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Immigration and Location Service case files
- Part Of
- Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
- United Jewish Relief Agencies, Toronto (UJRA) series
- Immigration and Location Service case files sub-series
- Level
- Sub-series
- ID
- Fonds 17; Series 4-12
- Source
- Archival Descriptions
- Part Of
- Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario Region fonds
- United Jewish Relief Agencies, Toronto (UJRA) series
- Immigration and Location Service case files sub-series
- Level
- Sub-series
- Fonds
- 17
- Series
- 4-12
- Material Format
- textual record
- Date
- 1941-1951, predominant 1947-1949
- Physical Description
- 96 cm of textual records
- Scope and Content
- Sub-series contains communication case files on immigrants and their sponsors, maintained by the Immigration and Location Service of UJRA. The files date from 1941 to 1951, but most were created in the years right after the war. The records document the interaction between social services agencies and sponsors in the process of locating missing relatives and facilitating the immigration to Canada of known relatives. Records include incoming and outgoing letters, memoranda and telegrams exchanged between the UJRA, sponsoring individuals in Ontario, and Jewish aid organizations such as: the American Joint Distribution Committee in its various European centres; the United Service for New Americans in the United States; the World Jewish Congress; and others. They reflect the administrative process of being a sponsor. Sponsors agreed to keep and support their relatives upon their arrival, but some letters reflect their reluctance, or inability, to provide any aid beyond that. For a short time in 1947, Displaced Persons were admitted regardless of their relationship to their sponsor, but beginning in September 1947, permits were limited to first-degree relatives only. Having employment lined up in Canada was only sufficient where special projects existed: for farmers, miners, lumbermen and D.P.s in camps in Germany and Austria.
- Some thicker files document transactions over a period of time; some contain forms such as the letter of authorization granted by the American Joint Distribution Committee; and some letters outline the case history of immigrants, telling their story. The majority of files, however, have just one or two letters dealing with the common administrative activities of the UJRA: dealing with the entrance of relatives, in terms of asking an individual to be a sponsor, passing along messages from the Joint Distribution Committee overseas, or being a go-between to locate sponsors and give them information and instructions. Many letters pertain to the requirement that sponsors pay the travel expenses of their immigrating relatives, or pay for administrative fees for the application process. UJRA in Canada also helped the United Service for New Americans in New York City to locate refugees or those who moved to Canada after their arrival.
- The files in this sub-subseries are arranged as they were by UJRA, in alphabetical order by sponsor surname.
- Notes
- This sub-series is composed of former RG 294, which was separated into case files and administrative files.
- Access Restriction
- Closed. Researchers must receive permission from the OJA director prior to accessing the records.
- Source
- Archival Descriptions