Daily AncestorDisplaced person
A displaced person, or DP, was a European uprooted by World War II; under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 about 400,000 settled in the U.S.
The act, signed June 25, 1948, admitted 393,542 European displaced persons for permanent residence by 1952. Most had been stranded in the occupation zones of Germany, Austria or Italy, and the largest groups were born in Poland, Germany, the Baltic states, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Their places were charged against future years' quotas.
As first written the law favored people already in the zones by December 22, 1945, which left out many Jewish refugees; an amended act of 1950 removed this. Ellis Island still handled war refugees and displaced persons needing help after 1924.
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Daily Ancestor. "Displaced person." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/displaced-person. Last checked 2026-10-12.