Committee for Jewish Refugees (Netherlands)

The Committee for Jewish Refugees (Dutch: Comité voor Joodsche Vluchtelingen) was a Dutch charitable organization. It operated from 1933–1941. At first, it managed the Jewish refugees who were fleeing the Nazi regime in Germany. These refugees were crossing the border from Germany into the Netherlands. The Committee largely decided which of the refugees could remain in the Netherlands. The others generally returned to Germany. For the refugees permitted to stay, it provided support in several ways. These included direct financial aid and assistance with employment and with further emigration.

In 1938 Germany annexed Austria and the Sudetenland regions of Czechoslovakia. Many refugees then came from those regions as well. The Committee had become "one of the most poweful organizations in Dutch Jewry in the 1930s."World War II started in September 1939. The Netherlands were invaded and occupied by Germany in May 1940. The Committee continued its work until Germany closed it in March 1941. One of the Committee's main goals had been to help Jewish refugees emigrate. About 22,000 refugees had left the continent of Europe with the Committee's help. These refugees thus escaped murder in The Holocaust. Germany occupied the Netherlands until 1945. About 100,000 Jews from the Netherlands were deported and killed during the German occupation.

The Committee for Jewish Refugees (CJV) in Amsterdam was established in April 1933, and disbanded in 1941. It was an offshoot of the Committee for Special Jewish Affairs () (Dutch: Comité voor Bijzondere Joodsche Belangen - CBJB), which was founded in 1933 by Abraham Asscher and David Cohen (; ). The committees were a response to the tide of refugees who were entering the Netherlands from neighboring Germany in 1933. The National Socialist (Nazi) party had taken power there early in the year. Their regime had promptly instituted laws and measures that discriminated specifically against Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Jews and others began to flee Germany.

The CJV was charged with direct services to the early refugees. André Herzberger was the first chairman of the committee. He was soon succeeded by Dr. David Cohen, who held the position until the CJV was dissolved in 1941. Until 1939 the Committee was located at 'Gravenhekje 7 in Amsterdam. It selected some refugees for assistance with housing, expenses, and employment as well as with further emigration beyond the European continent. Other refugees were denied assistance. Most of them had to return to Germany. The premise of the Committee was that its work would be in accordance with the Dutch government's refugee policies. In addition, the Committee did not receive financial support from the Dutch government, but instead paid for its work through the charitable contributions of private Dutch citizens and of several international organizations.

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