1914-1918: the ICRC in action

 

During the First World War the ICRC set up an international agency for centralizing information about prisoners of war and enabling families to send them relief parcels. Among other things, the agency collected and passed on correspondence between prisoners of war and families anxious for news of their loved ones. 

 

For the first time, ICRC delegates visited prisoner-of-war camps in Europe and the rest of the world. In 1917 the ICRC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its activities. On 6 February 1918 the ICRC appealed to the belligerents not to use poison gas.

Today

Every year the ICRC, together with the network of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, makes it possible for thousands of people to restore contact with family members.

In 2012, 50% of new delegates recruited by the ICRC were women.

Facts and figures

  • During the First World War the International Prisoners-of-War Agency made out more than six million index cards and dispatched over 1,800,000 relief parcels.
  • ICRC delegates visited 514 prisoner-of-war camps.
  • More than 3,000 people worked for the ICRC during the First World War.
  • Zénaïde Dessonnaz was the first woman delegate.

  • German prisoners of war

    An ICRC delegate talks to German prisoners of war in a camp in Carmaux, Tarn (France).
    > Photo

  • Founding of the POW Agency

    First page of the 160th ICRC circular announcing the founding of the International Prisoners of War Agency, 27 August 1914.
    > PDF

  • International Prisoners of War Agency

    First World War, 1914-1918. Geneva, Rath Museum. Staff of the International Prisoners of War Agency.
    > Photo

  • Prisoners of war in Japan

    First page of a letter from the Japanese Red Cross announcing that ICRC delegate Fritz Paravicini is authorized to visit prisoners of war camps in Japan, 11 August 1918.
    > PDF

More

History of the ICRC: first World War
The International Prisoners of War Agency: The ICRC in World War One