Search > Search Results > Hungary: Subject Matter: Relief and Welfare, Cash Assistance ...

The Cultural and Religious series reflects the attempts made to maintain Jewish religious life in Hungary. JDC provided the Hungarian Jewish community with religious supplies, supported the hiring of a Rabbi and a shochet (ritual slaughterer) for the Orthodox Jewish community, and participated in the restoration of the Szeged Synagogue (see also HU.35, item ID 1088770). The Religious Supplies file details the religious supplies sent to Hungary, including 5,000 siddurim (prayer books), knives for kosher slaughtering, and yarmulkes.

The Relief and Welfare series contains material on KSB’s cash assistance program. Most of the recipients were elderly pensioners who, because of the Holocaust, did not work long enough to qualify for adequate pensions. KSB also maintained a clothing department in order to provide clients with warm clothing and shoes, which is documented in the Relief Supplies file. The Kosher Kitchens file details the construction of a new kitchen in Budapest, to which JDC contributed, which opened in September 1981 to replace one that was in a state of advanced deterioration. Operated by MIOK, the kitchen provided approximately 250,000 meals each year to the elderly.

The Summer Camp series documents the search for a new campsite that would help to expand JDC’s sleepaway camp program at Lake Balaton. In 1985, the camp hosted 27 children from the provinces and Budapest. By 1988, 400 children participated in a four-week summer sleepaway camp. JDC negotiated to buy this new campsite in coordination with the Lauder Foundation.