HIAS: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Jewish American nonprofit organization providing humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees}}

'''HIAS''' (founded as the '''Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society'''<ref name="HIAS-history">{{cite web |title=History |publisher=HIAS |url=https://www.hias.org/history |access-date=October 31, 2018}}</ref>) is a [[American Jews|Jewish American]] nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was established on November 27, 1881, originally to help the large number of [[Russian-Americans|Russian]] [[American Jews|Jewish]] [[immigration to the United States|immigrants]] to the United States who had left Europe to escape [[Pogroms in the Russian Empire#1881–1882|antisemeticantisemitic persecution and violence]].<ref name= provision/> In 1975, the [[State Department]] asked HIAS to aid in resettling 3,600 [[Vietnam]] refugees.{{r|HIAS-history}} Since that time, the organization continues to provide support for [[refugee]]s of all nationalities, religions, and ethnic origins. The organization works with people whose lives and freedom are believed to be at risk due to war, persecution, or violence. HIAS has offices in the United States and across Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Since its inception, HIAS has helped resettle more than 4.5{{nbsp}}million people.

The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was established on November 27, 1881, originally to help the large number of [[Russian-Americans|Russian]] [[American Jews|Jewish]] [[immigration to the United States|immigrants]] to the United States who had left Europe to escape [[Pogroms in the Russian Empire#1881–1882|antisemeticantisemitic persecution and violence]].<ref name= provision/>{{efn|Up to 2013, HIAS's web site gave no founding date but stated that the organization was operating since at least 1891.{{refn|name=HIAS-early-years}} The site now gives the foundation date of 1881.{{refn|name=HIAS-history}} [[Lawrence J. Epstein]] has written that the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was founded in 1904;<ref>{{harvnb|Epstein|2007|p=40}}. "HEAS Agents were notorious in their mistreatment of immigrants at [[Castle Clinton|Castle Garden]]. The group&nbsp;— not to be confused with HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society&nbsp;— ceased functioning in 1884. The work of HEAS was taken over by [[United Hebrew Charities]] ..."</ref> several other sources give a date of 1902.<ref>"The Jewish Migration Problem: How It Has Been Met, by Albert Rosenblatt, Vice President, Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), 1924," reproduced in Jacob Rader Marcus, ''The Jew in the American World: A Source Book'' (1996), Wayne State University Press, {{ISBN|0-8143-2548-3}}. p. 371.</ref>{{sfn|Cohn-Sherbok|1992}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode7/documents/documents_10.html |title=HIAS Offers Aid to New Arrivals |website=[[PBS]] |access-date=August 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011106101144/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode7/documents/documents_10.html |archive-date=November 6, 2001 }} in {{cite episode |date=1984<!--from series description--> |title=The Golden Land, 1654–1930s |series=Heritage: Civilization and the Jews |network=[[PBS]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|p=201}} An article in the ''[[Chicago Inter Ocean]]'' announced the organization's founding in 1881,<ref name= provision/> and ''[[The Baltimore Sun]]'' mentioned the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in an article published in 1882.<ref>"[http://search.proquest.com/docview/534635066/ Alleged Clubbing of Immigrants: Was This a Police Outrage]". ''The Baltimore Sun''. June 14, 1882. p. 1. ''"The New York Herald states that two Russian Hebrew immigrants were subjected to very severe usage by a policeman in that city Monday, their offense consisting in having complained of ill treatment by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society when asked for assistance. It is stated, on the authority of an eye witness, that a policeman became angry because of a request from one of the immigrants to be allowed to go into an office of the society in a basement, and dealt the immigrant a powerful blow with a club, the blood spurting from a terrible gash and pouring in streams over his face and neck."''</ref> HIAS has reported its date of formation as 1881 on its [[Form 990|annual return]] with the [[Internal Revenue Service]].<ref name="990-2014">{{cite web |title=Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax |publisher=HIAS Inc |via=[[GuideStar]] |url=http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2014/135/633/2014-135633307-0c3cb10b-9.pdf |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref>}} ItJ. Harwood Menken was its first [[President (corporation)|president]].<ref>"[https://www.newspapers.com/image/530303609/ Local and Domestic]". ''The American Israelite''. December 30, 1881. p. 215.</ref> The organization merged with the Hebrew Sheltering House Association, which had been founded in New York theearlier samethat year.<ref name="UNHCR">{{cite web |last=Irwin |first=Tim |date=February 3, 2011 |title=Q&A: Jewish agency in US marks 130 years of protecting the persecuted |publisher=[[UNHCR]] |url=http://www.unhcr.org/print/4d4ab6556.html |access-date=December 19, 2013}}</ref>

In the Middle East, HIAS helps Jewish and other religious minorities from Iran come to the U.S. In Israel, HIAS provides scholarships for those who have recently immigrated to the Jewish stateIsrael and assists African asylum seekers. The organization also supports the resettlement of refugees of the [[Syrian Civil War]] in Jordan.<ref>[http://www.jewishjournal.com/world/article/jewish_groups_sending_aid_to_syrian_refugees_in_jordan "Jewish groups sending aid to Syrian refugees in Jordan."] ''Jewish Journal''. July 25, 2013. July 25, 2013.</ref>

In Latin America, HIAS provides full-service counseling, legal services, and humanitarian assistance for Colombian refugees fleeing to Ecuador, Venezuela, and Venezuelathe United States. It also facilitates the resettlement and integration of refugees in Argentina and Uruguay. HIAS opened its newest Latin American office in Costa Rica, in February 2017.

Some records of HIAS from 1900 to 1970 (415 linear feet and 851 reels of microfilm) are currently held by [[YIVO]] Institute for Jewish Research and are available for research.<ref>{{cite web |title=HIAS Archive: HIAS and HICEM Main Office, New York |work=Guide to the YIVO Archives |url=http://www.yivoarchives.org/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=32625 |access-date=October 31, 2018}}</ref> Other records (more than 1,800 linear feet) are held by the [[American Jewish Historical Society]] (AJHS) and are currently being processed.<ref name="AJHS-HIAS">{{cite web |title=HIAS Collection I-363 |publisher=AJHS |url=http://www.ajhs.org/hias-home |access-date=October 31, 2018 |archive-date=May 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524024949/https://www.ajhs.org/hias-home |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Search the HIAS Client Database |publisher=AJHS |url=http://www.ajhs.org/hias-search |access-date=October 31, 2018 |archive-date=October 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009054947/https://ajhs.org/hias-search |url-status=dead }}</ref> The bulk of these records span from the late 1940s to the 1990s but some records (such as the meeting minutes of the board of directors) go back as far as 1912. These records will be available for research in late 2018.{{r|AJHS-HIAS}}

* [http://ajhs.org/hias-home American Jewish Historical Society HIAS institutional records archival processing project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615225929/https://ajhs.org/hias-home |date=June 15, 2022 }}