for 200,000 in '58, Annual Report Shows
NEW YORK, (JTA) — More
than 200,000 men, women and
children received assistance of
one kind or another from the
Joint Distribution Committee
during last year, according to
the 1958 annual report issued
here this week by the JDC.
Of this group more than
100,000 were in Moslem coun-
tries, principally North Africa
and Iran. Assistees also includ-
ed some 57,000 in Europe, 40,-
ance for 68,000; cultural and
religious assistance for 35,985;
5,865 in homes for the aged;
and 5,695 young people and
children receiving other kinds
of aid.
Among other major develop-
ments of the year, Leavitt cited:
1. Aid for more than 19,000 aged;
ill and handicapped newcomers and
their families in Israel through Mal-
ben, the JDC welfare program in the
Jewish State;
2. Some 6,309 loans amounting to
more than $2,800,000, granted by 38
JDC-sponsored loan institutions in
19 countries to Jewish artisans and
professionals;
3. The distribution by JDC of
more than 14,000,000 pounds of U.S.
Department of Agriculture surplus
commodities to 103,600 persons
monthly in Austria, Belgium, France,
Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Italy,
Morocco, Tunisia and Yugoslavia;
4. The provision of vocational
training through ORT to between
15.000 and 20,000 persons. JDC's
allocation to ORT for this purpose
was $1,605,000 for 1958;
5. The convening of a special
conference on local community or-
ganization and fund-raising to assist
European Jewish communities to-
ward achieving self-support;
6. The continuance of JDC spe-
cialized assistance, including Pass-
over aid in Europe, Israel and Mos-
lem countries; and
7. The completion of a new wing
and renovation of the Jewish hos-
pital in Teheran; Iran.
000 in Israel. and more than
4,000 in such other areas as
-Australia.
"Perhaps the most notable
single development of 1958 was
the assistance which JDC had
undertaken to provide to Jews
in Poland," the report states.
"Since December 1957, when
JDC resumed its activities in
Poland, JDC aid has reached
some 22,000 individuals."
Turning to the Moslem world,
the summary indicates that
while "relative quiet continued
for the vast majority of Jews
living in the Moslem world, a
sense of insecurity continued to
prevail for men, women and
declared that "one of
children living under the shad- the Leavitt
most notable developments
ow of Arab nationalism.
of the year was the dedication
"Quite naturally, this feel- and opening of the Paul Baer-
ing was at its strongest in wald School of Social Work in
Egypt. But it was perceptible Jerusalem." Established under
even in Tunisia where there
is no discrimination against
Jews or ethnic minorities,"
the report stated.
"D e s p i t e all difficulties,
JDC's program in Moslem coun-
tries reached more needy Jews
than in any other area of the
world—in 1958 more than 100,-
000 men, women and children
in these areas received JDC as-
sistance," Moses A. Leavitt, ex-
ecutive vice chairman, stressed.
Morocco had the largest
number requiring aid — some
61,200. There were 16,600 bene-
ficiaries in Tunisia; 4,000 in Al-
geria, and some 18,900 in Iran.
Because Iran has remained
unaffected by the conflicts in
the Middle East, JDC has been
able to continue its program on
behalf of the Iranian Jewish
population with no hindrance.
he pointed out.
Leavitt declared that despite
a decrease in the number of
refugees during the year,
"JDC's caseload was even larg-
er at the end of 1958 than it
had been at the beginning of
the year." The expenditures of
the JDC totalled $27,703,400 for
all operations.
"Despite some notable
ad-
vances during the year," Lea-
vitt declared, "the outlook was
that in 1959 even greater num-
bers of men, women and chil-
dren would require - JDC aid
than in the year that was end-
ing."
For 1959, JDC has adopted
a budget of 829,593,000 for aid
to more than 250,000 needy
Jews overseas. The financial
mainstay of JDC's overseas
rehabilitation and reconstruc-
tion programs, the report
notes, continues to be funds
provided through the nation-
wide campaign of the United
Jewish Appeal.
Among the more than 200,000
needy Jews in all parts of the
world who received aid during
1958, the largest number-84,-
000 — benefitted from feeding
programs, Leavitt indicated.
JDC aid also included: cash
relief for 27,000; medical care
for 31,000; educational assist-
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Israeli Women
to Stay in Army
JERUSALEM, (JTA)—Israel's
Parliament has defeated by a
46 to 16 vote a proposal by the
National Religious Party seek-
ing cancellation of the compul-
sory two-year military service
requirement for women.
Another proposal of the Re-
ligious Party, which did not
come to a vote after Prime
Minister David Ben-Gurion en-
tered the debate to oppose it,
was that women's service should
be volunteer. Dr. Zorach War-
haftig, in making the second
proposal, said that since 90 per-
cent of women in the military
service are doing clerical work,
they can be dispensed with by
the armed forces.
The religious leader also
argued that their mobilization
adversely affects the future
of home life in Israel. He sup-
ported this proposition by citing
statistics that the Israeli birth-
rate is declining and he at-
tributed the decline to compul-
sory service.
The Prime Minister ridiculed
that argument, pointing out that
married women are exempt-
from the law. He added that
while women do not serve in
fighting units, they are incor-
porated in the liaison units.
He said that the current calm
on Israel's borders should not
lull the armed forces whose task
remains that of being alert to
the "constant threat" of Is-
rael's Arab neighbors.
Ben-Gurion cited a recent
press interview with President
Nasser of the United Arab Re-
public in which Nasser said that
while the Arab armies did not
yet match that of Israel, they
hoped to catch up soon. The
Prime Minister said that be-
cause of the current manpower
situation in relation to such
dangers to Israel's security, Is-
rael's armed forces could not
dispense with women's services.
I will restore the fortunes of
my people Israel, and they shall
rebuild the ruined cities and
inhabit them; they shall plant
vineyards and drink their wine,
and they shall make gardens
and eat their fruit. I will plant
them upon their land, and they
shall never again be plucked
up out of the land which I
have given them, says the Lord
your God—Amos, 9:14,15.
the auspices of JDC, the He-
brew University and the Israel
Ministry of Social Welfare, the
school will offer a three-year
course leading to a bachelor of
social work degree.
"In one year, JDC's program
in Poland has grown to the
point where there are more
beneficiaries in that country
than in any other of Europe,"
Leavitt stressed in his report.
"JDC resumed its activities
in Poland in December 1957,
to render help to repatriated
Jews from Russia. Gradually,
however, it has become in-
volved in assistance to the
`settled' Jewish population as
well," he emphasized. The
total Jewish population in
Poland is estimated at about
40,000.
Leavitt noted that JDC-sub-
sidized aid to Jews in Poland
included: child - feeding, 2,235
monthly; grants for furniture
and living quarters, 9,753 per-
sons; cash assistance to aged,
invalids and others, 1,675 a
month; one-time grants to wel-
fare clients, 1,670; grants to
ORT students and their de-
pendents, 5,000 a month; indi-
vidual loans, 135; summer
camps for 3,000 children, and
30 loans to Jewish producers'
cooperatives employing some
1,000 persons.
A major area of JDC -assist-
ance in Europe was also France,
which had a total of 17,500 ben-
eficiaries. Other countries with
major programs included Aus-
tria, Germany and Italy.
JDC also continued its wel-
fare in a number of other Eu-
ropean countries, including Bel-
gium, Greece, Norway, Portu-
gal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and Yugoslavia.
During 1958, JDC aided some
40,000 persons in Israel, Leavitt
reported, nearly half of whom
receive aid from Malben, the
JDC welfare program on behalf
of aged, ill and handicapped
newcomers to the Jewish State.
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Assistance provided by JDC
in Israel outside the Malben
program included aid for
cultural and religious insti-
tutions, including yeshivot,
research projects and assist-
ance to refugee rabbis, with a
total of 13,000 beneficiaries.
In addition, JDC aid to the
ORT vocational training pro-
gram in Israel reached 8,264
beneficiaries.
The annual report contains
accounts of JDC's work by Ed-
ward M. M. Warburg, JDC
chairman and honorary chair-
man of the United Jewish Ap-
peal, and James H. Becker,
chairman of the JDC National
Council.
Warburg said he was "over-
whelmed" by what he saw and
heard at the 1958 JDC Country
Directors Conference in Geneva.
Noting the presence at the con-
ference of representatives from
Europe, North Africa, the Near
East and Australia, Warburg
declared that "equally signifi-
cant — perhaps more so — were
the places not filled, the chairs
which stood empty.
"In spirit there sat in those
chairs, and joined in our delib-
erations, representatives o f
other communities in which
JDC's aid is felt today, com-
munities in which destitute
Jews are receiving the aid they
so desperately need; but com-
munities which for one reason
or another were not able to
send their representatives to
this conference in Geneva," the
JDC chairman stated.
"One day they too may sit
with us—but until then, from
such conferences as this there
will continue to flow—across
borders and barriers—a heart-
warming sense of contact and
spiritual solidarity," Warburg
stressed.
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S — THE DETRO IT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, July 24, 1959
JDC Spent $27.7 Million to Provide Aid