Moses Beckelman and American Jewish joint distribution committee activities and accounts: Lithuania in 1940
ENThe present article regards the crucial period of Lithuania. When WWII started, Lithuania remained independent and neutral, this resulted in more than 30,000 civilian refugees from Poland into the country. Till the first Soviet occupation in the summer of 1940, refugees felt safe in the independent and free Lithuania, but the Soviet rule did not promise anything good. Refugees started to look for possibilities to flee; and those were very limited. In this context, two diplomats in Kaunas – Japanese Vice-Consul Chiune Sugihara and Dutch Honorary Consul Jan Zwartendijk issued transit and final destination visas. But besides documents, huge financial resources were needed for the Trans-Siberian railroad pass. American JDC became more active in Lithuania after the beginning of WWII, but the subsequent Soviet occupation was an additional trigger. JDC was funding refugee life in Lithuania and observing the situation, but when refugees started to flee Soviet Lithuania financial JDC aid for the travel became crucial. JDC representative in Lithuania, Moses Beckelman (1906 – 1955) was an exceptional person, active and courageous, without whose efforts and initiative less aid could have reached refugees in Lithuania. Beckelman himself left Lithuania being afraid of Soviet repressions, but his initiatives helped hundreds of people to obtain visas and reach safe world. The article focuses on Beckelman’s accounts of Jewish situation in Lithuania that he sent to the JDC headquarters.Usually, speaking about Jewish refugees’ flight from Lithuania main focus is on Chiune Sugihara, but it is clear that he and Dutch Honorary Consul in Lithuania Jan Zwartendijk were key persons in getting travel documents – visas. But successful application for them cost a lot of money as the only way to leave the country was through the Soviet travelling agency Intourist services and journey along the Trans-Siberian railroad. At this point only US dollars were accepted for payment. Without M. Beckelman’s intensive work in Vilnius and regular reports about Jewish situation in Lithuania, JDC support might have been less intense, and the Jewish world would not get information about anti-Jewish actions taken by the Soviets. Key words: Moses Beckelman, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), Lithuania, WWII refugees from Poland, the 1940 Soviet occupation of Lithuania, WWII refugees aid, Chiune Sugihara, Jan Zwartendijk.
