The Hilfsverein der Juden in Deutschland (Jewish Aid in Germany) was an organisation established by German Jews in 1901 to engage in social welfare and educational activities among needy Jews. It remained in operation until 1941, and during the Nazi period it assisted German Jews trying to emigrate.
After World War One, the Hilfsverein concentrated its efforts on Jewish refugees from eastern Europe who were stranded in Germany while trying to emigrate overseas.
The help that the Hilfsverein was able to give encompassed all aspects of emigration; up-to-date information, based on reports received from hundreds of contacts abroad; vocational counselling, technical arrangements, bureaucratic formalities and financial advice. When the Hilfsverein began to assist Jewish emigration from Germany, a clear division of responsibility was made between it and the Jewish Agency. The latter, through the Palastina-Amt, dealt exclusively with emigration to Palestine, while the Hilfsverein dealt with emigration elsewhere.
The Hilfsverein continued to function as an independent agency until 1939, when it became a section of the Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland. In 1941, when emigration was prohibited altogether, that section also went out of existence.
From the guide to the Hilfsverein der Juden in Deutschland: correspondence with The Council for German Jewry (microfilm), 1936-1939, (Wiener Library)
