For almost 100 years, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society location service has helped people reestablish contact with lost family members and friends. Today, it provides an additional service—helping families reclaim a part of their history.
After the Holocaust, HIAS assisted thousand of Jews in Displaced Persons camps leave Europe. It helped survivors locate family in the United States, secure visas, and travel to their new homeland. It also kept arrival cards—information on when the person or family arrived, where they came from, and where they were planning to live. Copies of these cards are now available upon request.
“The arrival cards offer a testament to the endurance of what a family or individual went through to get here, and they begin the story of a family’s legacy in the U.S.,” said Leonard Glickman, HIAS executive vice-president. “For children or grandchildren, they provide a tangible link with the past.”
In addition to providing copies of the arrival cards, the HIAS Location Service can help initiate searches for families separated after the war as well as more recently. To begin a search, write to the HIAS Location Service at 333 Seventh Ave., N.Y., N.Y., 10001, or call 800-HIAS-714. E-mail request may be made at location@hias.org. A nominal fee is required for some services; a request of a donation for others.