Records of the War Refugee Board, 1944-1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Collection Overview
Title: Records of the War Refugee Board, 1944-1945
Primary Creator: War Refugee Board
Extent: 43.0 Cubic Feet
Arrangement: This collection is divided into twelve major series: (1) General Correspondence; (2) Projects and Documents File; (3) General Correspondence of Roswell D. McClelland; (4) Correspondence and Petitions Relating to the Admission of Refugees into the United States; (5) Records Formerly Classified "Secret"; (6) "Liquidation" Correspondence - Records Relating to Individual Accounts; (7) Records Relating to the Istanbul Cash Accounts; (8) Miscellaneous Correspondence Relating to Accounts; (9) Index to Board Communications; (10) A History of the War Refugee Board; (11) Paraphrases of Selected Documents; (12) Press Clippings.
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Established by Executive Order in 1944, the War Refugee Board acted as an independent government unit with a mission to evacuate from Europe the victims of Nazi persecution and to give all possible aid to those whom it could not evacuate. This significant Holocaust-era research collection consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, reports, petitions, vouchers, press clippings, and related papers pertaining to policies, programs, and operations of the War Refugee Board. Also included are an extensive name and subject index to the records prepared by Foreign Funds Control, and a three-volume history of the Board, prepared by the Board's staff. The papers constitute all the extant records of the Board with exception of certain files that were turned over to the War Department for use in the United Nations war crimes prosecution. The Records of the War Refugee Board (RG 220.5.11) are holdings of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. Additional series of its parent Record Group, RG 220 - Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards (http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/220.html) are housed primarily at the National Archives in College Park, MD.
Note: This digital collection contains images captured through both microfilm scanning and digital photography. During photography several lengthy and/or duplicate reports were not captured in full, and many are represented by report covers only. As a result, please note that some digital folders may not contain complete page contents matching the physical collection available for in-person research at the FDR Library.
Collection Historical Note
The War Refugee Board was established by Executive Order 9417 on January 22, 1944, "in order to effectuate with all possible speed the rescue and relief of... victims of enemy oppression." The Board was composed of the Secretaries of State, War and Treasury, and had a small staff in Washington headed by an Executive Director. The first Executive Director was John W. Pehle, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, who served until January 27, 1945. He was succeeded by Brigadier General William 0'Dwyer, who served until the dissolution of the Board. The Board worked closely with private relief agencies in the United States, the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
For the relief of persecuted people who could not be evacuated, the Board pursued several lines of action. It negotiated with neutral countries to recognize claims of individuals that they were nationals of those countries and to demand fair treatment of them at the hands of the German Government. It arranged for the transmission from the United States of food and clothing packages to "state-less" Jews. It induced neutral nations, the Vatican, and the International Red Cross to have their representatives in German-controlled territory make more frequent visits to concentration camps in the hope of exerting a humane influence upon the men administering them; and upon its advice the United States Government issued warnings that individuals responsible for the persecution of persons under their charge would be punished.
A number of special representatives, appointed by the Department of State and having diplomatic status and the rank of special attaches, served the Board overseas. They worked through United States embassies in neutral and Allied countries and maintained liaison with the International Red Cross Committee, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees. Special Attaches on War Refugee Matters acted through U. S. Legations and Embassies in Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden, Portugal, Great Britain, Italy, and North Africa. The Treasury Department also granted licenses to transfer funds abroad for relief purposes.
Executive Order 9614 of September 14, 1945 terminated the Board's activities and directed the Secretary of the Treasury to wind up its affairs by June 30, 1946. Upon dissolution the functions of the Board were transferred to the Treasury Department's Foreign Funds Control. A small amount of Board correspondence relating to proposed refugee shelters, and the Fort Ontario (Oswego, N. Y.) Emergency Relief shelter resides in RG 210, Records of the War Relocation Authority, in the National Archives.
Administrative Information
Repository: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum
Access Restrictions: None
Use Restrictions: These records contain documents restricted in accordance with Executive Order 11652.
Acquisition Method:
The Records of the War Refugee Board were accessioned by the National Archives and placed in Record Group 220. On July 22, 1959, they were transferred to the library.
Major sections of the War Refugee Papers are now available for online research thanks to researcher Rebecca Eerbelding who provided digital images captured from the Roosevelt Library collection.
Related Materials: : Franklin D. Roosevelt's Papers as President; Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Diaries; Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Papers
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[Series 1: General Correspondence],
[Series 2: Projects and Documents File: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 3: General Correspondence of Roswell D. McClelland: January 1944-July 1945],
[Series 4: Correspondence Relating to Admission of Refugees into the United States: 1944-1945],
[Series 5: Records Formerly Classified "Secret": June 1944-August 1945],
[Series 6: "Liquidation" Correspondence - Records Relating to Individual Accounts: 1945-1946],
[Series 7: Records Relating to Istanbul Cash Accounts: 1944-1945],
[Series 8: Miscellaneous Correspondence Relating to Accounts: March 1944-August 1945],
[Series 9: Index to Board Communications: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 10: History of the War Refugee Board: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 11: Paraphrases of Selected Documents: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 12: Press Clippings: January 1944-August 1945],
[All]
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Series 3: General Correspondence of Roswell D. McClelland: January 1944-July 1945 - Letters received and copies of letters sent, telegrams, reports and other materials of the Board's Special Representative in Bern relating to Board activity as conducted in and from Switzerland with respect to evacuations of refugees from enemy areas, particularly Hungary, Slovakia, Rumania, France, and Northern Italy; relief activities of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and other private rescue organizations in German-occupied countries; the Joint-War Refugee Board-International Red Cross food-relief program for concentration camp inmates; representations made by the United States Legation through the Swiss Government to Germany concerning refugee holders of "ad hoc" Latin American nationality documents; various monies transmitted under special Board license by Dutch, Belgian, and Luxembourg relief agencies; and related matters. Included are miscellaneous documents pertaining to extermination camps in Poland, lists of detainees in certain concentration camps, and clippings from Swiss publications commenting on anti-Jewish measures in Hungary. This series also contains administrative and financial correspondence relating to Mr. McClelland's appointment, salary, traveling expenses, and accounts of expenditures from discretionary Board funds placed at his disposal, with a few related vouchers. Arranged by subject, thereunder chronologically.
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Box 64 -
Jews in Europe, February-April 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Europe, May-June 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Europe (1), July-August 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Europe (2), July-August 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Europe, September-October 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Europe, November-December 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Europe (1), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Europe (2), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Europe (3), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Box 65 -
Jews from Switzerland to Italy and Palestine - View Online
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Jews in Hungary and Bergen-Belsen Group (1), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary and Bergen-Belsen Group (2), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary and Bergen-Belsen Group (3), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary and Bergen-Belsen Group, July-December 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (1), September-October 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (2), September-October 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (1), November-December 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (2), November-December 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary, January-March 1945 - View Online
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Box 66 -
Jews in Hungary (1), February-May 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (2), February-May 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (1), June 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (2), June 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (1), July 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (2), July 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (1), August 1944 - View Online
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Jews in Hungary (2), August 1944 - View Online
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Box 67 -
Jews in France - WRB Relief Action, April-October 1944 - View Online
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U.S. Immigration Visas for Refugee Children in Switzerland, March-August, November-December 1944 - View Online
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Jews in German Occupied Italy - WRB Relief Action in Northern Italy, January, February, April-December 1944, January-July 1945 - View Online
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Dutch Jews and Dutch Jewish Coordinating Committee: Geneva, May 1944-May 1945 - View Online
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Jews in Rumania (1) - View Online
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Jews in Rumania (2) - View Online
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Jews in Slovakia - View Online
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Jews in Yugoslavia - View Online
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Box 68 -
Swiss Relief Committee for the Jews in Hungary - View Online
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International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): Jewish Relief (1) - View Online
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International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC): Jewish Relief (2) - View Online
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ICRC: Relief (WRB) for Concentration Camps in Germany and German Occupied Areas (1), April-December 1944 - View Online
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ICRC: Relief (WRB) for Concentration Camps in Germany and German Occupied Areas (2), April-December 1944 - View Online
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ICRC: Relief (WRB) for Concentration Camps in Germany and German Occupied Areas (1), January-March 1945 - View Online
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ICRC: Relief (WRB) for Concentration Camps in Germany and German Occupied Areas (2), January-March 1945 - View Online
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ICRC: Relief (WRB) for Concentration Camps in Germany and German Occupied Areas (1), April-June 1945 - View Online
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ICRC: Relief (WRB) for Concentration Camps in Germany and German Occupied Areas (2), April-June 1945 - View Online
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Box 69 -
Documents, Correspondence and Lists of Detainees - Ghetto of Thereseinstadt (1), September 1944-June 1945 - View Online
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Documents, Correspondence and Lists of Detainees - Ghetto of Thereseinstadt (2), September 1944-June 1945 - View Online
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Documents, Correspondence and Lists of Detainees - Ghetto of Thereseinstadt (3), September 1944-June 1945 - View Online
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Documents, Correspondence and Lists of Detainees - Concentration Camp of Bergen-Belsen (1), March 1944-April 1945 - View Online
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Documents, Correspondence and Lists of Detainees - Concentration Camp of Bergen-Belsen (2), March 1944-April 1945 - View Online
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Miscellaneous Documents Concerning Other Concentration Camps in Germany, April-June 1945 - View Online
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Miscellaneous Documents and Reports re Extermination Camps for Jews in Poland (1) - View Online
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Miscellaneous Documents and Reports re Extermination Camps for Jews in Poland (2) - View Online
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Miscellaneous Documents - View Online
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International Rescue and Relief Committee, March-November 1944 - View Online
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Jewish Labor Committee, February-November 1944 - View Online
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Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg Labor Relief Funds, July 1944-July 1945 - View Online
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Box 70 -
Union of Orthodox Rabbis: Representation in Switzerland (I. Sternbuch) (1), January-June 1944 - View Online
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Union of Orthodox Rabbis: Representation in Switzerland (I. Sternbuch) (2), January-June 1944 - View Online
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Union of Orthodox Rabbis: Representation in Switzerland (I. Sternbuch) (1), July-December 1944 - View Online
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Union of Orthodox Rabbis: Representation in Switzerland (I. Sternbuch) (2), July-December 1944 - View Online
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Union of Orthodox Rabbis: Representation in Switzerland (I. Sternbuch) (1), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Union of Orthodox Rabbis: Representation in Switzerland (I. Sternbuch) (2), January-June 1945 - View Online
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Union of O.S.E. ("Oeuvre De Secours Aux Enfants"): Jewish Children's Relief Agency (1), May 1944-May 1945 - View Online
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Union of O.S.E. ("Oeuvre De Secours Aux Enfants"): Jewish Children's Relief Agency (2), May 1944-May 1945 - View Online
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World Jewish Congress (1), January-July 1944 - View Online
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World Jewish Congress (2), January-July 1944 - View Online
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Box 71 -
World Jewish Congress, August-December 1944 - View Online
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World Jewish Congress (1), January-June 1945 - View Online
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World Jewish Congress (2), January-June 1945 - View Online
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U.S. Immigration Visas for Persecuted Persons in Enemy Occupied Territory, August-December 1944 - View Online
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U.S. Immigration Visas for Persecuted Persons in Enemy Occupied Territory (1), January-May 1945 - View Online
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U.S. Immigration Visas for Persecuted Persons in Enemy Occupied Territory (2), January-May 1945 - View Online
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American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: Activities in and from Switzerland (1), February 1944-May 1945 - View Online
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American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: Activities in and from Switzerland (2), February 1944-May 1945 - View Online
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American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee: Activities in and from Switzerland (3), February 1944-May 1945 - View Online
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Box 72 -
Press Comment in Switzerland: Clipping and Publications re Anti-Jewish Measures in Hungary (1) - View Online
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Press Comment in Switzerland: Clipping and Publications re Anti-Jewish Measures in Hungary (2) - View Online
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Individual Case File: A-K (1), 1944 - View Online
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Individual Case File: A-K (2), 1944 - View Online
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Individual Case File: A-K (3), 1944 - View Online
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Individual Case File: L-Z (1), 1944 - View Online
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Individual Case File: L-Z (2), 1944 - View Online
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Individual Case File: L-Z (3), 1944 - View Online
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Individual Case File: A-Z (1), 1945 - View Online
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Individual Case File: A-Z (2), 1945 - View Online
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Box 73 -
Individual Case File: A-Z (3), 1945 - View Online
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Individual Case File: A-Z (4), 1945 - View Online
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Administrative and Financial Correspondence of R. McClelland (1), March 1944-July 1945 - View Online
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Administrative and Financial Correspondence of R. McClelland (2), March 1944-July 1945 - View Online
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Browse by Series:
[Series 1: General Correspondence],
[Series 2: Projects and Documents File: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 3: General Correspondence of Roswell D. McClelland: January 1944-July 1945],
[Series 4: Correspondence Relating to Admission of Refugees into the United States: 1944-1945],
[Series 5: Records Formerly Classified "Secret": June 1944-August 1945],
[Series 6: "Liquidation" Correspondence - Records Relating to Individual Accounts: 1945-1946],
[Series 7: Records Relating to Istanbul Cash Accounts: 1944-1945],
[Series 8: Miscellaneous Correspondence Relating to Accounts: March 1944-August 1945],
[Series 9: Index to Board Communications: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 10: History of the War Refugee Board: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 11: Paraphrases of Selected Documents: January 1944-September 1945],
[Series 12: Press Clippings: January 1944-August 1945],
[All]