ABSTRACT
While several full-length studies have already been completed on the response of the American government to the Holocaust, relatively little research has been published regarding the response of American Jewry, and more specifically, the rescue attempts launched by Jewish agencies in this country during that period. A major monograph on the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is currently being prepared, but very little has been written about the rescue work undertaken by other American Jewish organizations. Completely neglected has been the response of the Orthodox community to the persecution and destruction of European Jewry. In view of the fact that Orthodox groups played a significant, and at times highly controversial, role in the rescue efforts launched from America, such a study illuminates various important aspects of the response of American Jewry to the Holocaust.
