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al agency in the Southeast. Ar
rangements have now been made
whereby Savannah will gradually
take over the cost of direct relief
to these children and families, so
that by 1954, Savannah will pay the
entire cost of such direct relief. This
is a step in the direction of the
Savannah Jewish Community as
suming responsibility for the care
of all its people. The Executive Di
rector of the Council works in close
cooperation with the professional
staff of the Jewish Children’s Ser
vices. involving Savannah children
and families.
Problems of adjustment of a so
cial and psychological nature, in
volving men, women and children
are brought to the attention of the
Executive Director, who, in the ab
sence of specialized Social Services
in the Jewish community, refers
those problems which he cannot
handle himself to local agencies.
Up to 1952, all of these Social Ser
vices operated in a loose, uncoordi
nated fashion. In 1952. the Council
set up a Social Service Committee,
which concerns itself with the to
tality of these problems. Consider
ation is now being given to the
possibility or desirability of setting
up specialized professional Social
Services in Savannah under Jew
ish auspices.
Although it has had to suffer
from the lack of professional staff
time to do an adequate job, the
field of Community Relations has
been a concern of the Council for
many years. Community Relations
is briefly defined as that program
aimed at interpreting the Jewish
community and the Jewish way of
life to the non-Jew, as well as lift
ing the level of internal Jewish
community life. As far back as 1943,
the Council operated in this field,
when it took over the Americaniza
tion and Naturalization classes, for
merly conducted under the WPA,
and financed such work through the
then existing Savannah Refugee
Committee. In 1945 the President
of the Council was authorized to
appoint a committee to investigate
Livingstons
★
Rexall
Drug Stores
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SAVANNAH
GEORGIA
and devise means of encouraging
maximum registration of eligible
members of the Jewish community
to vote. A number of meetings of
the Council were devoted to discus
sions at length on the question of
the great amount of publicity of
Jewish events in the daily press.
Speakers from National agencies,
operating in the Community Rela
tions field, have appeared on a
number of occasions to speak to the
Council membership. The thorny
problem involved in Jewish indi
viduals speaking, in the press, on
behalf of the Jewish community,
in controversial issues, has been
considered by the Council. When
the persecution of Catholic func
tionaries in the Iron Curtain coun
tries became a problem, as early
as 1949, the Council took a stand
in condemnation of this persecu
tion, with statements in the local
press. In the same vein, the Coun
cil sent telegrams to the two Geor
gia Senators, urging them to vote
for the liberalized D.P. legislation
and to ratify the Genocide Conven
tion of the UN. The Council’s Com
munity Relations Committee was
active in the case where the Klu
Klux Klan was asking the city for
a permit to meet in Daffin Park,
which request was subsequently
denied by the Mayor, through the
intervention of our Committee. To
be truthful, the activity in this area
has been spasmodic, but a basic
program of Community Relations
has been developed, which awaits
implementation, when sufficient
professional staff time can be made
available.
As the representative central or
ganization in the Jewish commu
nity of Savannah, operating within
the democratic framework, and
speaking and acting on behalf of
the Jewish community, the Council
has been called upon, in a number
of instances, to act in a coordinat
ing capacity, where various Jewish
groups and interests in the commu
nity find the need to coordinate
their efforts. For example, in 1946,
when the local units of a number
of National Jewish organizations
were asked to engage in a program
of collecting used clothing and food
for the survivors in Europe, under
the banner of the S.O.S., the Coun
cil served as the medium for co
ordinating these efforts and finan
cing the local job. Similarly, when
there was the need for coordinating
the timing of the United Jewish
Appeal and Federation Campaign
and the drive for selling Israel
Bonds, in the interest of both
causes, the Council served as the
medium for coordinating these ac
tivities. When it became obvious
that there was a need for fact find
ing as to Jewish education in Sa
vannah, looking towards the im
provement of Jewish educational
services to our children, in connec
tion with the establishment of a
Community Hebrew School, the
Council took the initiative in set
ting up such a Self-Study, with the
splendid cooperation of the three
Synagogues. The Self-Study is now
in process of being made.
SiMvannah Hotel
ROBERT A. BOVELL, Manager
MAURICE PUCKETT, President and General Manager
IN THE HEART OF HISTORIC SAVANNAH
Savannah, Georgia
GEORGIA STATE SAVINGS BANK
OF SAVANNAH
ESTABLISHED 1890
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
2 h 2
on on
Time Certificates Savings Deposits
We Make Personal Loans on a Dignified Basis
Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(1E0RCIA NURSERY & LANDSCAPE CO.
Landscaping, Garden Designing
44th and Montgomery Streets
MAIL ADDRESS: BOX 3122, STA. A
SAVANNAH, GEORGIA
PHONE 26519
G. C. HENDRIK, JR.
HARRY T. CLEMENTS, JR.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
BOURNE REALTY CO.
Sales — Rentals — Loans
WILLIAM GRAY, Assoc.
11 WEST BAY ST.
26131 SAVANNAH, GA. 26132
(f^orcle
len 3
MILK AND ICE CREAM
East Victory Tel. 34591
SAVANNAH, GA.
The Southern Israelite
(19)