HIAS
Encyclopedia
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) was founded in 1881. The constant flow of Jewish immigrants from Russia gave birth to the society. HIAS assists Jews and other groups of people whose lives and freedom are at risk, through rescue, relocation, family reunification, and resettlement. Since its inception HIAS has rescued and resettled nearly 4.5 million people. HIAS’ offices throughout the world (United States
, Israel
, Russian Federation, Ukraine
, Austria
, Argentina
, Ecuador
, Venezuela
, Kenya
, and Chad
) provide a wide array of legal and support services.
HIAS’ mission is:
Guided by Jewish values and the shared history of migrations, HIAS helps Jewish and other refugee
s and migrants escaping violence, repression, and poverty find safety and security in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere; facilitates their resettlement and other forms of assistance through a network of local service agencies; advocates on their behalf at the international, national, and community levels; and connects each generation of Jews, one to the other.
HIAS’ archives document the journeys of millions of Jews who immigrated to the United States. These historical records serve as a resource for both researchers and historians, as well as for those for those looking for their roots or attempting to locate family members separated over the generations.
; for those who needed a roof over their heads, a shelter was set up on Ward Island. Besides this immediate assistance, the Society helped immigrants find employment in New York
and New Jersey
and established agricultural colonies in other states to provide land on which they could settle. Among the volunteers working for the organization at that time was Emma Lazarus
, author of “The New Colossus,” the poem later inscribed on the Statue of Liberty
.
In 1891, Jewish residents of Moscow
, St. Petersburg, and Kiev
were expelled and many came to America; Ellis Island
was the point of entry for these new arrivals. The Society, now known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, was active on the island facilitating legal entry, reception, and immediate care for the newly arrived. In the half-century following the establishment of a formal Ellis Island bureau in 1904,
HIAS helped more than 100,000 Jews who might otherwise have been turned away. The bureau provided translation services, guided immigrants through medical screening and other procedures, argued before the Boards of Special Enquiry to prevent deportations, lent needy Jews the $25 landing fee, and obtained bonds for others guaranteeing their employable status.
The Society also searched for relatives of detained immigrants in order to secure the necessary affidavits of support to guarantee that the new arrivals would not become public charges. Lack of such affidavits and/or material means impacted a large number of immigrants: of the 900 immigrants detained during one month in 1917, 600 were held because they had neither money nor friends to claim them. Through advertising and other methods, the Society was able to locate relatives for the vast majority of detainees, who in a short time were released from Ellis Island.
Many of the Jews traveling in steerage on the steamship lines across the Atlantic refused the non-kosher food served on their journeys and arrived at Ellis Island malnourished and vulnerable to deportation on medical grounds. In 1911, the Society installed a kosher kitchen on the Island. Between 1925 and 1952, HIAS' kosher kitchen provided more than a half million meals to immigrants; in the peak year, 1940, 85,794 meals were served. The Society also provided religious services and musical concerts at Ellis Island. It ran an employment bureau and sold railroad tickets at reduced rates to immigrants headed for other cities.
In 1909, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society merged with the Hebrew Sheltering House Association and became universally known as HIAS. By 1914, HIAS had branches in Baltimore
, Philadelphia, Boston
, and an office in Washington, D.C.
In the summer of 1911, HIAS set up an Oriental Department to meet the growing needs of immigrants from the Balkans
and Near East
, who began arriving in the U.S. in considerable numbers. Between 1908 and 1913, approximately 10,000 Jewish emigrants left the Middle East
for the U.S.
During this period, resettlement of Jewish immigrants included assistance in obtaining U.S. citizenship. For this a rudimentary knowledge of English and familiarity with American institutions were mandatory. In addition to classes given at its own building, HIAS arranged educational courses for the immigrants through a network of local Jewish organizations. From 1909 to 1913, HIAS helped more than 35,000 new immigrants become naturalized citizens
.
The outbreak of World War I
in 1914 brought the largest influx of Jews from Eastern Europe
to date: 138,051 in that year alone. However, when the North Atlantic became a battle zone and German submarines seriously impaired overseas passenger traffic, immigration numbers plunged. The war made it increasingly difficult for American-based families to maintain contact with their scattered family members behind enemy lines. To address this, HIAS sent one of its operatives to Europe
to establish communications. He succeeded in securing permission from the German and Austro-Hungarian High Command for residents of the military zones to write short messages to their families to be distributed by HIAS in New York. HIAS also accepted and delivered messages sent by the zone’s non-Jewish population. By war’s end, HIAS had transmitted a total of 300,000 communications on behalf of separated families.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 – and the following civil war
, famine
, and pogrom
s that left about 50,000 Jews dead – created another surge of emigration from the former Russian Empire
. HIAS continued to help these immigrants find safe haven despite growing anti-immigration sentiments in the U.S.
Between the years 1909 and 1919, HIAS registered 482,742 immigrants arriving in the U.S. HIAS’ Ellis Island Bureau interceded with 28,884 held for special inquiry, of whom 22,780 were admitted based on second hearings, with only 6,104 deported. During this period HIAS facilitated the naturalization of 64,298 immigrants.
led to acts of anti-Semitism throughout the former war zone, especially in Poland
, Romania
, Russia
, and Hungary
. While other Jewish agencies, most notably the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
, supplied Jews in the affected countries with food, clothing, and medical supplies, HIAS created a worldwide network of Jewish organizations to provide assistance in immigration to the USA, Canada
, South America
, Australia
, and China
. The establishment of HICEM in 1927 proved critical to the later rescue operation that saved thousands of Jewish lives during World War II
.
HICEM resulted from the merger of three Jewish migration associations: New York-based HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society); ICA (Jewish Colonization Association), which was based in Paris
but registered as a British charitable society; and Emigdirect, a migration organization based in Berlin. HICEM is an acronym of these organizations’ names.
The agreement between the three organizations stipulated that all local branches outside the U.S. would merge into HICEM, while HIAS would still deal with Jewish immigration to the U.S. However, Emigdirect was forced to withdraw from the merger in 1934, and British wartime regulations later restricted the ICA from using its funds outside Britain
. Thus, for a while, HICEM was funded exclusively by HIAS and could be considered as its European extension.
HICEM's European headquarters were based in Paris. After Germany invaded and conquered France in mid-1940, HICEM closed its Paris offices, moving to Marseille
in the so-called “free zone” of France, and to Lisbon
, Portugal
. Until November 11, 1942, HICEM employees were at work in French internment camps looking for Jews who met U.S. State Department immigration requirements and were ready to leave France. At the time of the German invasion of France, there were approximately 300,000 native and foreign Jews living there; however, the State Department’s attempts to curb immigration meant that the number of applicants far exceeded the number allowed to leave. With the German occupation of France, HICEM moved to the town of Brive la Gaillarde. Here a small group of HICEM employees – establishing contact and cooperation with the local underground forces of the French resistance – succeeded in smuggling Jews out of France to Spain
and Switzerland
. Twenty-one HICEM employees were deported and killed in the concentration camps; others were killed in direct combat with the Nazis.
During this period, HICEM in France worked closely with HICEM in Lisbon, which as a neutral port was the path of choice for Jews escaping Europe to North and South America
. Other organizations also moved their European offices to Lisbon at that time, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (known as the JDC or Joint) and the American Friends Service Committee.
From 1940 onward, HICEM's activities were partly supported by the Joint. Despite friction between the two organizations, they worked together to provide refugees with tickets and information about visas and transportation, and helped them leave Lisbon on neutral Portuguese ships. In all, some 40,000 Jews managed to escape Europe during the Holocaust with HICEM’s and the JDC’s assistance. HICEM was dissolved in 1945; HIAS continued its work in Europe under its own name.
HIAS offices functioned in Hoechst, Frankfurt
, Munich
, Foehrenwald, Stuttgart
, Berlin, Bremen
, Hanover
, Regensburg
, Baden-Baden, Vienna
, Linz
, and Salzburg
, with HIAS representatives stationed in the camps themselves. Besides Germany, HIAS worked in France, Italy
, and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia
, Romania, and Bulgaria
. HIAS functioned in Shanghai
until 1950, helping refugees who had escaped eastward from Nazi-occupied Europe to immigrate to Australia, the Americas, and Europe.
From 1945 to 1951, HIAS sponsored and assisted a total 167,450 emigrants: 79,675 of these immigrated to the U.S.; 24,049 to the British Commonwealth; 24,806 to Latin America
; and 38,920 to Israel and other countries.
. During the Cuban Revolution
, HIAS set up operations in Miami to rescue the Jews of Cuba.
During the 1960s, HIAS rescued Jews from Algeria
, Tunisia
, and Libya
and arranged with Morocco
's King Hassan
for the evacuation of his country's huge Jewish community to France and, eventually, Israel. Of almost one million Jewish refugees from Muslim
countries, about 80,000 were resettled by HIAS.
In 1965, HIAS was instrumental in the passage of an immigration law that finally replaced the National Origins Quota
, liberalizing decades of restrictive admissions policies. In 1968, HIAS came to the aid of Czechoslovakia's Jews after the suppression of the "Prague Spring
," and to Poland's Jews after pogroms racked that country.
In 1975, following the fall of Saigon
, HIAS worked with refugees from Southeast Asia
. In 1977, HIAS helped evacuate the Jews of Ethiopia
, which culminated in several airlifts to Israel. In close coordination with Israel, HIAS played a central role in rescuing Jews from Syria
and Lebanon
. In 1979, the overthrow of the Shah in Iran
precipitated a slow but steady trickle of Jews escaping the theocracy
of that country, home to one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.
– started with a trickle of departures. Throughout the entire era of Soviet Jewish exodus, HIAS' operations centered around two beliefs: 1) Israel is the homeland for the Jewish people and 2) emigrants have the right to live together with extended family in their country of choice.
On December 3, 1966, Premier Alexei Kosygin said in Paris that “if there are some families divided by the war who want to meet their relatives outside of the USSR, or even to leave the USSR, we shall do all in our power to help them, and there is no problem.” In stark contrast to the premier’s words, the Soviet authorities did everything in their power to prevent Jews from leaving the country, implementing anti-Semitic, anti-immigration campaigns that included harassment, economic pressure, and an increasingly bureaucratic visa-application process. These methods deterred many would-be applicants, who abandoned the process once their initial applications were denied.
During the early years of exodus, the number of departures depended largely on the status of the United States-Soviet relationship and on financial pragmatism. In hopes of achieving economic benefits from the US, the Soviet government sporadically opened its emigration gates, sometimes even in contradiction of its own legislation. Thus, despite the “Diploma Tax” that was instituted in December 1972 and required exiting Jews to pay for the higher education they received in the USSR, the government allowed two groups of 900 persons each to leave shortly thereafter without paying. By March 1973, the tax was revoked in the face of extreme pressure from the international public community and the Soviets’ fear of not being awarded Most Favored Nation
status by the U.S. In December 1973, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment
, which linked trade agreements with the USSR to freedom of its citizens to emigrate, was passed in the U.S. Congress
by a landslide. This dramatic legislation was no small measure of the degree to which the Soviet Jewry struggle had won the moral support of the West and had galvanized the American Jewish community into action. The Soviet authorities were now subject to criticism not only from scattered groups of dissidents and refusenik
s, but from tens of thousands protesting in front of Soviet embassies and consulates around the globe. Over time, these combined factors impacted the numbers of the Jews leaving the Soviet Union.
HIAS was involved from the beginning of the Jewish exodus from the USSR. In December 1966, HIAS organized a campaign to encourage American Jews to invite their Soviet relatives to join them in the U.S. The Soviet Union initially allowed limited exit visas to the U.S., though eventually, regardless of their final destination, Soviet Jews who received permission to emigrate were granted exit visas only to Israel.
Early on, Vienna became the first stop for all Jews exiting the USSR. There they were greeted by a representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)
and by HIAS, and were asked to determine their final destination. Those who were going to Israel were assisted by JAFI; those headed for the U.S. or elsewhere were processed by HIAS. After a short stay in Vienna, those destined for the U.S. were transferred to Rome
, where they were processed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
.
In August 1972, HIAS obtained U.S. parole status
for hundreds of Russian refugees waiting in Rome, cutting their transit time from six months to six weeks. Parole made immigration possible without delay for all members of a family unit reunifying with their relatives in the U.S., who were formally considered their “sponsors.”
In an effort to alleviate the financial burden on communities accepting increased numbers of Russian refugees, HIAS negotiated with the U.S. State Department a one-time $300 per-capita grant for Russians who emigrated from Europe to the U.S. after January 1974. HIAS passed along the full amount to each resettlement agency.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the years of perestroika
and glasnost
, the political face of the Soviet Union changed, as well as the course of Jewish history. Jews were now free to assemble, to worship – and to leave the country. But as the number of emigrants swelled in Rome, significant backlogs developed and the time between arrival in Rome and the HIAS interview grew to three weeks. By the summer of 1989 overall processing time took 70 – 80 days. This situation was further aggravated by the denial of refugee status by the INS for an increasing number of Soviet Jewish applicants.
In Washington, then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh announced a new policy of unilateral review of all previously denied cases, using “the most generous standards for that review.” The effect was immediate: INS began its review of the denied caseload in October, resulting in the overturning of more than 95 percent of the previous denials. As a result, the percentage of denials dropped from 40 to 2, eliminating the backlog.
Parallel activity was taking place in Congress, as this issue was brought to members’ attention by HIAS and the Council of Jewish Federations (the pre-cursor to the United Jewish Communities
). In November 1989, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Morrison-Lautenberg Amendment, which established that a member of a category group “may establish a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion … by asserting a credible basis for concern about the possibility of such persecution.” This amendment, which has been renewed a number of times, is still in force today and greatly facilitates processing for refugees from the FSU, Indochina
, and Iran.
In late September 1989, the State Department announced a major change in processing refugee admission for Soviet applicants. With a decreasingly hostile environment inside the USSR, the U.S. instituted a system that allowed Soviet Jews to apply and remain in country while waiting for notification of status. From autumn 1989, those seeking family reunification in the U.S. applied for immigration processing at the U.S. Consulate in Moscow.
In 1994, HIAS opened an office in Moscow and, in 2003, one in Kiev. Today, these offices closely monitor conditions in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and assist refugees bound for resettlement in the U.S. and other countries.
Overall, during the 40 years of Soviet Jewish emigration, HIAS assisted more than 400,000 Soviet Jews to immigrate to the U.S.
Drawing strongly on the Jewish tradition, values, and texts – the Torah
(Hebrew Bible) says 36 times in 36 different ways that it is necessary to help the stranger and a core Jewish belief is that it is necessary to “fix the world” (tikkun olam
, in Hebrew) – HIAS provides services without regard for religion, nationality, or ethnic background.
Depending on location, these services can include trauma counseling, art therapy, legal advice, and humanitarian assistance, among others. Working with the U.S. government, the government of Israel, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and a host of non-governmental organizations, HIAS assists refugees from more than 20 countries with U.S. resettlement and follows through with immigrant integration and citizenship programs.
HIAS currently operates in the following places:
Contact information:
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
World Headquarters
333 Seventh Avenue, 16th floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
(212) 967-4100
(866) 871-9681
Twitter: HIASImmigration
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Russian Federation, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, and Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
) provide a wide array of legal and support services.
HIAS’ mission is:
Guided by Jewish values and the shared history of migrations, HIAS helps Jewish and other refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s and migrants escaping violence, repression, and poverty find safety and security in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere; facilitates their resettlement and other forms of assistance through a network of local service agencies; advocates on their behalf at the international, national, and community levels; and connects each generation of Jews, one to the other.
HIAS’ archives document the journeys of millions of Jews who immigrated to the United States. These historical records serve as a resource for both researchers and historians, as well as for those for those looking for their roots or attempting to locate family members separated over the generations.
Early years
HIAS officially started on November 27, 1881 as the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society – HEAS. The society provided assistance for immigrants arriving through Castle GardenCastle Clinton
Castle Clinton or Fort Clinton, once known as Castle Garden, is a circular sandstone fort now located in Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, New York City, in the United States. It is perhaps best remembered as America's first immigration station , where more than 8 million...
; for those who needed a roof over their heads, a shelter was set up on Ward Island. Besides this immediate assistance, the Society helped immigrants find employment in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and established agricultural colonies in other states to provide land on which they could settle. Among the volunteers working for the organization at that time was Emma Lazarus
Emma Lazarus
Lazarus began to be more interested in her Jewish ancestry after reading the George Eliot novel, Daniel Deronda, and as she heard of the Russian pogroms in the early 1880s. This led Lazarus to write articles on the subject. She also began translating the works of Jewish poets into English...
, author of “The New Colossus,” the poem later inscribed on the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
.
In 1891, Jewish residents of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, St. Petersburg, and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
were expelled and many came to America; Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
was the point of entry for these new arrivals. The Society, now known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, was active on the island facilitating legal entry, reception, and immediate care for the newly arrived. In the half-century following the establishment of a formal Ellis Island bureau in 1904,
HIAS helped more than 100,000 Jews who might otherwise have been turned away. The bureau provided translation services, guided immigrants through medical screening and other procedures, argued before the Boards of Special Enquiry to prevent deportations, lent needy Jews the $25 landing fee, and obtained bonds for others guaranteeing their employable status.
The Society also searched for relatives of detained immigrants in order to secure the necessary affidavits of support to guarantee that the new arrivals would not become public charges. Lack of such affidavits and/or material means impacted a large number of immigrants: of the 900 immigrants detained during one month in 1917, 600 were held because they had neither money nor friends to claim them. Through advertising and other methods, the Society was able to locate relatives for the vast majority of detainees, who in a short time were released from Ellis Island.
Many of the Jews traveling in steerage on the steamship lines across the Atlantic refused the non-kosher food served on their journeys and arrived at Ellis Island malnourished and vulnerable to deportation on medical grounds. In 1911, the Society installed a kosher kitchen on the Island. Between 1925 and 1952, HIAS' kosher kitchen provided more than a half million meals to immigrants; in the peak year, 1940, 85,794 meals were served. The Society also provided religious services and musical concerts at Ellis Island. It ran an employment bureau and sold railroad tickets at reduced rates to immigrants headed for other cities.
In 1909, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society merged with the Hebrew Sheltering House Association and became universally known as HIAS. By 1914, HIAS had branches in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Philadelphia, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and an office in Washington, D.C.
In the summer of 1911, HIAS set up an Oriental Department to meet the growing needs of immigrants from the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
and Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
, who began arriving in the U.S. in considerable numbers. Between 1908 and 1913, approximately 10,000 Jewish emigrants left the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
for the U.S.
During this period, resettlement of Jewish immigrants included assistance in obtaining U.S. citizenship. For this a rudimentary knowledge of English and familiarity with American institutions were mandatory. In addition to classes given at its own building, HIAS arranged educational courses for the immigrants through a network of local Jewish organizations. From 1909 to 1913, HIAS helped more than 35,000 new immigrants become naturalized citizens
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
.
World War I
The outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in 1914 brought the largest influx of Jews from Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
to date: 138,051 in that year alone. However, when the North Atlantic became a battle zone and German submarines seriously impaired overseas passenger traffic, immigration numbers plunged. The war made it increasingly difficult for American-based families to maintain contact with their scattered family members behind enemy lines. To address this, HIAS sent one of its operatives to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to establish communications. He succeeded in securing permission from the German and Austro-Hungarian High Command for residents of the military zones to write short messages to their families to be distributed by HIAS in New York. HIAS also accepted and delivered messages sent by the zone’s non-Jewish population. By war’s end, HIAS had transmitted a total of 300,000 communications on behalf of separated families.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 – and the following civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
, famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
, and pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s that left about 50,000 Jews dead – created another surge of emigration from the former Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. HIAS continued to help these immigrants find safe haven despite growing anti-immigration sentiments in the U.S.
Between the years 1909 and 1919, HIAS registered 482,742 immigrants arriving in the U.S. HIAS’ Ellis Island Bureau interceded with 28,884 held for special inquiry, of whom 22,780 were admitted based on second hearings, with only 6,104 deported. During this period HIAS facilitated the naturalization of 64,298 immigrants.
Between the wars
The dislocation and turmoil following World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
led to acts of anti-Semitism throughout the former war zone, especially in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. While other Jewish agencies, most notably the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is a worldwide Jewish relief organization headquartered in New York. It was established in 1914 and is active in more than 70 countries....
, supplied Jews in the affected countries with food, clothing, and medical supplies, HIAS created a worldwide network of Jewish organizations to provide assistance in immigration to the USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The establishment of HICEM in 1927 proved critical to the later rescue operation that saved thousands of Jewish lives during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
HICEM resulted from the merger of three Jewish migration associations: New York-based HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society); ICA (Jewish Colonization Association), which was based in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
but registered as a British charitable society; and Emigdirect, a migration organization based in Berlin. HICEM is an acronym of these organizations’ names.
The agreement between the three organizations stipulated that all local branches outside the U.S. would merge into HICEM, while HIAS would still deal with Jewish immigration to the U.S. However, Emigdirect was forced to withdraw from the merger in 1934, and British wartime regulations later restricted the ICA from using its funds outside Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Thus, for a while, HICEM was funded exclusively by HIAS and could be considered as its European extension.
World War II and the Holocaust
By the time World War II broke out in September 1939, HICEM had offices throughout Europe, South and Central America, and the Far East. Its employees advised and prepared European refugees for emigration, including helping them during their departure and arrival.HICEM's European headquarters were based in Paris. After Germany invaded and conquered France in mid-1940, HICEM closed its Paris offices, moving to Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
in the so-called “free zone” of France, and to Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Until November 11, 1942, HICEM employees were at work in French internment camps looking for Jews who met U.S. State Department immigration requirements and were ready to leave France. At the time of the German invasion of France, there were approximately 300,000 native and foreign Jews living there; however, the State Department’s attempts to curb immigration meant that the number of applicants far exceeded the number allowed to leave. With the German occupation of France, HICEM moved to the town of Brive la Gaillarde. Here a small group of HICEM employees – establishing contact and cooperation with the local underground forces of the French resistance – succeeded in smuggling Jews out of France to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Twenty-one HICEM employees were deported and killed in the concentration camps; others were killed in direct combat with the Nazis.
During this period, HICEM in France worked closely with HICEM in Lisbon, which as a neutral port was the path of choice for Jews escaping Europe to North and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. Other organizations also moved their European offices to Lisbon at that time, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (known as the JDC or Joint) and the American Friends Service Committee.
From 1940 onward, HICEM's activities were partly supported by the Joint. Despite friction between the two organizations, they worked together to provide refugees with tickets and information about visas and transportation, and helped them leave Lisbon on neutral Portuguese ships. In all, some 40,000 Jews managed to escape Europe during the Holocaust with HICEM’s and the JDC’s assistance. HICEM was dissolved in 1945; HIAS continued its work in Europe under its own name.
The Displaced Persons
In the wake of World War II, HIAS assumed its most massive job to date – assisting with the emigration needs of the approximately 300,000 Jewish displaced persons throughout the former war zone. Nearly every surviving Jewish family in Central and Eastern Europe had been separated, with parents and children scattered throughout many countries. Reuniting them so they could emigrate as a unit was one of the primary tasks for HIAS workers in the field. Obtaining documents required for emigration was difficult as throughout the war people had fled from one place to another, escaped from concentration camps to hide in villages and forests, then reappeared under assumed names. Identity papers were destroyed; false papers, fabricated papers, or, most often, no papers at all, were common. HIAS’ operations set up for DP work in Germany and Austria at the end of 1945 was the largest in the history of the organization in any one country, and it kept growing with the flood of refugees streaming out of Poland and Romania.HIAS offices functioned in Hoechst, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Foehrenwald, Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Berlin, Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
, Baden-Baden, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, and Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, with HIAS representatives stationed in the camps themselves. Besides Germany, HIAS worked in France, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Romania, and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. HIAS functioned in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
until 1950, helping refugees who had escaped eastward from Nazi-occupied Europe to immigrate to Australia, the Americas, and Europe.
From 1945 to 1951, HIAS sponsored and assisted a total 167,450 emigrants: 79,675 of these immigrated to the U.S.; 24,049 to the British Commonwealth; 24,806 to Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
; and 38,920 to Israel and other countries.
Rescue of Jews from Muslim Countries; Hungary; Cuba; Czechoslovakia; Poland
Since 1950, HIAS' activities have closely mirrored world events. In 1956, HIAS rescued Jews fleeing the Soviet invasion of Hungary, and evacuated the Jewish community of Egypt after their expulsion during the Sinai CampaignSuez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
. During the Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, HIAS set up operations in Miami to rescue the Jews of Cuba.
During the 1960s, HIAS rescued Jews from Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
, and Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
and arranged with Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
's King Hassan
Hassan II of Morocco
King Hassan II l-ḥasan aṯ-ṯānī, dial. el-ḥasan ettâni); July 9, 1929 – July 23, 1999) was King of Morocco from 1961 until his death in 1999...
for the evacuation of his country's huge Jewish community to France and, eventually, Israel. Of almost one million Jewish refugees from Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
countries, about 80,000 were resettled by HIAS.
In 1965, HIAS was instrumental in the passage of an immigration law that finally replaced the National Origins Quota
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...
, liberalizing decades of restrictive admissions policies. In 1968, HIAS came to the aid of Czechoslovakia's Jews after the suppression of the "Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
," and to Poland's Jews after pogroms racked that country.
In 1975, following the fall of Saigon
Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...
, HIAS worked with refugees from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. In 1977, HIAS helped evacuate the Jews of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, which culminated in several airlifts to Israel. In close coordination with Israel, HIAS played a central role in rescuing Jews from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. In 1979, the overthrow of the Shah in Iran
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
precipitated a slow but steady trickle of Jews escaping the theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
of that country, home to one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities.
The Soviet Jewry Exodus
Beginning in the mid-1960s, HIAS returned to the work initiated at its founding – assisting immigrants escaping Russia with their arrival and resettlement needs in the U.S. Close to a century later, a new Jewish exodus from the previous Russian Empire – now the USSRSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
– started with a trickle of departures. Throughout the entire era of Soviet Jewish exodus, HIAS' operations centered around two beliefs: 1) Israel is the homeland for the Jewish people and 2) emigrants have the right to live together with extended family in their country of choice.
On December 3, 1966, Premier Alexei Kosygin said in Paris that “if there are some families divided by the war who want to meet their relatives outside of the USSR, or even to leave the USSR, we shall do all in our power to help them, and there is no problem.” In stark contrast to the premier’s words, the Soviet authorities did everything in their power to prevent Jews from leaving the country, implementing anti-Semitic, anti-immigration campaigns that included harassment, economic pressure, and an increasingly bureaucratic visa-application process. These methods deterred many would-be applicants, who abandoned the process once their initial applications were denied.
During the early years of exodus, the number of departures depended largely on the status of the United States-Soviet relationship and on financial pragmatism. In hopes of achieving economic benefits from the US, the Soviet government sporadically opened its emigration gates, sometimes even in contradiction of its own legislation. Thus, despite the “Diploma Tax” that was instituted in December 1972 and required exiting Jews to pay for the higher education they received in the USSR, the government allowed two groups of 900 persons each to leave shortly thereafter without paying. By March 1973, the tax was revoked in the face of extreme pressure from the international public community and the Soviets’ fear of not being awarded Most Favored Nation
Most favoured nation
In international economic relations and international politics, most favoured nation is a status or level of treatment accorded by one state to another in international trade. The term means the country which is the recipient of this treatment must, nominally, receive equal trade advantages as the...
status by the U.S. In December 1973, the Jackson-Vanik Amendment
Jackson-Vanik amendment
The Jackson–Vanik amendment is a 1974 provision in United States federal law, intended to affect U.S. trade relations with countries with non-market economies that restrict freedom of emigration and other human rights...
, which linked trade agreements with the USSR to freedom of its citizens to emigrate, was passed in the U.S. Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
by a landslide. This dramatic legislation was no small measure of the degree to which the Soviet Jewry struggle had won the moral support of the West and had galvanized the American Jewish community into action. The Soviet authorities were now subject to criticism not only from scattered groups of dissidents and refusenik
Refusenik
Refusenik originally referred to citizens of the former Soviet Union who were refused permission to emigrate.Refusenik or refusnik may also refer to:*An Israeli conscientious objector, see Refusal to serve in the Israeli military...
s, but from tens of thousands protesting in front of Soviet embassies and consulates around the globe. Over time, these combined factors impacted the numbers of the Jews leaving the Soviet Union.
HIAS was involved from the beginning of the Jewish exodus from the USSR. In December 1966, HIAS organized a campaign to encourage American Jews to invite their Soviet relatives to join them in the U.S. The Soviet Union initially allowed limited exit visas to the U.S., though eventually, regardless of their final destination, Soviet Jews who received permission to emigrate were granted exit visas only to Israel.
Early on, Vienna became the first stop for all Jews exiting the USSR. There they were greeted by a representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)
Jewish Agency for Israel
The Jewish Agency for Israel , also known as the Sochnut or JAFI, served as the organization in charge of immigration and absorption of Jews from the Diaspora into the state of Israel.-History:...
and by HIAS, and were asked to determine their final destination. Those who were going to Israel were assisted by JAFI; those headed for the U.S. or elsewhere were processed by HIAS. After a short stay in Vienna, those destined for the U.S. were transferred to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where they were processed by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
.
In August 1972, HIAS obtained U.S. parole status
Parole (United States immigration)
In United States immigration law, the term parole has three different meanings.A person who does not meet the technical requirements for a visa may be allowed to enter the U.S. on humanitarian parole. Humanitarian parole is granted on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the Secretary of the U.S...
for hundreds of Russian refugees waiting in Rome, cutting their transit time from six months to six weeks. Parole made immigration possible without delay for all members of a family unit reunifying with their relatives in the U.S., who were formally considered their “sponsors.”
In an effort to alleviate the financial burden on communities accepting increased numbers of Russian refugees, HIAS negotiated with the U.S. State Department a one-time $300 per-capita grant for Russians who emigrated from Europe to the U.S. after January 1974. HIAS passed along the full amount to each resettlement agency.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the years of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
and glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
, the political face of the Soviet Union changed, as well as the course of Jewish history. Jews were now free to assemble, to worship – and to leave the country. But as the number of emigrants swelled in Rome, significant backlogs developed and the time between arrival in Rome and the HIAS interview grew to three weeks. By the summer of 1989 overall processing time took 70 – 80 days. This situation was further aggravated by the denial of refugee status by the INS for an increasing number of Soviet Jewish applicants.
In Washington, then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh announced a new policy of unilateral review of all previously denied cases, using “the most generous standards for that review.” The effect was immediate: INS began its review of the denied caseload in October, resulting in the overturning of more than 95 percent of the previous denials. As a result, the percentage of denials dropped from 40 to 2, eliminating the backlog.
Parallel activity was taking place in Congress, as this issue was brought to members’ attention by HIAS and the Council of Jewish Federations (the pre-cursor to the United Jewish Communities
United Jewish Communities
The Jewish Federations of North America , is an American Jewish umbrella organization representing 157 Jewish Federations and the Network of Independent Communities, 400 smaller Jewish communities across North America. The JFNA was formed from the 1999 merger of the United Jewish Appeal, the...
). In November 1989, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Morrison-Lautenberg Amendment, which established that a member of a category group “may establish a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion … by asserting a credible basis for concern about the possibility of such persecution.” This amendment, which has been renewed a number of times, is still in force today and greatly facilitates processing for refugees from the FSU, Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, and Iran.
In late September 1989, the State Department announced a major change in processing refugee admission for Soviet applicants. With a decreasingly hostile environment inside the USSR, the U.S. instituted a system that allowed Soviet Jews to apply and remain in country while waiting for notification of status. From autumn 1989, those seeking family reunification in the U.S. applied for immigration processing at the U.S. Consulate in Moscow.
In 1994, HIAS opened an office in Moscow and, in 2003, one in Kiev. Today, these offices closely monitor conditions in the former Soviet Union (FSU) and assist refugees bound for resettlement in the U.S. and other countries.
Overall, during the 40 years of Soviet Jewish emigration, HIAS assisted more than 400,000 Soviet Jews to immigrate to the U.S.
HIAS Today
Today HIAS continues to provide rescue and refuge for persecuted Jews around the world. However, as the population of Jewish refugees has diminished in recent years, HIAS also has directed its resources to assist refugees and immigrants of all backgrounds, helping many reunite with their families and resettle in the United States. HIAS also advocates in Congress on policies affecting refugees and immigrants.Drawing strongly on the Jewish tradition, values, and texts – the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
(Hebrew Bible) says 36 times in 36 different ways that it is necessary to help the stranger and a core Jewish belief is that it is necessary to “fix the world” (tikkun olam
Tikkun olam
Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world." In Judaism, the concept of tikkun olam originated in the early rabbinic period...
, in Hebrew) – HIAS provides services without regard for religion, nationality, or ethnic background.
Depending on location, these services can include trauma counseling, art therapy, legal advice, and humanitarian assistance, among others. Working with the U.S. government, the government of Israel, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and a host of non-governmental organizations, HIAS assists refugees from more than 20 countries with U.S. resettlement and follows through with immigrant integration and citizenship programs.
HIAS currently operates in the following places:
- United States. HIAS helps resettle refugees from trouble spots around the world through a national affiliate network of Jewish agencies; provides extensive integration and citizenship programs for Russian speaking refugees and immigrants; advocates for immigration laws with its network of Jewish, interfaith, and other partners in Washington, DC and nationwide; connects each generation of Jews by reuniting those long separated and through educational initiatives such as myStory.hias.org, a social networking site enabling newcomers to tell their immigration stories; provides scholarships to refugees; and offers an advocacy and social forum through HIAS Young Leaders.
- Europe. In Moscow and Kiev, HIAS helps Jews and others from 43 countries receive protection and seek asylum or resettlement;
- Middle East. HIAS helps Jewish and other religious minorities from Iran come to the U.S.; in Israel, HIAS provides scholarships for those who have recently immigrated to the Jewish state and assists with Israeli government efforts to protect the population of refugees arriving from Africa;
- Africa. In Chad, HIAS provides trauma counseling and social services in five of that country’s camps for refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan and facilitates relocation for those who need additional protection; in Kenya, HIAS’ trauma counseling and resettlement operations focus on the needs of the most vulnerable of the 250,000 people displaced by conflicts in Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
- Latin America. HIAS provides full-service counseling, legal services, and humanitarian assistance for Colombian refugees fleeing to Ecuador and Venezuela; facilitates the resettlement and integration of refugees in Argentina and Uruguay.
Contact information:
The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
World Headquarters
333 Seventh Avenue, 16th floor
New York, NY 10001-5004
(212) 967-4100
(866) 871-9681
Twitter: HIASImmigration