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Photo, Print, Drawing Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania.

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About this Item

Title

  • Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania.

Summary

  • Elderly refugees, such as this 75-year-old woman newly arrived in Bucharest, had the hardest time surviving the rigorous journey to safety during World War I. Romania joined the Allied war effort in late August 1916. Sections of the country became enemy-occupied territory. As in large swaths of Europe, Jewish homes in Romania and the civic institutions supporting community life were destroyed. Civilian populations, treated as enemies, were forced or frightened into flight to places not yet caught up in the turmoil. Initial relief efforts for Romanian Jews impoverished by the war included soup kitchens, the distribution of clothing and shoes for children, and family subsidies for those whose breadwinners had been conscripted into the armed forces or interned as prisoners of war. These efforts were organized by the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), created in New York City soon after the start of World War I. As long as the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires controlled vast territories and the United States remained neutral, JDC relief work was done through the U.S. State Department and established European philanthropic organizations such as the Jewish Colonization Association in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) and the Israelitische Allianz in Vienna. Once America entered the war, getting funds and supplies to those living in the regions occupied by the Central powers became much more difficult. Postwar conditions were further exacerbated by the territorial war between Romania and Hungary that followed the armistice of November 1918. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Names

  • Joint Distribution Committee of the American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers Associated Name.

Created / Published

  • [place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], [1917-04 to 1919]

Headings

  • -  Romania--Bucureşti--Bucharest
  • -  1917-04 to 1919
  • -  American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
  • -  Canteens (Establishments)
  • -  Faith-based human services
  • -  Food supply
  • -  Humanitarian assistance
  • -  Jews
  • -  Refugees
  • -  War relief
  • -  World War, 1914-1918

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 photograph : black and white ; 5 x 7 inches.
  • -  Original resource at: American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Source Collection

  • World War I

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021670903

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Joint Distribution Committee Of The American Funds For Jewish War Sufferers Associated Name. Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania. Bucharest Bucureşti Romania, 1917. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -04 to 1919] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670903/.

APA citation style:

Joint Distribution Committee Of The American Funds For Jewish War Sufferers Associated Name. (1917) Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania. Bucharest Bucureşti Romania, 1917. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -04 to 1919] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670903/.

MLA citation style:

Joint Distribution Committee Of The American Funds For Jewish War Sufferers Associated Name. Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania. [Place of Publication Not Identified: Publisher Not Identified, -04 to 1919] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021670903/>.