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The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Second World War
Ref. hist-03095-29
World War II. Rawa-Ruska, Stalag 325. ICRC delegates speaking with prisoners of war.

During the Second World War, only Latin America and five neutral European countries (Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey) were spared by the fighting. For the first time in history, aviation made it possible to bombard enemy territory over hundreds of square kilometres; for the first time too, the number of victims was higher among civilians than among soldiers. From the very beginning, Hitler's regime waged a racial war aimed at subjugating the Slavic peoples and wiping out all Jews and gypsies.

At the time, international humanitarian law comprised rules governing the treatment of prisoners of war (Geneva Convention of 27 July 1929), but not that of the civilian population. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was therefore able to carry out activities to protect and assist prisoners of war, whereas its work for certain categories of civilians -- in particular, civilians held in concentration camps -- was to be very limited, or even non-existent.


See also the site of the International Tracing Service in Arolsen.

Key document
    I. General introduction
    Introduces the sujects of ICRC delegates, prisoners of war, and ICRC activities to help the civilian population during the Second World War
    (About the ICRC\History\Second World War)
    7-5-2003
    Includes Photo 
    III. ICRC activities in the Far East
    A brief account of events related to ICRC activites related to the war in the Pacific during the Second World War
    (About the ICRC\History\Second World War)
    8-4-1998
    Includes Photo 
    II. The ICRC and the holocaust
    A brief account of events related to the holocaust and to ICRC activites during the Second World War
    (About the ICRC\History\Second World War)
    7-4-1998
    Includes Photo 
Photos
Reference
Publications
ICRC publication
International Review of the Red Cross
Press article
    Hiroshima 1945: a day in August that changed the world
    Original title: Regard sur Hiroshima, un mois après la bombe - press article by Richard Werly published in Le Temps (Switzerland) on 14 August 2003; how the ICRC, focussed on the fate of prisoners, came to learn about the atom bomb attack on Hiroshima, and the action it took.
    (About the ICRC\History)
    14-8-2003
    Press article
    Includes Photo 
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