The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as "the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people". Membership in the WJC is open to all representative Jewish groups or communities, irrespective of the social, political or economic ideology of the community's host country. The World Jewish Congress headquarters are in New York City, and the organization maintains international offices in Brussels, Belgium; Jerusalem; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Geneva, Switzerland. The WJC has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
World Jewish Congress in Geneva 1953
Delegates at World Jewish Congress 25th Anniversary Conference, Geneva, Switzerland, 1961
World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder addressing the 14th Plenary Assembly of the World Jewish Congress in Budapest, 7 May 2013
Nahum Goldmann, co-founder and president of the World Jewish Congress from 1949 to 1977
Leo Motzkin was a Ukrainian Zionist leader. A leader of the World Zionist Congress and numerous Jewish and Zionist organizations, Motzkin was a key organizer of the Jewish delegation to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and one of the first Jewish leaders to organize opposition to the Nazi Party in Germany.
Participant card for Leo Motzkin from the First Zionist Congress, Basel 1897
