From Zagreb to Palestine

In the spring of 1933, Yugoslav Jewish communities founded several local aid committees for Jewish refugees from Germany. Very soon, the Zionist-led Zagreb local committee took over the management and organisation of all refugee help. Its staff built up connections with Jewish organisations at home and abroad. However, contacts with the HICEM and the AJDC in Paris proved to be decisive. The nerve-wracking refugee work often led to battles over the distribution of funds, Palestine certificates, legal travel documents and safe escape routes. What did the aid measures of the local committees actually look like? What challenges did the aid workers have to face? What role did their Zionism play? And finally, what expectations did the refugees actually had? Based on research in numerous international archives, this study analyses the scope for action of Yugoslav Jewish actors in the 1930s. It provides new insights into refugee numbers, the system of aid networks, and it corrects outdated narratives. With its focus on the still neglected area of Southeast Europe, this study also makes an extraordinarily important and a new contribution to the history of the Holocaust.