(JDC)
According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the JDC was established just after the beginning of WWI. The committee sent aid (food, clothing and medicine) to Jews in Palestine and Eastern Europe. Following the war, the focus of the Committee expanded to include rebuilding of Jewish Communities in Eastern Europe. Funds were raised and made available to repair damaged Jewish hospitals. Medical supplies were sent. Synagogues and Jewish schools were repaired.

Around 1924, loans to Jewish Craftsmen and vocational training were made available to Jews in Eastern Europe. Palestine was also given aide for social, economic and cultural reconstruction programs. The JDC became recognized as a "major international relief organization".

JDC aide expanded from Eastern Europe to Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia following the rise of Hitler. The organization tried to aide Jews from those countries wishing to emigrate.

During WWII, the JDC lost much of its funding. It functioned in an underground capacity. After the war, the JDC assisted Jews wishing to immigrate to Israel.

The JDC continues its role as a provider of rescue and relief assistance in times of emergency. In this capacity, the JDC has entered Sarajevo, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay,
Yemin and India. Such world-wide assistance has affected non-Jews as well as Jews.

A presentation on the conditions and needs of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution in Central and Eastern Europe submitted to Chief Judge Edward R. Korman
(New York, 2004) indicates that the JDC continues to aid elderly Jewish Holocause survivors in Central and Eastern Europe. Many of these survivors are women, living alone, without a support system. The women, as well as elderly men are being helped with goods and services as well as help in securing restitution.