Maurice Levitt (front left) and three other members of the Frankfurt Jewish GI Council unpack boxes of supplies sent by the American Jewish community to aid displaced persons.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 54740

Overview

Caption: Maurice Levitt (front left) and three other members of the Frankfurt Jewish GI Council unpack boxes of supplies sent by the American Jewish community to aid displaced persons.
Photographer: David Marcus
Date: 1946 - 1947
Locale: Germany
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Karen Melkonian

Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Karen Melkonian

Keyword: CRATES/BOXES FRANKFURT JEWISH GI COUNCIL RELIEF WORK/SOCIAL WORKERS WOMEN
Photo Designation: DISPLACED PERSONS/RETURN TO LIFE -- DP Policy/Administration -- Advisers on Jewish Affairs/UNRRA Administrators/Frankfurt GI Council

Biography: Maurice Levitt is the great uncle of the donor. He was the brother of the donor’s maternal grandmother, Hattie Levin who died in 1992 and the surrogate father of her mother, Miriam. The Levitt family immigrated to the United States at the turn of the century from Lithuania. Maurice Levitt served in the army during WWII and later worked for the Frankfurt Jewish GI Council, primarily between 1946 and 1947. The Frankfurt Jewish GI Council was established by Jewish servicemen in June 1946 as a semi-autonomous relief organization. It served to ease the plight of Jewish displaced persons by providing supplies, visitations, religious-cultural activities and assistance in locating and contacting relatives. Levitt took many photographs of the activities of the GI Council and the Jewish displaced persons to highlight conditions in the camps and aid in fundraising. Levitt also wrote for the Council’s publication "The Liberated". After his return to the United States, Maurice Levitt worked as a French teacher in New York until his death in 1978.