The Jewish Memorial Council

The Jewish Memorial Council was founded in 1919 on the initiative of Sir Robert Waley Cohen, F.C. Stern, Lord Swaythling, and Major Lionel de Rothschild. A public meeting was held in Central Hall, Westminster on 11 June 1919 to approve and undertake a scheme to raise a fund to establish a permanent war memorial to the Jews of the British Empire who had served in the 1914-1918 war. This was applied to the following objectives: The endowment of Jewish religious education; the building and endowment of a Jewish Theological College at Oxford or Cambridge to which, in accordance with the resolution of its Council, the present Jews College (later London School of Jewish Studies) would be transferred; the making of further provision for the Jewish ministry. The first Council meeting was held in November 1919. Minutes and working papers of the Jewish Memorial Council, 1899-2001 are held by the London Metropolitan Archives » (ref ACC/2999).

Further papers concerning The Jewish Memorial Council will be found in papers of NMR, Secretariat Department, Correspondence files, 1 series. Papers of the Jewish Memorial Council 1924-1931 (including Articles of Association) will be found in Private Client Packets (000/142, Packet 648).

See also The Jewish Memorial Council: A History 1919-1999, A. Rosenzweig, (Redwood Books, 1998), a copy of which can be found in the Reading Room.