The World Jewish Relief Archive is a private archive based in London. It holds records of those who came to the UK from Nazi-Europe during the 1930’s and 1940’s and whom the organisation helped to escape and start new lives in Britain.

Archive Description

The Central British Fund for German Jewry (CBF) was founded in 1933 to bring Jewish Refugees to Britain from Nazi-occupied Europe. World Jewish Relief (as the CBF is known today) still holds thousands of records of Jewish people who were brought over from Europe before, during and after the war.

This includes many of the children who arrived as part of the Kindertransport in 1938 and 1939, the 732 child survivors (later known as ‘The Boys‘) who were brought to Windermere in 1945, men who were placed in the Kitchener Camp and many others. There are records for young women who arrived on a Domestic Visa, family groups who managed to come together as well as individuals who were able to secure work before arriving.

The CBF’s administrative archive contains documents which help tell the story of the Central British Fund from its inception and throughout the following decades.

Access Information

The personal records of the refugees are not available for public access. Family members are encouraged to make an equiry using this online form and a dedicated archive team staffed by part-time volunteers will get in touch with any information they may find.

The records have been digitised and if an enquiry is successful, digitised copies of the documents can be sent to family members for them to view.

The original documents are stored at the LMA along with the organisation’s administrative records and access to view these must be approved by World Jewish Relief. You can send requests to the archive team by emailing archives@worldjewishrelief.org.

Due to the popularity of the service there may be a substantial wait before you receive a response to your enquiry.

Online Accessibility

There is detailed information on the World Jewish Relief website about the types of documents and records found in the archive along with stories of some of those refugees for whom files have been found. There are no online catalogues available.

If you need any additional information you can reach the archive team by emailing archives@worldjewishrelief.org.