Logo for Records of the War Refugee Board, 1944-1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Records of the War Refugee Board, 1944-1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Collection Overview

Title: Records of the War Refugee Board, 1944-1945Add to your cart.

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],
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Series 5: Records Formerly Classified "Secret": June 1944-August 1945Add to your cart.
Correspondence, telegrams, reports, and other materials regarding certain rescue and relief operations conducted by the Board; negotiations of various organizations in efforts to forestall persecutions and extermination; underground evacuations of persons from certain areas; and related matters. Arranged by subject, thereunder chronologically.

Box 77Add to your cart.

Administrative Accounts-SwitzerlandAdd to your cart.
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American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Licenses-Rescue Operations in Hungary and BalkansAdd to your cart.
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Aschner, Leopold (Request for Specific Aid)Add to your cart.
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Bogdanffy, EugeneAdd to your cart.
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Joel Brandt Proposal (1)Add to your cart.
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Joel Brandt Proposal (2)Add to your cart.
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Council of Rescue of the Jews in PolandAdd to your cart.
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Denenberg, Leon P.Add to your cart.
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Denunciation of Jews in BucharestAdd to your cart.
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England (James Mann)Add to your cart.
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Escape of Refugees and Escapees Across French-Spanish BorderAdd to your cart.
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Box 78Add to your cart.

Evacuation of Refugees to and Through TurkeyAdd to your cart.
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Evacuation of Yugoslav Refugees, A-G (1)Add to your cart.
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Evacuation of Yugoslav Refugees, A-G (2)Add to your cart.
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Funds for Relief Work in SwitzerlandAdd to your cart.
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German Proposals Through SweedenAdd to your cart.
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Goldberg, Arthur J.Add to your cart.
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Henderson, Virginia D. (Mrs.)Add to your cart.
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Hungarian (Horthy) OfferAdd to your cart.
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Jabotinsky, Eri (1)Add to your cart.
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Jabotinsky, Eri (2)Add to your cart.
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Katzki, HerbertAdd to your cart.
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La Guardia CaseAdd to your cart.
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Latvia (Jewish Personas In)Add to your cart.
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Saly Mayer's Negotiations in Switzerland (1)Add to your cart.
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Saly Mayer's Negotiations in Switzerland (2)Add to your cart.
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Box 79Add to your cart.

Negotiations in Switzerland-Including German Proposals (1)Add to your cart.
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Negotiations in Switzerland-Including German Proposals (2)Add to your cart.
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Negotiations in Switzerland-Including German Proposals (3)Add to your cart.
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Negotiations in Switzerland-Including German Proposals (4)Add to your cart.
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Negotiations in Switzerland-Including German Proposals (5)Add to your cart.
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Palestine CertificatesAdd to your cart.
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Prominent Hungarian Jewish Industrialists in PortugalAdd to your cart.
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Recognition of Latin American PassportsAdd to your cart.
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Reports on Trip to Spain and Portugal (Mr. Mann)Add to your cart.
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Rumania and BulgariaAdd to your cart.
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Seckel, Friedrich W.Add to your cart.
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Statement by General EisenhowerAdd to your cart.
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Strategic Services, Office of (Classified)Add to your cart.
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SwedenAdd to your cart.
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Sweden-Iver Olsen's Reports, Vol. 1 (1)Add to your cart.
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Sweden-Iver Olsen's Reports, Vol. 1 (2)Add to your cart.
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Yugoslav Refugess CommitteeAdd to your cart.
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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]