Jewish Restitution Successor Organization

The Jewish Restitution Successor Organization Inc. (JRSO, also IRSO) was founded in 1947 in New York by various American and international Jewish organizations.[1] Originally, it was incorporated on May 15, 1947, as the Jewish Restitution Commission, but in 1948 changed its name to the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization at the request of American military authorities.[2]

History

The JRSO founders were twelve of the largest Jewish organizations world-wide: American (American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Jewish Cultural Reconstruction), British (Anglo-Jewish Association, Board of Deputies of British Jews, Central British Fund, Council for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Jews from Germany), French (Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France), Zionist (Agudas Israel World Organization, Jewish Agency for Palestine), an organization representing the interests of the Jewish congregations in the American Zone (Interessenvertretung Israelitischer Kultusgemeinden in der US Zone) and an international organization (World Jewish Congress).[3]

The goal of the JRSO was to institute proceedings in the American occupation zone for the restitution of heirless property of murdered persons and dissolved organizations that had been pursued on racial grounds under the Nazi regime. The assets obtained in this manner were distributed by the JRSO to Jewish institutions and organizations, primarily in the USA and Israel. In the United States, funds were distributed through various communal organizations, such as the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe.[4]

The parallel organizations in the British and French zones of Germany were the Jewish Trust Corporation Ltd. (JTC) and the Jewish Trust Corporation Branche Française (JTC BF).

The work of the JRSO (and the JTC and JTC BF) were later taken over by the Claims Conference.

Literature

Proceedings of the 5th International Academic Conference, Podebrady, 8-9 October, 2013 pp. 84-91

References

  1. Jewish successor organizations entry in the Jewish Virtual Library
  2. Staff Report, Executive Summary (December 2000). "The Jewish Restitution Successor Organization". Restitution of Victims' Assets. Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States. Chapter V. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
  3. Raushenberger, Katharina. The Restitution of Jewish Cultural Objects and the Activities of Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Inc. Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook (2008) 53(1): 191-211 doi:10.1093/leobaeck/53.1.191
  4. Strauss, H. A. (1971). "The Immigration and Acculturation of the German Jew in the United States of America". The Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 16: 63–94. doi:10.1093/leobaeck/16.1.63.