarly placed diplomatic pressures on Nazi and Arrow Cross officials and helped end the deportation of the Jews of Budapest, Hungary.  Thousands of Jews in Budapest survived the war, in part due to the efforts of the WRB.  Raoul Wallenberg was acting as an agent of the War Refugee Board. 

The War Refugee Board was in part responsible for saving more than 200,000 Jews in Eastern Europe and the Balkans. 

At the time, the WRB’s most publicized project was the evacuation and resettlement of 982 Jewish refugees who were brought from Italy to an old Army camp in Oswego, New York.

The War Refugee Board had received only a small Congressional appropriation of $1,150,000 for its work in Europe.  Most of the Board’s actual operating expenses of $20,000,000 were provided by private American Jewish charitable organizations.  More than 75% of this amount, $15,000,000, was contributed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in New York.  The Union of Orthodox Rabbis contributed $1,000,000.  The World Jewish Congress gave $300,000.

(U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service, Civil Archives Div., RG 210; Breitman, 1986; Breitman, 1987, pp. 9, 145, 182-183, 190-204, 210-216, 219-220, 246-248; Feingold, 1970; Friedman, 1973; Morse, 1967; Penkower, 1983; War Refugee Board Papers and Files, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library (FDRL), Hyde Park, New York; Wyman, 1970; Wyman, 1984; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010.  Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-45. New York: New Press, 1998.  Wyman, David S. Paper Walls: America and the Refugee Crisis, 1938-1941. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1968.  Wyman, David S., ed. War Refugee Board: Basic Rescue Operations. vol. 7 of America and the Holocaust, a 13-volume set documenting the editor’s book, The Abandonment of the Jews. New York: Garland Publishing, 1990.)

Washington, D.C.:

Henry Morgenthau, US Secretary of the Treasury

Henry Morgenthau was the Secretary of the United States Treasury.  He was the highest ranking Jew in President Roosevelt’s cabinet.  He was instrumental in the creation of the War Refugee Board in January 1944.  As early as the fall of 1942, news about the treatment of Jews in Eastern Europe began to arrive in Washington.  Morgenthau blamed the State Department for thwarting efforts to admit Jews who should have been legally able to enter the United States under the existing quotas.  After discovering the complicity of the State Department in preventing Jewish immigration, Morgenthau prepared a report entitled “A Personal Report to the President.”  It was delivered to Roosevelt on January 16, 1944.  After the meeting, Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board.  Morgenthau was empowered to organize this rescue effort under the auspices of the US Treasury Department. 

(Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990). Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 13-16. Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 82-83, 183-187, 203-205, 210-211, 214-215, 225-228, 239, 256, 287. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 79-80, 84-86, 87-93, 324, 329, 382. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 14, 24, 55, 95, 125, 130-134, 139-143, 147, 199, 249, 251, 262-264. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 669-672. Hurwitz, Ariel. “The struggle over the creation of the War Refugee Board (WRB).”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 6 (1991), 17-31.  U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010; FDR Library and Archives, Hyde Park, NY)

John W. Pehle, Executive Director, War Refugee Board (WRB), (b. 1909), Jan. 22, 1944- Jan. 27, 1945

John Pehle, while an administrator with the US Treasury Department, discovered documents that implicated the US State Department in actively preventing the legal immigration of Jewish refugees to the United States.  After the founding of the WRB, Pehle was made the Executive Director, with a staff of 30 employees.  Pehle supervised the overall operation of the WRB.  By the end of the war, some sources claim the WRB may have saved as many as 200,000 Jewish refugees. 

(Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 13-16. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 504, 990, 1549, 1596. Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 210-214, 203-205, 224-225, 244, 258, 364, 286-287, 291, 294-297, 304, 324. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 81-85, 90, 92, 97, 310, 313-314, 318, 323-326, 329, 333-337, 340-341, 346, 348, 353, 356, 359-360, 362, 372, 377-379, 382-383. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 56, 117, 126, 129-130, 132, 139-142, 164-165, 170, 174, 188, 192, 197-198, 201-205, 208-209, 212, 251, 258, 286. Hurwitz, Ariel. “The struggle over the creation of the War Refugee Board (WRB).”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 6 (1991), 17-31.  Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ:(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), pp. 183, 228, 239-241, 245, 248, 251-254, 257, 259-260, 262-263, 265, 270, 273-274, 277-283, 288, 292. Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 401, 403-404, 409, 411.  U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010)

General William O’Dwyer, executive director, WRB, Jan.27 – Sept.15, 1945

(U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010)

Randolph Paul, HQ WRB, Washington, DC

Randolph Paul, along with Josiah E. Dubois, Jr., of the U.S. Treasury Department, alerted Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau to the thwarting of refugee immigration to the United States by the State Department. 

(Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 13-16. Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 990. Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001). Hurwitz, Ariel. “The struggle over the creation of the War Refugee Board (WRB).”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 6 (1991), 17-31.  Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 401.  U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010)

Josiah E. Dubois, Jr., General Council, (1912-1983), HQ WRB, Washington, DC, Jan.22, 1944 – Jan.27, 1945

Josiah E. Dubois, Jr., was an official in the US Treasury Department and an assistant to Henry Morgenthau.  He and John Pehle discovered information in secret reports and internal memos that indicated that the State Department had intentionally suppressed information about the murder of Jews in Eastern Europe.  Dubois further discovered that the State Department had intentionally undermined virtually all efforts to rescue Jews.  Dubois wrote an extensive report, which he delivered to Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau.  This document was entitled, “Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews.” 

(Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 990-991, 1549. Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), pp. 13-16. Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 182, 186-187, 190n, 203n, 239, 258, 287. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 88, 313, 324, 340-341. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 130-133, 199. Hurwitz, Ariel. “The struggle over the creation of the War Refugee Board (WRB).”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 6 (1991), 17-31.  Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ:(New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), pp. 239-241, 245, 267-268. Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 401.  U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010)

James H. Mann, HQ WRB, London, May 1, 1944 – Feb.28, 1945

(U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Subak, 2010)

Myles Standish, HQ WRB, Washington, DC, Staff Assistant, (former Vice Consul, Marseilles, France, 1937-1941)

(Marino, 1999; U.S. War Refugee Board, Final Summary Report of the Executive Director. Washington, DC, 1945; FDR Library; Zionist Archives and Library; National Archives and Records Service; American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives, NYC; Ryan, 1996; Subak, 2010, p. 48)

Field Agents:

James H. Mann, HQ WRB, London, May 1, 1944 – Feb.28, 1945

Ira Hirschmann (1901-1989), Turkey, 1944-1945

Ira Hirschmann was an early American activist in helping to save Jewish refugees in Europe.  Ira Hirschmann attended the Evian conference in France in July 1938.  Witnessing the hypocrisy of the Western powers and their reluctance to save Jews, he volunteered to go on missions to save Jews as a private citizen.  Later, in July 1938, he went to Vienna, Austria, and vouched for hundreds of Austrian refugees, which allowed them to leave the country.  He volunteered and was appointed with the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People in Europe, which was also known as the Bergson Group.  Hirschmann was later appointed head of the Middle East Delegation of the War Refugee Board (WRB) stationed in Istanbul, Turkey.  Hirschmann worked throughout the period 1944-45 for the rescue of Jews in Nazi occupied territories of Central and Eastern Europe.  He helped Jews throughout the Balkans and in Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.  He worked with Vatican Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli and US Ambassador Laurence Steinhardt and Yishuv representative Chaim Barlas in Turkey to help save Jewish refugees.  Hirschmann was responsible for a success in March 1944 when he persuaded Alexander Cretzianu, the Romanian ambassador to Turkey, to insist that the Romanian government transfer 48,000 Jews in Transnistria to a safe zone in Romania.  In 1946, Hirschmann was appointed to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) to inspect Jewish displaced persons (DP) camps. 

(Hirschmann, Ira A. Life Line to a Promised Land. (New York: Vanguard Press, 1946).  Hirschmann, Ira. Caution to the Winds. (New York: David McKay Co., 1962). Hirschmann, Ira A.  The Embers Still Burn. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1949).  Shaw, Stanford J. Turkey and the Holocaust: Turkey’s Role in Rescuing Turkish and European Jewry from Nazi Persecution, 1933-1945. (New York: New York University Press, 1993).  Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 669-672. Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001). Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 314-321, 329, 332, 356-358, 365-366, 382-383. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 163-174, 188, 200. Levin, Nora. The Holocaust: The Destruction of European Jewry, 1933-1945. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), pp. 560, 587-589, 630, 634-635, 658-659.  Feingold, Henry. The Politics of Rescue: The Roosevelt Administration and the Holocaust, 1938-1944. (New Brunswick, NJ: (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1970), pp. 33, 221, 246, 254, 262, 272, 281-292. Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), pp. 395, 404-406.  Friling, Tuvia, translated by Ora Cummings. Arrows in the Dark: David Ben-Gurion, the Yishuv Leadership, and Rescue Attempts during the Holocaust (Vols. 1 and 2). (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2005.  JDC Archives, New York, NY)

Herbert Katzki Oct. 1944-1945, Turkey (JDC Representative; JDC Archives, New York, NY)

Leonard Ackermann, North Africa, Italy, and Metiterranean Area, April 1944- Oct. 1944 (JDC Archives, New York, NY)

Roswell McClelland (b. 1914), Geneva, Switzerland, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), 1944-1945

Ross McClelland worked with the American Friends’ Service Committee and coordinated relief efforts in the French concentration camps, including Les Milles.  McClelland was a member of the Nimes Committee.  Later, Roswell McClelland was the representative of the War Refugee Board in Geneva, Switzerland.  He was involved in numerous rescue activities, including the negotiation with SS official Kurt Becher for the release of Jewish internees in concentration camps at the end of the war in March and April 1945.  Roswell McClelland’s wife was active in the rescue of Jews as well.

(Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), pp. 220, 397, 404, 406, 412-415, 420, 422-424, 429-430.  Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), p. 122, 157, 459, 953, 1253, 1596.  Hurwitz, Ariel. “The struggle over the creation of the War Refugee Board (WRB).”  Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 6 (1991), 17-31.  Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 330-332, 358-359, 372-373, 381, 383. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 187, 191, 202, 208-211, 213, 218, 223, 234, 236, 258, 260-261, 263, 277.  Ryan, Donna F. The Holocaust and the Jews of Marseille: The Enforcement of Anti-Semitic Policies in Vichy France. (Urbana, IL: The University of Illinois Press, 1996), p. 151.  Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 36, 232-233, 237, 245-250, 284-286, 289, 294, 324.  JDC Archives, New York, New York; Subak, 2010, p. 181)

Iver Olson, US Financial Attaché, Stockholm, Sweden, March 1944-1945

Iver Olson was the War Refugee Board (WRB) representative in Sweden 1944-1945.  Olson recruited Swedish private citizen Raoul Wallenberg to head the WRB’s rescue efforts of the Jews of Budapest in 1944-1945.  The rescue of Jews in Budapest was one of the most successful actions of the WRB during World War II. 

(Gutman, Yisrael (Ed.). Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1990), pp. 1439, 1549, 1596. Laqueur, Walter (Ed.) and Judith Tydor Baumel (Assoc. Ed.).  The Holocaust Encyclopedia. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001). Wyman, David S. The Abandonment of the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945. (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 229-231, 241, 243. Koblik, Steven. The Stones Cry Out: Sweden’s Response to the Persecution of the Jews, 1933-1945. (New York: Holocaust Library, 1988), pp. 49, 51, 63, 73-75, 124, 158-159, 252-253, 261-267. Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), pp. 348-349, 363. Penkower, Monty Noam. The Jews Were Expendable: Free World diplomacy and the Holocaust.  (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983), pp. 200, 267-270, 273-274, 276, 279. Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), pp. 404, 421.  JDC Archives, New York, NY)

Robert Cloutman Dexter, Lisbon, Portugal, 1944-1945

Dr. Robert C. Dexter was the War Refugee Board’s agent in Portugal.  He was formerly the European representative of the Unitarian Service Committee and had convinced the Portuguese government to admit large numbers of Jewish refugee children who had escaped from France through Spain.  Many of these children lacked proper identification papers.  Dexter complained that the War Refugee Board would have been more successful had they had adequate representation in Spain and had backing of the US Embassy there. 

(Morse, Arthur D. While Six Million Died: A Chronicle of American Apathy. (New York: Random House, 1967), p. 334. Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981), p. 213.  Subak, 2010, pp. 7-8, 28, 35, 59, 64-65, 79, 97-98, 100-107, 114, 135-137, 140-141, 163, 166-171, 196, 197, 207-208, 219-220, 223.  American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Archives, New York City.  Dexter, Elisabeth Anthony, and Robert Cloutman Dexter, “Last Port of Freedom,” Unpublished manuscript, multiple drafts, undated, Elisabeth Anthony Dexter Papers, Box 16, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.  Dexter, Elisabeth Anthony, and Robert Cloutman Dexter, Papers, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.  Dexter, Lewis A., “A Memoir of Elisabeth Anthony Dexter: Social Background and Personal Meaning of a Type of Feminist Research,” 17 pp. Undated.  Unitarian Service Committee, Records, Audiovisual Records, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard University Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, Records, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC.  United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Institutional Archives: Assignment Rescue.  War Refugee Board, Archives, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library (FDRL), Hyde Park, New York.)

Raoul Wallenberg●+ (1912-?; Sweden), in Budapest, Hungary, 1944-1945, see Wallenberg Mission, Budapest (JDC Archives, New York, NY)

James Saxon, WRB Representative, Mediterranean Area, Assistant to Leonard Ackermann

Albert Abrahamson, Assistant Executive Director, Feb.9 – Dec. 31, 1944

Joseph B. Friedman, Assistant Executive Director, Jan.22, 1944 – Jan.15, 1945

Florence Hodel, Assistant Executive Director, Jan.22, 1944 – Sept.15, 1945

Lawrence S. Lesser, Assistant Executive Director, Jan.22, 1944 – Jan.31, 1945

Ward Stewart, Assistant Executive Director, Jan.22-Dec.14, 1944

Isadore M. Weinstein, Special Assistant to the Executive Director, March 24 – Sept.29, 1944

Anne Laughlin, Special Assistant, Feb.21, 1944 – Sept.29, 1945

Benjamin Akzin, Special Assistant, March 11, 1944 – March 15, 1945

Paul McCormack, Special Assistant, March 6, 1944 – July 11, 1945

Matthew Marks, Attorney, Jan.22, 1944 – Jan. 31, 1945

Milton Sargoy, Attorney, March 27– Oct. 10, 1944

Emanuel Borenstein, Staff Assistant, June 16 – Sept.2, 1944

David White, Administrative Officer, Feb.26, 1944 – Aug.31, 1945

Kathryn C. Cohn, Information Specialist, March 1, 1944 – Sept. 15, 1945

Elizabeth B. Towler, Reporter and Correspondence Specialist, Jan.22, 1944 – Sept.15, 1945


War Relief Services of The National Catholic Welfare Conference, USA


Warsaw Fire Brigade, Warsaw, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 128-130)

Department I, 3 Nalewki Street

Department II, Town Hall

Department IV, 3 Chlodna Street

Aided Jews during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of April 1943.

Fireman Augustyn Jawollski (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 128-130)

Fireman Officer Henryk Empacher*, saved 50 Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 130)

Father Zbigniew Polanowsk (fireman), Fire Officer School, issued false birth certificates to Jews through local Catholic churches (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 130)


Warsaw Regional Council of Lawyers, Warsaw, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 116-120)

Opposed anti-Semitic laws and persecution of Jews during the German occupation of Poland.  The Council attempted to protect Jewish rights.  At least 80 and as many as 100 Polish lawyers supported Jews and were disbarred by the Germans in May 1940.  In July 1940, 80 Council lawyers were arrested and incarcerated in Pawiak Prison in Warsaw.  In September 1940, they were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.  Most were murdered there.  Among those murdered in Auschwitz was Polish Lawyer Jerzy Czarkowsk*.  These Polish lawyers who stood out are:

Boleslan Bielawski (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 117)

Jan Nowodworski* (1889-1941), head of Warsaw region Council of Lawyers since 1936 (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 117)

Leon Nowodworski (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 117-120)

Michal Skoczynski (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 117-120)

Jerzy Czerwinski* (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 117-120)


Wehrmachtverpflichtete Werkstatt, Crakow, Poland, see Julius Madritsch Rescue Action


John Weidner Rescue Network, Netherlands (Gutman, 2004)

John Weidner●, leader


Westerweel Group, Utrecht, The Netherlands (YV M31/32 Joop Westerweel; Linderman, 2004; De Jong, Het Koninkrijk VI, Braz, De Jeugdalijah, pp. 70-72, 79; Gutman, 1990; Gutman, 2004, pp. xlvi-l; Moore, 2010, pp. 64-67, 70, 216, 251)

Joop Westerweel●+* (1899-1944; Gutman, 2004)

Wilhelmina (Willi) Westerweel●+ (Gutman, 2004)

Joachim “Shushu” Simon+* (Jewish), He-Halutz leader

Adina Simon (Jewish), He-Halutz

Lody Cohn (Jewish), head, Loosdrechtsch Rade (Pavilion)

Menachem Pinkhof (Jewish), Loosdrechtsch Rade (Pavilion), He Halutz leader

Mirjam Waterman (Jewish)

Ely Waterman (Jewish)

Bouke Koning● (Gutman, 2004)

Jan Smit● (Gutman, 2004)

Jaap Lambeck

Philip Rümke● (Gutman, 2004)

Candia Boeke● (Gutman, 2004)

Michiel Salomé●+ (Chiel; Gutman, 2004)

Piet Arts● (Gutman, 2004)

Eugénie Boutet● (Gutman, 2004)

Erica Blüth (Jewish)

Letty Rudelsheim+

Kurt Reilinger+ (Jewish), head “Nanno” group

Frans Geeritsen● (Gutman, 2004)

Henny de Haan● (Gutman, 2004)

Tinus Schabbink● (Gutman, 2004)

Ans (Geerling) Roos● (Gutman, 2004)

Katy Mulder● (Gutman, 2004)

Piet Wildschut● (Gutman, 2004)

Nel van den Akker● (Asscher) (Gutman, 2004)

Leni Oroszlan-de Jong● (Gutman, 2004)

Karli Orszlan (Jewish)

Jacques Roitman (Jewish), French Zionist leader

Kurt Walter (Jewish)


Westgard’s Rescue Route, Norway (YV M31/10856 [Sigrid Helliesen Lund], cited in Moore, 2010)


The White Army (L’Armée Blanche), Belgium, resistance group (Gutman, 2005, pp. 61-62)

George Carton●

Madeline Carton●


The White Brigade (Fidelio/Brigade Blanche; Armée Blanche, Witte Brigade), Antwerp, Belgium, established June 1940 (Gutman, 2005, p. xxxii)

The White Brigade was an underground resistance group founded in Antwerp, Belgium, in June 1940.  It was organize by Lt. Marcel Louette with two associates.  It was originally called Geuzengroup.  It began aiding Jews in the summer of 1942.  It worked with the Independence Front (Front Indepedence; FI). 

Lieutenant Marcel Louette, founder, aided Jews


“White Busses,” see Count Folke Bernadotte Mission


The White Cross, Hungary, saved Polish refugees in Hungary, see also The Hungarian-Polish Committee for Refugee Affairs, Hungary (Gutman, 2007, p. 321)

Erzsébet Szapáry●, “The Good Polish Countess”


Mrs. Wijsmuller-Meijer Rescue Network, Netherlands (Gutman, 2004)

Took many Jewish children out of Holland to England before and after German occupation.  Jewish children were moved to safety, hidden and sheltered among the local Dutch population.  Numerous women were highly involved in this rescue network.

Mrs. Mijsmuller-Meijer● (Gutman, 2004)


Winter Fund (Secours d’Hiver), Belgium (Moore, 2010, p. 176; Steinberg, 1973, pp. 29-30)

Roger van Praag (Jewish)


Winter Fund (Secours d’Hiver), France


Women’s League for Peace and Freedom

Fanny Arnskov


Women’s Voluntary Service

Provided aid to Jews, hid Jews, and provided food and shelter.  Worked with the Lyngby Line.  (Bertelsen, 1954, p. 102)


Workers’ Educational Association


World Association Against Racial Hatred and Genocide
(Gutman, 2007, pp. 10-11)

Came out publicly against the Nazis, Hitler, and anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria.  Had membership of 36,000 people.

Irene Harand● (b. 1901), deputy chairman, Christian Socialist Party, Austria, later founded Austrian Institute (Österreichische Institut) in USA, edited “Justice,” wrote “The Truth about Antisemitism”


World Alliance for International Friendship Through the Churches, established 1914 (Subak, 2010, p. 117)


World Council of Churches (WCC), Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland (Gutman, 1990, p. 295)

Dr. Willem Visser t’Hooft

Dutch Protestant Church

Danish Protestant Church

Adolf Freundenberg, head WCC Refugee Service (Moore, 2010, p. 135)


Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), United States, active in France, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, established (in U.S.) in 1851

Dr. Donald Lowrie worked for the North American and later the world service of the YMCA.  Lowrie worked with a number of other relief agencies in the French internment camps.  He helped set up the YMCA relief activities in the unoccupied zone of Vichy.  He worked closely with Czech diplomat in Marseilles Vladimir Vochoc to distribute illegal passports. Later, Lowrie helped Jews escape the French Foreign Labor Battalions by setting up a protected area.  Lowrie also obtained visas from other diplomats, including Cambodian, Portuguese and Mexican.  These documents helped Jewish refugees flee to Switzerland.  Lowrie also helped with an attempt to rescue Jewish children who lost their parents when they were deported in 1942.

Lowrie coordinated the work of a number of relief agencies present in the internment camps and directed aid to the neediest individuals.  Along with Tracey Strong, he set up YMCA relief headquarters for the Unoccupied Zone on the rue Pythéas.  He personally oversaw the distribution of nonmaterial aid from the North American YMCA, such as books and musical instruments.  Like Varian Fry, Lowrie also engaged in clandestine and illegal activities with a group called Czech Aid.  He worked with the Czech consul Vochoc to distribute illegal passports and to set up the Château de la Blancherie on the outskirts of Marseille.

Lowrie also obtained forged Cambodian, Portuguese, and Mexican visas to help refugees into Switzerland, for Swiss authorities sometimes admitted foreigners with visas for other destinations.  He made contact with the first underground organizations, which he later claimed appeared during the summer of 1941, and worked with Abbé Perceval, prior of the Dominican monastery in Marseille that hid Jews.  To avoid incurring greater suspicion from government authorities, Lowrie carefully avoided the temptation of exchanging money on the “grey market,” an activity that brought much trouble to Varian Fry, and made only legal exchanges, although he did admit to sometimes obtaining his funds from illegal sources.  Lowrie’s best-known efforts, however, occurred in connection with a large-scale American attempt to rescue Jewish children abandoned when their parents were deported in 1942.

In November 1940 Lowrie helped set up the Coordination Committee for Relief Work in Internment Camps, commonly called the Nîmes Committee, because its monthly meetings were held there.  The committee of twenty-five agencies devoted itself to relief work, primarily in the internment camps but also on behalf of individuals in Marseille.  The Nîmes Committee collectively made reports on camp conditions, which Vichy must have taken seriously, because André Jean-Faure, the government’s camp inspector, attended all meetings.  Whether Vichy actually took notice of committee suggestions, perhaps as a concession to public opinion, or simply intended to keep track of the committee’s activities is unclear.”

There were a number of Jewish volunteers who worked in the YMCA.  In addition, the YMCA cooperated with many Jewish rescue organizations.

(Ryan, pp. 148-149.  Lowrie, Donald, The Hunted Children. New York: Norton, 1963.  Romanofsky, Social Service Organizations, pp. 758-764.  Leo Baeck Institute Archives.  Subak, Susan, Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2010)

Donald A. Lowrie, (USA), Southern France

Dr. Donald Lowrie worked for the North American and later the world service of the YMCA.  Lowrie worked with a number of other relief agencies in the French internment camps.  He helped set up the YMCA relief activities in the unoccupied zone of Vichy.  He worked closely with Czech diplomat in Marseilles Vladimir Vochoc to distribute illegal passports. Later, Lowrie helped Jews escape the French Foreign Labor Battalions by setting up a protected area.  Lowrie also obtained visas from other diplomats, including Cambodian, Portuguese and Mexican.  These documents helped Jewish refugees flee to Switzerland.  Lowrie also helped with an attempt to rescue Jewish children who lost their parents when they were deported in 1942.

(Donald L. Lowrie Papers, University of Illinois Archives, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; Fry, Varian. Surrender on Demand. (New York: Random House, 1945). Marino, Andy. A Quiet American: The Secret War of Varian Fry. (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999), pp. 107, 132, 137, 191. Isenberg, Sheila. A Hero of Our Own: The Story of Varian Fry. (New York: Random House). Ryan, Donna F. The Holocaust and the Jews of Marseille: The Enforcement of Anti-Semitic Policies in Vichy France. (Urbana, IL: The University of Illinois Press, 1996), p. 148-149, 152, 167, 216.  JDC Archives, New York, NY; Subak, Susan, Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2010, pp. 33-35, 39-44, 51, 53, 61-68, 81, 84, 86, 88, 93, 105, 141-144, 152, 153, 157)

Helen Lowrie, (USA), Southern France

(Subak, Susan, Rescue and Flight: American Relief Workers who Defied the Nazis, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, 2010, pp. 34-35, 40, 53, 60, 62-64, 152-153, 157, 181-182)

Tracy Strong, (USA), Southern France

Tracy Strong was a member of the Young Men’s Christian Association headquarters in the French unoccupied zone.  He worked with Donald Lowrie with the YMCA in distributing aid.  Strong was involved in illegal activities with Czech diplomat Vladimir Vochoc.  He helped distribute illegal passports and documents on the outskirts of Marseilles. (Ryan, 1996, p. 148; Subak, 2010, p. 243n30)

Helped by:

Vladimir Vochoc+, see Czech Consulate, Marseilles, France

Dr. Joseph Weill, physician, worked closely with Donald Lowrie on behalf of Jewish children (Subak, 2010, pp. 179-181)

Noel Field, Unitarian Service Committee (USC), Marseilles, France, Geneva, Switzerland

Helped smuggle refugees and found hiding places for them. (Subak, 2010, p. 181)

Genevieve Pittet, CIMADE, France

Led and supervised successful escape routes from France to Switzerland.  Worked with YMCA office in Geneva.  (Pittet, 1945)

Joseph Fisera (Lowrie, 1963; Subak, 2010)


Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), established 1871(McCulloch, Rhoda E., “The Dispossessed.” Women’s Press, 33 (Jan. 1939): 14-16.  Romanofsky, Social Service Organizations, pp. 764-772.  YWCA National Board, Committee on Refugees, Refugees Bulletin, No. 1-2, 1938-39.  YWCA Archives.)


Yugoslavian Consulate, Vienna, Austria

Yugoslav Consul in Vienna, Austria

Dr. Willi Perl, of Af-Al-Pi (“Despite Everything”) rescue action, describes receiving Yugoslavian transit visas from the Yugoslav consulate general in Vienna.  He writes in his book, The Four-Front War:  “We now had two main tasks: to make everything ready for the final selection of these first 360 and for their departure, and to obtain the Greek visas.  But first, to reach Greece, we would have to travel through Yugoslavia.  The Yugoslavs, however, would not dream of letting 360 Jews into their country without being fully assured that these destitute people would be just passing through.  We obtained the definite promise from the Yugoslav Consulate General in Vienna that transit visas would be given for trainloads of up to 1,000 passengers if they possessed Greek visas, and with the stipulation that the cars be sealed to make certain that none of the passengers could stay in Yugoslavia.  Whenever, in the future, trains passed through Yugoslavia or Rumania, the cars were sealed.”  (See illustration in Four-Front War.  Perl, William R. The Four-Front War: From the Holocaust to the Promised Land. (New York: Crown Publishers, 1978), pp. 58-59.)


Yugoslavian Consulate, Rome, Italy, 1943

Cyril Kotnik, Yugoslav Consul in Rome, 1943

Yugoslavian consul in Rome Cyril Kotnik helped the Jews of the Delegazione Assistenze Emigranti Ebrei (Jewish Emigrant Association; DELASEM).  Consul Kotnik was also active in helping Father Marie-Benoit.  Kotnik was arrested and imprisoned by the Gestapo for his activities.  He died after the war from injuries inflicted on him by the Gestapo while in prison.  On April 17, 1955, he was posthumously given a special gold medal by the Hebrew Union of Italy.  (Waagenaar, Sam. The Pope’s Jews. (La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishers, 1974), pp. 391, 405. Morley, John. Vatican Diplomacy and the Jews during the Holocaust, 1939-1943. (New York: Ktav, 1980), p. 184. Leboucher, Fernande. Translated by J. F. Bernard. Incredible Mission. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969).)


Yugoslavian Representation to the Holy See (Vatican)

Yugoslavian Representative to the Holy See, 1942

The Yugoslavian representative to the Holy See, along with the Belgian and Polish representatives, whose countries were also occupied by Germany, submitted a joint demarche on September 12, 1943.  This demarche asked the Pope to condemn Nazi atrocities in their occupied areas.  (Tittmann, Harold H., Jr., Harold H. Tittmann III (Ed.). Inside the Vatican of Pius XII: The Memoir of an American Diplomat During World War II. (New York: Image Books Doubleday, 2004), pp. 117-120.)


Zamosc and Lublin Committee for Aid to Jews, hid, sheltered and aided 272 Jews, worked with Zegota, the Socialist Fighting Organization (SOB) and Peasants’ Battalion (BCH; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 62-66)

Stefan Sendlak (“Stefan”; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 62-66)

Ignacy Barski, provided financial aid (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 62)

“Wera” Rappaport (Jewish; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 62)

Dr. Ignacy Olesinski (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 62)

Dr. K. Szalewska-Wojtowicz (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 62)

Dr. Felics Kanabus (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 62)

Adolf Berman (“Borowski”; Jewish), Zegota

Leon Feiner (“Mikolaj”; Jewish), Zegota

Jerzy Przedpelski, Central Relief Council (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Antoni Góralczyk, member Polish Socialist Party (PPS; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Boleslaw Sitkowski (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Halina (last name unknown), hid Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Mrs. Kornatek, hid Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Mrs. Ostrowska, hid Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Mrs. Halina Roszkowska, hid Jews in her apartment (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Mrs. Józefa Wajland-Mejer, Zamosc, hid Jews in apartment (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Alicia and Teofil Janowska, hid Jews in apartment (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Jadwiga Baranska, Lesna St., Wawer, hid Jews in apartment (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Mrs. Chackiewicz, at Zacisze, near Warsaw, hid Jews in apartment (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 63)

Helena Jablkowska+*, Crakow, hid Jew in her residence, murdered by Germans on January 6, 1944 (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 64)

Janina Kowalik, Zoliborz District, Warsaw, hid and aided Jews, sister to Helena Jablkowska (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 64)

Mrs. Wolska, Filtrowa Street, hid Jews in her residence (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 64)

Anna Mojcho, Zilna Street, Warsaw, hid Jewish girls at Podkowa Lesna (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 64)

Mr. and Mrs. Janowski, Warsaw, hid Jews in home (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 68)

Mrs. Hlaka, Warsaw, hid Jews in home (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 68)

Mrs. Wolska, Warsaw, hid Jews in home(Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 68)

Mr. Cwilich (Jewish), Bund leader (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 65)

Kazimierz Krasucki (Jewish), merchant (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 65)

Mieczyslaw Garfinkiel, president Zamosc Jewish Council (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 65)

Boruch Wilder (Jewish; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 65)


Zegota●, The Council for Aid to Jews (Rada Pomocy Zydom), Poland, operated in Warsaw, Lvov, Radom, Kielce, Piotrków, 1942-1945, see also Home Army (AK), Poland

Zegota was a clandestine rescue and relief organization in Nazi occupied Poland.  It functioned from December 4, 1942 until Poland was liberated in January 1945.  Zegota was one of the few organizations that had both Jews and non-Jews in its leadership.  Zegota was comprised of leaders representing five Polish organizations and two Jewish organizations.  The two Jewish organizations were the Jewish National Committee (Zydowski Komitet Narodowy), represented by Adolf Abraham Berman, and the Bund, represented by Leon Feiner.  In late 1944, Leon Feiner was appointed president, and Adolf Berman secretary.

Zegota utilized secret organizations and their memberships for the relief and rescue of Jews.  By January 1943, Zegota was helping 300 Jews.

One of the most difficult activities of Zegota was finding shelter and hiding places for Jews.  This was particularly difficult as it was a capital offense to hide Jews in Poland.  Children were found homes in foster families, or sympathetic orphanages and church convents.  It is estimated that Zegota found homes for and looked after 2,500 Jewish children.

By December 1943, more than 2,000 Jews were being helped.  By the summer of 1944, more than 4,000 Jews were saved.  Zegota also provided tens of thousands of high quality, forged documents for Jews, including Aryan documents, baptismal certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, identity cards and employment cards.

Zegota was awarded the title of Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem in October 1963.

(Bartoszewski, 1969; Datner, 1968; Gutman, 1987, 1990; Laquer, 1980; Prekerowa, 1982; Ringelbaum, 1974; Tec, 1986, pp. 121-122; Yad Vashem Archives)

Ferdynand Arczynski (“Marek,” “Lukowski”; Stronnictwo Demokratyczne; Democratic Party; SD; Rectangle), Central Council, Zegota, treasurer (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xlvi, xlvii, xlix, l, 70, 85, 87, 90, 103, 104, 692, 694, 697, 699, 702, 706, 714, 715, 735; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Ignacy Barski (“Józef”), lawyer, early member (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xlvi, xlvii, lii, 16, 62, 66, 692; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Maria Bartel, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Wladyslaw Bartoszewski● (“Ludwik”), founder, leader (Front for Poland’s Renewal; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xxxviii, xlvi, xlviii, lxviv, 692, 714, 715; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Adolf Abraham Berman (“Borowski”; 1906-1978; Jewish National Committee), secretary (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xxxi, xxxvi-xxxviii, lxxxvii, 4, 9, 62, 484-489, 491, 497, 498, 501, 694, 697, 702, 706, 711, 715, 730, 731, 738, 761, 762, 766; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Witold Bienkowski (“Jan,” “Wencki,” “Kalski”; Deregulata; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xxxviii, xlvi, 692-694, 702, 706, 712, 714; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Mieczyslaw Bobrowski (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Marian Bomba (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Stanislawa Cebulak (“Ewa”; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Mrs. Wladyslava Laryssa Choms (“Didnizy”; 1891-1966), the “Angel of Lvov,” leader Zegota District Office, Lvov, member Home Army Women’s Service (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. lii, 98, 103-107; Grossman, 1961)

Józef Cyrankiewcz, Zegota Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. l, 11, 16, 71, 90, 91, 99)

Colonel Stefan Czerwinski (“Jan”), Zegota Lvov District, Home Army Commander, Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Jan Dobraczynski, Social Welfare Department, head Child Welfare Section, worked with Jaga Piotrowska (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. li, 51, 60, 61, 70, 710; Dobraczynski, 1962 [memoirs]; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Anna Dobrowolska (“Michalska”), Zegota Treasurer, member Democratic Party (Stronnictwo Demokratyczne; Bartoszewski, 1969; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Dr. Stanislaw Dobrowolski (“Staniewski”), Zegota Council chairman, member Socialist Party (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 70, 77, 82, 91, 93-98, 700, 710; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Maria Dzieniewczyc, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Colonel Waclaw Dzieniewczyc, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Leon Feiner (“Mikolaj,” “Berezowski,” “Lasocki”; 1888-1945), Jewish-Bund, deputy chairman, organizer Zegota, ZOB president, (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xxx, xxxvi-xxxviii, 63, 66, 484, 527-536, 538, 539, 542, 694, 697, 702, 706, 711, 715, 728-731, 738, 740, 742-758; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Colonel Wladyslaw Filipkowski (:Janka”), Zegota leader, Lvov District, Home Army (AK) leader, Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Dr. Zofia Franio (“Doktor”; b. 1899), Home Army Women’s Supper Service, Polish Resistance, aided, hid and sheltered Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. lvxxx, 47, 60, 174; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Piotr Grajewski (Left Wing Socialist Movement; Bartoszewski, 1969; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Julian Grobelny+ (“Trojan”; Right Wing Socialist Movement; chairman Zegota; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xlvi, xlvii, 43-45, 56, 694, 697, 699, 702, 706, 715, 738; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Halina Grobelny, wife of Julian Brobelny Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 44; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Maria Hochberg-Marianska (Jewish), Jewish Community Representative (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 70, 84, 710; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Roman Jablonowski (“Jurkiewicz; Jewish; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. xlvii; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Wladyslaw Jukalo, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Stach Kaminsky (Bartoszewski, 1969; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Zofia Kiszka(?), Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Zygmunt Klopotowski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Artur Kopacz, headmaster of secondary school, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Zofia Kossak-Szczucka (“Weronika”; 1890-1968), founder, chairperson (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xxvii, xliv, xlv, 7, 386, 672, 692; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Dr. Marian Krzyzanowski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Anna Kuciel (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Karol Kuryluk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Mieczyslaw Kurz (“Piotrowski”), liaison officer, Zegota (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Jerzy Matus (“Wiki”), Peasant Party, Zegota Krackow District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. li, 70, 74, 710; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Tadeusz Miciak, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Lucjan Motyka, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Przemyslaw Ogrodzinski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Orski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Adam Ostrowski, leader, Lvov District Office, representative Polish Government-in-Exile, Lvov (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 98, 103)

Teodor Pajewski (“Szalony”), courier (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 22, 35; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Edward Pawluk, engineer, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Dr. Ina Pawluk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Juliusz Petry, Zegota leader, Lvov District, Central Relief Council (RGO; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Jadwiga Piotrowska, Social Welfare Department, worked with Dr. Jan Dobraczynski in the Child Welfare Section (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 47, 51, 61; Dobraczynski, 1962; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Marian and Adam Pokryszko, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Józef Porczak (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Adam Przytula, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Tadeuz Rek (“Rózycki,” “Slawinski”; Peasant Party; SL), vice president (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xlvi, 697, 702, 706, 712, 715, 738; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Adam Rysiewicz (“Teddor”), Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. li, 79, 84, 85, 99)

Jadwiga Rysinska (“Ziuta”), liaison officer (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

General Kazimierz Sawicki (“Prut”), Zegota leader, Lvov District, Home Army (AK) commander, Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 98)

Irena Schultz, Social Welfare Department (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 42, 45, 46, 49-51; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Tadeuz Seweryn (“Socha”; “Bronislaw Kozlowski”; b. 1894), Zegota, Crakow Office, Peasant Party, District Leader, Civil Struggle Directorate (KWC; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. li, 70-72, 79, 82, 83, 86, 88, 90; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Czeslaw Skorupka, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Zofia Skorupka, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Wladyslaw Smólski (b. 1909), Warsaw, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 255-259)

Dr. Sokolowski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Cadet Officer Swieczkowsk (“Stukas”), Home Army (AK), Lvov District, Zegota Section (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Mrs. Szostakiewicz, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Dr.-Mrs. Mada Walter, owner, Institut de Beauté, Warsaw, Poland

Sheltered Jews in her beauty parlor and home.  Helped Jewish women pass as Aryans during German occupation.  (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 255-259)

Janina Wasowicz (“Ewa”), liaison, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Wladyslaw Wichman (“Wladyslaw”), head of the Democratic Party, Documentary Section, produced forged documents, worked with Edward Kubiczek and Zdzislaw Kasparek (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 87-88)

Józefa Wnuk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Marian Wnuk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Wladyslaw Wójcik (“Zegota”; “Zegocinsky”), Zegota secretary, member Socialist Party (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. l, li, 70, 72, 77, 77, 83, 84, 86; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Justyna Wolf, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Henryk Ziffer (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Krakow office

Stanislaw Wincenty Dobrowolski (“Staniewski”), chairman (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. li, 70, 77, 82, 91, 93-98, 700, 710; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)

Ferdinand Arczynski (“Marek”)

Tadeuz Seweryn (“Socha”)

Wladyslaw Wójcik (“Zegota”), secretary

Anna Dobrowska (“Michalska”)

Dr. Jerzy Matus

Maria Hochberg-Marianska

Lvov office

Wladyslawa Chomsowa● (1891-1966), “Angel of Lvov” (Bartoszewski, 1969; Gutman, 1987; Gutman, 1990, p. 1730; Prekerowa, 1982)

Maria Bartel, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Colonel Stefan Czerwinski (“Jan”), Zegota Lvov District, Home Army Commander, Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Maria Dzieniewczyc, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Colonel Waclaw Dzieniewczyc, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Colonel Wladyslaw Filipkowski (:Janka”), Zegota leader, Lvov District, Home Army (AK) leader, Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Wladyslaw Jukalo, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Zofia Kiszka(?), Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Artur Kopacz, headmaster of secondary school, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Dr. Marian Krzyzanowski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Karol Kuryluk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Mieczyslaw Kurz (“Piotrowski”), liaison officer, Zegota (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Tadeusz Miciak, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Przemyslaw Ogrodzinski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Orski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Adam Ostrowski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Edward Pawluk, engineer, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Dr. Ina Pawluk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Juliusz Petry, Zegota leader, Lvov District, Central Relief Council (RGO; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Major Pochocki, Home Army (AK)

Marian and Adam Pokryszko, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Adam Przytula, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Jadwiga Rysinska (“Ziuta”), liaison officer (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

General Kazimierz Sawicki (“Prut”), Zegota leader, Lvov District, Home Army (AK) commander, Lvov District (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 98)

Czeslaw Skorupka, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Zofia Skorupka, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Dr. Sokolowski, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Cadet Officer Swieczkowsk (“Stukas”), Home Army (AK), Lvov District, Zegota Section (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 99)

Mrs. Szostakiewicz, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Józefa Wnuk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Marian Wnuk, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Justyna Wolf, Lvov District Office (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 103)

Children’s Bureau – Irena Sendleowa●+† (Sendler; “Jolanta”; Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. xlvii, 7, 41-59; Gutman, 1987; Prekerowa, 1982)


Zegota was helped by:

Anna Berata, Village of Borowa, Bochnia County, Crakow area, hid nine Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Tadeusz Bilewicz, liaison for Zegota, Crakow area (Bartoszewski, 1969)

Marian Bomba, organized routes to smuggle Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 86)

Mieczyslaw Cholena (“Oblaz”), radical wing, Peasant Party, smuggled Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 86)

Jan Cieply, Jaskowice, Wadowice District, hid Israel Goldstein family (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 75)

Józef Cryankiewicz+ (b. 1911), organized socialist underground in Krakow, Poland; arrested in 1941, sent to Auschwitz; involved in prisoner underground resistance; postwar Prime Minister of Poland(Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 90-91)

Dr. Anna Goscicka-Sipowicz, dentist, Pawiak Prison, Warsaw, helped Irena Sendler escape from Pawiak Prison (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 57, 61-62)

Janina Grabowska, friend of Irena Sendler (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 56, 58)

Wladyslaw Hyziak, Wola Skrzydlanska, Limanowa County, hid Jews, Grübe family (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 74)

Wanda Janowska, housed factory for producing forged documents in her apartment at 3 Wrzesinska Street (Zamoski Street) in Crakow (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 84, 88-89)

Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, prison doctor, Pawiak Prison, Warsaw, helped Irena Sendler escape from Pawiak Prison (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 57)

Zdzislaw Kasparek, produced photographs for forged documents (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 88)

Adam Kowalski (“Konsk”), prepared and operated a shelter in his house at 357 Ogrodicza St., Krackow, that hid Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969)

Wladyslaw Kozak, Wola Skrzydlanska, Limanowa County, hid Jew, Grübe family (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 74)

Franciszek Krzyzak, socialist, guided Jews out of Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 86)

Edward Kubicek, graphic artist, produced stamps for forged documents (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 88)

Mieczyslaw Kurz (“Piotrowski”; Jewish), liaison officer (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 80)

Wlodzimierz Lelito, hid two Jewish families (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Stefan Malecki, Civil Struggle Directorate, Zelbet, smuggled food into Crakow Ghetto Prison (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 82)

Dr. Mieczyslaw Michalowicz+, professor of pediatrics at the University of Warsaw, cofounder, Democratic Party; arrested and interned in a Nazi concentration camp, 1942-1945; aided Zegota in saving Jews(Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 60)

“Mituska,” courier for Zegota in Crakow area (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 80)

Krystyna Moskalik, hid and sheltered Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 85)

Mr. and Mrs. Mróz, Caliny, near Sieciechowice, hid and sheltered Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 85)

Helena Pazdur, Wola Skrzydlanska, Limanowa County, hid Jew, Grübe family (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 74)

Dr. Henryk Palester, hid and aided Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 53)

Krzys Palester*, hid and aided Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 53)

Malgosia Palester, hid and aided Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 53)

Maria Palester, hid and aided Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 53)

Ada Próchnicka+*, courier, smuggled, hid and sheltered Jews, killed in action (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 85)

Rudolf Przetaczek, Wieliczka and wife, hid Berman and Perlberger families (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)

Adam Rysiewicz (“Teodor”), socialist, organized routes to smuggle Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 84, 86)

Józefa Rysinska+† (“Ziutka”), courier for Zegota in Crakow, helped Jews in ghetto; arrested and tortured (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 79-80, 84)

Edmond Seifried, RGO director (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 82)

Maciaj Sieja, Stroza, Skrzydlna, hid Jewish farmer (Eichorn; Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 74)

Colonel Szebesta, Red Cross (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 82)

Helena Szesko (“Sonia”), nurse (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 48)

Leon Szeszko*, civil servant, city administration, Warsaw, Poland, provided identity cards to Jews, helped Zegota, killed by Germans (Bartoszewski, 1969)

Dr. Andrezej Trojanowski (1905-1964), surgeon, teacher/professor, aided Zegota in saving Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 60)

Emil Weidman, director Crakow Secondary School (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 82)

Józefa Wójcik, hid and sheltered Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 86)

Helena Wójcik, hid and sheltered Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 86)

Mrs. Zusman (Jewish), ran a small villa that hid Jews (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 53)


Groups that worked with Zegota:

The Social Welfare Department of the Municipal Administration, Warsaw, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 41-42, 51, 60, 61)

Irena Sendler (“Jolanta”)

Jan Dobraczynski

Irena Schultz


Civil Struggle Directore (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 83-85)

Zbyszeka Kuzma

Wladslawa Kuzma

Stefan Malecki


League of Polish Syndicalists (Zwiazek Syndikalistów Polskich (Gutman, 1990, p. 1730)


Poronim Orphanage

Jadwiga Strzalecka, director, took in 11 Jewish girls (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 84)


Headquarters Group, Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army; Gutman, 1990, p. 1730)


Family of Mary Convent (Catholic), sisters hid Jewish children (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 61, 351)

Mother Superior

Sister Getter


Arbeitsamt, Józefinska Street, Crakow, Poland

Schepetschi, factory owner (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 81)


“Eagle” Pharmacy, Crakow, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 78)


Catholic Home in Chotomów, near Warsaw, sisters hid Jewish children


Catholic Home in Turkowice (near Lublin), sisters hid and sheltered 33 Jewish children and Soviet POWs (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 51, 61)

Mother Superior Stanislawa (Aniela Polechajllo)

Sister Witolda


Spectrum Optical Glass Works, 6. Targowa Street, Krakow, Poland

Feliks Dziuba, maanger (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 78)

Wanda Klos, bookkeeper, assistant to Feliks Dzuiba (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 79)

Józef Milka, factory locksmith (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 79)

Tomasz Perski, senior factory worker (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 79)

Jozef Zajac (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 79)


Wehrmachtverpflichtete Werkstatt, Crakow, Poland

Julius Madritsch●, textile factory owner, Crakow (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 80-81)

Raymond Tisch●, textile factory owner, Crakow (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 80-81)

Heinrich Bayer, factory worker, Crakow (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 80-81)

Maksymillian Skowron, factory worker, Crakow (Bartoszewski, 1969, pp. 80-81)

Antoni Kozlowski, courier (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 81)

Zbigniew Kuzma, factory worker (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 81)


Jewish Fighting Organization (ZOB), Warsaw Ghetto, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 51)


Polish Socialist Party (PPS), Krakow area, hid Jews in 150 places (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 77)


Oscar Schindler Factory (Deutsche Emailwerk), Crakow, Poland (Bartoszewski, 1969, p. 81)

Oscar Schindler●

Emile Schilndler●


Dr. René Zimmer Rescue Network, see also Unitarian Service Committee, Marseilles, France

After the Unitarian Service Committee left France in the winter of 1942, Dr. René Zimmer, who had run the clinics for the USC, continued offering help to Jews and others in danger of arrest and deportation by the Germans.  He provided care to internees in the French concentration camps and people in hiding.  He made arrangements with the Mayor of Marseilles to operate a clinic called Centre de Depistage et de Prophylaxis.  Zimmer worked under the auspices of the Nimes Committee and clandestinely with the Ouvre de Secours Enfants (OSE) Jewish children’s organization, and the Union of French Jews (UJIF).  He also worked with former members of the Emergency Rescue Committee who were still in the Marseilles area, including Danny Bénédite, Anna Gruss and Paul Schmierer.Zimmer Network helped many refugees by providing them papers, clothing and medical care.  In addition, Zimmer advised refugees how to escape France.  Zimmer continued to work with Noel Field in the USC office in Geneva, Swtizerland.  Zimmer’s medical activities were largely supported by the Joint (JDC). 

(Zimmer, Report of our Activities; Subak, 2010, pp. 87, 103, 109-112, 148, 156-159, 173-175, 181, 191, 194-195, 198, 209; USC Archives; Benedite, 1984; Brooks, 1942)

Dr. René Zimmer, physician

(Zimmer, Report of our Activities; Subak, 2010, pp. 87, 103, 109-112, 148, 156-159, 173-175, 181, 191, 194-195, 198, 209; USC Archives; Benedite, 1984; Brooks, 1942)

Fanny Zimmer, wife of Dr. René Zimmer (Subak, 2010)

Danny Bénédite, ERC (Bénédite, 1984)

Anna Gruss, ERC (Fry, 1945)

Paul Schmierer, ERC (Fry, 1945)

Mayor of Marseilles (Subak, 2010, pp. 154-155)

Noel Field, USC office, Geneva, Switzerland (Subak, 2010, pp. 156-157; Field memorandum)

Robert Dexter, USC office, Lisbon, Portugal (Subak, 2010)