Skip to Main Content

Collection Guide: National Jewish Welfare Board

Overview of the individual archival collections and library materials found at the Center relating to the NJWB and their activities.

Soldiers reading from the Torah during a synagogue service, cir1940?s-1950s (I-337, AJHS)

National Jewish Welfare Board Bureau of War Records (I-52)

To view this collection's finding aid, please click HERE.

The National Jewish Welfare Board and its affiliated member organizations established the Bureau of War Records for the purpose of collecting and compiling information about Jewish Americans who served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. The origins of the Bureau of War Records can be traced back to the experience of the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) in providing religious and social services to American Jewish soldiers and sailors during and after World War I, and to the American Jewish Committee, whose Office of War Records documented the contributions of Jewish servicemen to the United States military during World War I. During the inter-war years, the JWB - Army-Navy Division worked with federated Jewish philanthropic and cultural centers to deliver services to Jewish soldiers located at military bases throughout the United States and abroad.

The principal duties of the national office of the BWR were to assist local Jewish communities in establishing war records committees; to authenticate all war records submitted to the NJWB on behalf of Jewish servicemen and women; to calculate the proportion and number of Jews in the armed forces; to publish information of use to families of Jewish service personnel, the NJWB and its affiliated members; and to publicize stories of Jewish soldiers' contributions to the war effort. 

At the outset, the BWR collected information about Jewish service personnel onsite at military bases by means of registration cards enclosed in bibles and prayer books distributed by the JWB; through furlough papers submitted during the high holy seasons; and from service records secured from the Adjunct General's office in Washington, D.C. Staff members working at the national office of the BWR authenticated all Jewish casualties and awards after consulting government publications, local press releases, and publications of organizations with significant Jewish membership. However, as the scale of the United States military commitment to Europe and Asia increased dramatically during the years 1941-1945, and as Jewish service personnel mobilized for war on many fronts, it became necessary for the BWR to further decentralize and standardize the process of collecting and authenticating data. To encourage community participation in the task of war record collection, the BWR sent representatives to every city containing a Jewish population greater than 2,500. Bureau staff corresponded with representatives of local Army-Navy committees, Jewish welfare and community councils, as well as leaders of community centers and synagogues serving Jewish communities smaller than 1,000 people. Between 1943 and 1946 the number of local war record committees in the United States increased from approximately 400 to 1,200.

Arrangement

Series I: Administrative history - Bureau of War Records correspondence, reports, minutes of meetings, published materials, 1941-1947

Series consists of correspondence, memoranda, minutes of meetings, and reports outlining the administrative structure, function, personnel, and budget for the Bureau of War Records.
 
Correspondence and interoffice memoranda largely exchanged among office personnel and administrators serving the National Jewish Welfare Board (NJWB) or the Bureau of War Records (BWR), and between the office of the NJWB, the BWR, and representatives of Jewish associations affiliated with the NJWB such as the United Service Organization-Jewish Welfare Board (USO-JWB), the Jewish War Veterans of the United States, and various Jewish Community Centers or Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations. Also included: correspondence exchanged between Samuel Leff, NJWB, Director of War Records, and local representatives of Jewish associations affiliated with the NJWB such as the United Service Organization-Jewish Welfare Board, Jewish War Veterans of the United States, Jewish Community Centers, and the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations.
 
The subject files in Series III consists of memoranda, reports, and other written materials generated by particular departments and committees within the Bureau of War Records, as well as correspondence exchanged between members of the BWR and various fraternal organizations, civic associations, and corporations.
 
Individual files on Jewish men and women who earned awards, suffered casualties, or were party to newsworthy events in the war, Honor Roll and Record of Casualty forms for Jewish service personnel, information about Jewish men and women whose files or records were unauthenticated at the close of the Bureau of War Records project, Honor Roll Record questionnaire forms printed by the Greater New York Army and Navy Committee and the Greater New York War Records Committee, and information about Jewish men and women whose files remained unprocessed at the close of the Bureau of War Records project.
 
Consists of forms list family name, address, and names of sons and daughters serving in the military together with rank, branch, age, marital status, and enlistment date, blank forms, instructions for administrators, and lists of commissioned officers and refugees serving in the armed forces, and a Jewish population sample survey of Cleveland, Ohio.
 
Consists of printed master index card forms that provide space for listing a soldier’s name, age, rank, serial number, service branch, and theater of military action. Fields are also available for listing the name and address of the next of kin, the source of information, and the date that a soldier’s name appeared on a military service Honor Roll.
 
Contains index cards bearing information about residents of Metropolitan New York City who served in the United States Armed Forces during the war. This series contains standardized card forms printed by the Bureau of War Records and the Greater New York War Records Committee (GNYWRC).
 
Consists of grave registration cards exchanged between the New York City and Washington, D.C. offices of the BWR. The cards were used to authenticate the records of Jewish and non-Jewish soldiers and to document the geographical location of Jewish burial sites around the world.