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History of the ICRC: the Second World War

In WWII, as never before, civilians became the target of violence and persecution.

This world war presented the ICRC with a number of challenges. First, the organization had to carry out humanitarian work simultaneously on five continents, which demanded huge human and economic resources. More than fifty ICRC delegations were operational during the conflict. Read full overview

Highlights

Analysis

The search for German prisoners and persons missing since the Second World War - a chapter in the history of the German Red Cross tracing service

30-06-1999 | International Review of the Red Cross | Monika Ampferl
Unknown pages of the history of the Second World War: Soviet prisoners of war in Finland (1941-1944)

30-09-2000 | International Review of the Red Cross | Tigran S. Drambyan
Targeting the city: Debates and silences about the aerial bombing of World War II

The article goes back to the early discussions of the morality of city bombing which took place before and during World War II and attempts to analyze both the moral argumentation and its historical context from the 1940s until today.

30-09-2005 | International Review of the Red Cross | Charles S. Maier

Some ICRC activities

In images More images

International Review of the Red Cross More articles

Publications More publications

History of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Volume II: from Sarajevo to Hiroshima

This volume covers the period from the Tripolitania War (1911-1912) to the end of the Second World War.
Warrior without weapons

An account of Dr Junod's experiences between 1935 and 1945 on missions. Through Dr Junod's narrative, the reader discovers the difficult and sometimes dangerous, but always fascinating, work of an ICRC delegate.