Jewish Relief Efforts in World War II
Jewish relief
During World War II, diplomatic, underground, and civilian networks worked tirelessly across Europe to save Jews from Nazi persecution and the Holocaust. Operating under extreme personal danger and official pressure, brave diplomats forged thousands of transit visas, while local resistance groups established covert escape networks and safe houses. Financial aid, forged identification papers, and clandestine transport operations helped smuggle children and families across closed borders to neutral territories. These collective, heroic humanitarian efforts ultimately defied totalitarian regimes, preserving human dignity and saving tens of thousands of innocent lives during humanity's darkest hour.
People
Birth
Death
Origin
Age (Death)
| 1885 | |
|---|---|
| 1891 | |
| 1900 | |
| 1907 | |
| 1909 | |
| 1912 | |
| 1914 | |
| 1929 |
Timeline
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Element |
| Year | Jewish relief |
|---|---|
| 1885 |
Birth of Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Period: July 19, 1885, Location: Cabanas de Viriato (Present-day Carregal do Sal, Viseu District, Portugal))
|
| 1891 |
Birth of Edith Stein (Period: October 12, 1891, Location: Wrocław (Poland; then Breslau, German Empire))
Birth in Breslau (Period: October 12, 1891, Location: Breslau (present-day Wrocław, Poland))
|
| 1900 |
Birth of Chiune Sugihara (Period: January 1, 1900, Location: Mino (Gifu Prefecture))
Law Studies at the University of Coimbra
|
| 1907 |
Birth of Varian Fry (Period: October 15, 1907, Location: New York City (New York, United States))
|
| 1909 |
Marriage (Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Maria Angelina Coelho de Sousa Mendes)
Birth of Nicholas Winton (Period: May 19, 1909, Location: London (Hampstead))
|
| 1910 |
Activities for Women's Rights and Education
Beginning of Career as Diplomat and Consul
|
| 1911 |
Studies at the University of Breslau
|
| 1912 |
Birth of Raoul Wallenberg (Period: August 4, 1912, Location: Lidingö (Sweden))
Birth in Lidingö (Period: August 4, 1912, Location: Lidingö, Sweden)
|
| 1913 |
Research under Edmund Husserl
|
| 1914 |
World War I
Birth of Etty Hillesum (Period: January 15, 1914, Location: Middelburg (Netherlands))
Birth in Middelburg (Period: January 15, 1914, Location: Middelburg, Netherlands)
|
| 1915 |
Red Cross Nursing Service during World War I
|
| 1916 |
Appointment as Husserl's Assistant (Edith Stein)
Earning Doctorate with *On the Problem of Empathy* (Edith Stein)
|
| 1918 |
Enrollment at Waseda University (Chiune Sugihara)
Marriage (Chiune Sugihara, Klavdiya Semyonovna Apollonova)
|
| 1919 |
Study in Harbin as a Ministry of Foreign Affairs Student (Chiune Sugihara)
|
| 1920 |
Work in Banking and Stockbrokerage
|
| 1922 |
Conversion to Catholicism
Conversion to Catholicism and Teaching Career
|
| 1924 |
Relocation to Deventer (Etty Hillesum)
Work at the Japanese Consulate-General in Harbin
|
| 1927 |
Studies at Harvard University and Founding of *Hound & Horn*
|
| 1929 |
Birth of Anne Frank (Period: June 12, 1929, Location: Frankfurt am Main (Germany))
Birth in Frankfurt (Period: June 12, 1929, Location: Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
|
| 1930 |
Beginning of Career as a Journalist
|
| 1931 |
Studies in Architecture and Trade at the University of Michigan
Mukden Incident and Establishment of Manchukuo
Marriage (Varian Fry, Eileen Avery Hughes)
|
| 1932 |
Start of University Life in Amsterdam
Diplomacy with the USSR at the Manchukuo Foreign Ministry
|
| 1933 |
The Holocaust
Emigration to Amsterdam (Anne Frank)
Monastic Life with the Discalced Carmelites
Negotiations on the Transfer of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway)
Professional Exclusion by the Nazi Regime
Entry into the Discalced Carmelites
|
| 1935 |
Commercial Activities in South Africa
Witnessing Nazi Persecution of Jews in Berlin
Visit to Berlin and Turning Point toward Anti-Nazi Activities
|
| 1936 |
Business Operations in Central Europe
Soviet Refusal of Moscow Posting
Marriage (Chiune Sugihara, Yukiko Kikuchi)
|
| 1937 |
Posting to the Japanese Legation in Helsinki
|
| 1938 |
Appointment as Consul General in Bordeaux (Aristides de Sousa Mendes)
Munich Agreement and German Annexation of the Sudetenland
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)
Relocation to Echt Abbey
Prague Rescue Operations for Children
Visit to Prague
Relocation to the Netherlands
|
| 1939 |
Securing Host Families and Funds in the UK
Czechoslovakian Kinder-Transport
Rescue of 669 Children
Cancellation of the Final Children's Transport Plan
German Invasion of Poland and Outflow of Jewish Refugees
Violation of the Portuguese Government's Circular 14
Posting to the Japanese Consulate in Kaunas
|
| 1940 |
Rescue of Prominent Artists and Intellectuals
Enlistment in the Royal Air Force
Diplomatic Activities in Prague, Königsberg, and Bucharest
Nazi Occupation of the Netherlands
German Invasion of the Netherlands
German Occupation of the Netherlands
Refugee Rescue Operations in Bordeaux
Recall and Disciplinary Action against Sousa Mendes
Issuance of Mass Visas to Refugees
Fall of France and Establishment of the Vichy Regime
Joining the Emergency Rescue Committee
Issuance of the "Visas for Life" in Kaunas
Fry's Rescue Operations in Marseille
Establishment of the Marseille Rescue Network
Closure of the Kaunas Consulate and Continuation of Visa Issuance
Dismissal from Diplomatic Service
Detention and Expulsion by Vichy Authorities
|
| 1941 |
Transfer to the Jewish School
Spiritual and Romantic Relationship with Spier
Public Awareness Activities on Nazi Persecution after Returning to the US (Varian Fry)
Meeting Julius Spier
Beginning of Writing Her Diary
|
| 1942 |
Relief Activities at Westerbork
Refusal to Go into Hiding
Closure of the Emergency Rescue Committee's Marseille Office
13th Birthday and Beginning of the Diary
Writing of *The Diary of Anne Frank*
Work at the Jewish Council
Frank Family's Life in Hiding
Move to the Secret Annex
Anti-Nazi Statement by the Dutch Bishops
Activities at Westerbork Transit Camp
Arrest by the Gestapo
Death of Edith Stein
Murder of Edith Stein
Death at Auschwitz
Death of Julius Spier
|
| 1943 |
Detention of the Hillesum Family at Westerbork Camp
Deportation from Westerbork to Auschwitz
Deportation to Auschwitz
Death of Etty Hillesum
Murder at Auschwitz
|
| 1944 |
Establishment of Swedish Safehouses
Expansion of Jewish Rescue Activities
Detention of Diplomat by the Soviet Union in Romania
German Occupation of Hungary
Participation in the Rescue Plan by the US War Refugee Board
Rescue of Jews via Protective Passports
Appointment as First Secretary of the Swedish Legation (Raoul Wallenberg)
Wallenberg's Mission to Budapest
Arrest of the Anne Frank Family
Discovery and Arrest at the Secret Annex
Deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Deportation to Bergen-Belsen
Rescue Operations in the Budapest Jewish Ghetto
Rescue Operations during the Siege of Budapest
|
| 1945 |
Imprisonment in Lubyanka Prison
Posthumous Recognition for Humanitarian Efforts
Publication of *Surrender on Demand*
Post-War Education and Writing Activities
Post-War Refugee Support and Employment at International Financial Institutions
Contact with Soviet Forces and Disappearance
Detention of Wallenberg by Soviet Forces
Death of Anne Frank
Death in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp
Death of Anne Frank
|
| 1947 |
Resignation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and End of Diplomatic Career (Chiune Sugihara)
Return to Japan and Resignation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chiune Sugihara)
Publication of *The Diary of Anne Frank*
Death of Raoul Wallenberg
|
| 1948 |
Marriage (Nicholas Winton, Grete Gjelstrup)
|
| 1949 |
Marriage (Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Andrée Cibial)
|
| 1950 |
Social Welfare Activities in Maidenhead
Marriage (Varian Fry, Annette Tros Riley)
|
| 1954 |
Death of Aristides de Sousa Mendes
|
| 1957 |
Announcement of Death by Soviet Authorities
|
| 1960 |
Post-WWII Rehabilitation Movement
|
| 1966 |
Recognition as "Righteous Among the Nations" by Yad Vashem
|
| 1967 |
Death of Varian Fry
|
| 1969 |
Honored by the Israeli Government
|
| 1981 |
Posthumous Publication of Diaries and Letters
|
| 1986 |
Death of Chiune Sugihara
|
| 1987 |
Beatification
|
| 1988 |
Rediscovery of Winton's Rescue Operations
Public Disclosure of Rescue Operations
Rehabilitation by the Portuguese Parliament
|
| 1994 |
Recognition as "Righteous Among the Nations"
|
| 1998 |
Canonization
|
| 1999 |
Designation as a Patron Saint of Europe
|
| 2000 |
Official Rehabilitation by the Japanese Government
|
| 2003 |
Knighthood Awarded
|
| 2014 |
Awarded the Order of the White Lion by the Czech Republic (Nicholas Winton)
|
| 2015 |
Death of Nicholas Winton
|
| 2016 |
Declaration of Death by Sweden
|
| 2020 |
Honored at the National Pantheon
|
| 2024 |
Opening of the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum
|
| Unknown |
Marriage (Anne Frank, None, Period: Not Married, Location: Not Applicable)
Marriage (Etty Hillesum, None, Period: Not Married, Location: Not Applicable)
Marriage (Edith Stein, None, Period: Not Married, Location: Not Applicable)
Marriage (Raoul Wallenberg, None, Period: Not Married, Location: Not Applicable)
|
Map
| Category | |
|---|---|
| Element |
Europe
World
Related Links
| Group | List |
|---|---|
| Western Europe | British Politics French Politics Jewish relief Nuclear Science |
| Central Europe | Nazi Germany Weimar Republic German Anti-Nazis Warsaw Ghetto Arts & Music |
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