I n 1939-1940, after the Nazi invasion of Poland and the fall of France, the JLC realized that immediate action was needed to save European socialist and labor leaders, who would be prime targets of the Gestapo. The JLC compiled a list that included Jewish and non-Jewish labor leaders and socialists, as well as Yiddish writers and other activists deemed to be immediate danger.

William Green of the American Federation of Labor approached President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who agreed to have the State Department issue a number of emergency visitors' visas. Using its network of contacts in Europe, the JLC tried desperately to get the necessary money and documents to those on the list. Not all could be located in time, but well over 1,000 people were brought to safety under this program in 1940-41. They included socialist and labor leaders from Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Belgium, and Eastern Europe. Many returned to their homelands after the War to play a prominent part in postwar reconstruction. As the JLC later noted proudly, by 1947 individuals from this group held cabinet posts in six European nations.