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INTERNATIONA L
RED
CROSS
C O N F E R E N C E
REPORT
o f th e
I n te r n a tio n a l C o m m itte e o f th e R e d C r o s s
o n its a c tiv itie s
d u r i n g t h e S e c o n d ~ W o r l d "W "ar
( S e p t e m b e r 1, p S p - J u n e
3o ,
1947)
V O L U M E II
GENEVA
M a^y 1 9 4 8
N 0.2A
BIBLIOTHEQUE DU CICR
19, Av. de la Paix,
Tl. 022/734.60.01
1202 GENEVE
int. 2424
U .4 .
M ,42
T ) , ( , () Z Z S . 0 2 , .lo v l,
s , n
,
E M G -)
X V I I th
IN T E RN A T IO N A L
RED
CROSS
C O N F E R E N C E
REPORT
o f th e
V O L U M E II
GENEVA
Maj 1948
N 0. 2A
BIBLIOTHEQUE-CICR
19. AV DE LA PAIX
INTRODUCTION
PART I
D U T I E S OF T H E C E N T R A L P W A G E N C Y
The existence and activities of th e C entral PW Agency are
based in law on A rts. 77 and 79 of the G eneva Convention of
J u ly 27, 1929 relative to th e tre a tm e n t of PW , as follows :
A rt. 77. A t th e com m en cem en t of h o stilities, each of th e b ellig eren t
Pow ers a n d th e n e u tra l Pow ers w ho h av e belligeren ts in th e ir care, sh all
in s titu te an official b u re a u to give in fo rm atio n a b o u t th e p riso n ers of
w ar in th e ir te rrito ry .
E a c h of th e b ellig eren t Pow ers shall in fo rm its In fo rm a tio n B u reau
as soon as possible of all c a p tu re s of p risoners effected b y its arm ed
forces, fu rn ish in g th e m w ith all p a rtic u la rs of id e n tity a t its disposal
to en able th e fam ilies concerned to be q u ic k ly notified, a n d s ta tin g th e
official addresses to w hich fam ilies m a y w rite to th e p risoners.
T he In fo rm a tio n B u reau shall tr a n s m it all su ch in fo rm a tio n im m e
d ia te ly to th e P ow ers concerned, on th e one h a n d th ro u g h th e in te r
m e d ia ry of th e p ro te c tin g Pow ers, an d on th e o th e r th ro u g h th e C entral
A gency c o n te m p la te d in A rticle 79.
T he In fo rm a tio n B ureau, being ch arg ed w ith rep ly in g to all en q u iries
re la tiv e to priso n ers of w ar, shall receive from th e v ario u s services co n
cern ed all p a rtic u la rs resp e ctin g in te rn m e n ts a n d tran sfe rs, releases on
p arole, re p a tria tio n s, escapes, sta y s in hosp itals, a n d d ea th s, to g e th e r
w ith all o th e r p a rtic u la rs n ecessary for e stab lish in g a n d keep in g up to
d a te an in d iv id u a l record for each p riso n er of w ar.
T he B u reau shall n o te in th is record, as far as possible, a n d su b je ct
to th e p rovisions of A rticle 5, th e reg im en ta l n u m b e r, nam es an d su r
10
14
S T R U C T U R E OF T H E C E N T R A L P W A G E N C Y
The extension of th e w ar m eant constant changes in the
fram e-w ork of th e Agency, which was obliged by its purpose to
ad ap t itself to events which could not be foreseen. There is no
space in this R eport to give a com plete picture of its stru ctu re
th ro u g h o u t during its constant evolution. I t has, therefore,
been necessary to confine com m ents in th e R eport to perm anent
features, and to describe its ac tiv ity a t the peak period, during
th e last years of th e W ar. In these pages, the reader should
not lose sight of th e fact th a t th e Agency was not static, b u t a
living organism which could only survive by change, and a t the
price of constant vigilance, innovations and sometim es fruitless
experim ents.
The C entral Agency, which was under the a u th o rity of the
Agency Commission, was m ade up of Sections, each under its
own director. At th e head was a co-ordinating and supervisory
body, th e M anagem ent.
The various com ponent sections of th e Agency m ay be divided
in three groups, according to th eir functions : General or Techni
cal Sections, working for th e Agency as a whole ; N ational
Sections, covering all persons of th e same n atio n ality ; and
Special Sections, who looked after certain classes of w ar victim s,
regardless of th eir nationality.
(i).
T h e A g e n c y Co m m issio n
(2 ) .
T he Managem ent
17
(3).
G e n e r a l S ec tio ns
18
(4 ).
N a t io n a l S e c t io n s
(5 ).
S pe c ia l S ec tio ns
N o m e n c l a t u r e o f S e c t io n s a t t h e Ce n t r a l A g e n c y
General Sections.
Lists
P h o to stats
T yping
P relim inary Filing and E vening W ork
A uxiliary Sections
O utside W ork
R eception of Visitors
W atson Machines
S tatistics
National Sections
Date of Opening
Polish
French
B ritish
G e rm a n ................................... ....
S p a n ish .....................................................
P o r t u g u e s e ................................... .... .
C entral and South A m erican . . .
Scandinavian
Belgian . . .
L uxem burg .
D utch . . .
French Colonial
Ita lia n . . . .
22
1939
1940
G reek. . . .
1941
Y ugoslav . .
R ussian . .
Czechoslovak
Am erican
1942
Japanese . .
H ungarian .
1943
R u m a n ia n ......................................................
B u lg a ria n .............................................
F in n is h ........................................................ x
B altic S t a t e s ..............................................
Sundry 1 ......................................................
A u s t r i a n ............................................
1945
Special Sections.
Medical Personnel
Civilian Message
Sundry Civilian Internees (CID)
Im m igration to Palestine (IMPA)
In te rn m e n t in Sw itzerland
D ispersed Fam ilies
Personal Effects
*
23
24
G E N E R A L M E T H O D S OF W O R K
26
(2). Despatch
A. Mail.
L etters for despatch were handed by th e various Sections
to th e M a il Despatch Service, which had th em forw arded. An
exception was m ade, however, in th e case of ordinary mail
for th e D elegations abroad, which was h anded to th e Service
for collective despatch to Delegations. A fu rth er exception
28
29
30
II.
31
(i).
36
37
III.
38
41
46
(B).
corresponding organization
(D).
49
ICRC called upon all F rench families who were w ithout news of
missing m en to notify the Central Agency. All inform ation
received was placed on index cards by the W atson M achines
S e c tio n 1. The following details were noted : surnam e and usual
C hristian nam e, date of b irth , ran k and unit (regiment, com
pany, platoon, etc.). W hen th e cards had been sorted, lists were
m ade of th e m issing in each un it. F rom th e c ap tu re cards receiv
ed from G erm any, th e French P W were listed according to units
by m eans of th e W atson Machines. Once these tw o series of
' lists were established, which included th e nam es of 570,000 PW ,
a system atic questioning of prisoners could be set on foot,
for inform ation regarding missing m em bers of the sam e unit.
A circular le tte r was sent to each m an, enclosing a list of all
m en missing in his u n it, and a p rin ted form for th e reply.
More th a n a hundred thousand replies giving inform ation
reached th e F rench Section. These were forw arded to the
F rench A rm y authorities, and enabled them to clear up the
circum stances in which more th a n 30,000 m en had been missed.
The num ber of m en still missing of which there were no details,
was th u s reduced to about 10,000.
In a num ber of cases, by m eans of evidence giving precise
details of th e spot where a m an fell, the F rench regim ental
enquiries enabled relatives to arrange for exhum ations and
reburials, and to settle questions of inheritance or m atters of
pension in abeyance. I t should be recalled th a t according to
French law, th e dependants of a missing m an are en titled to a
pension, as soon as tw o witnesses are produced whose evidence
as to his d eath is conclusive and in agreem ent.
Sim ilar enquiries were also in stitu ted by the Agency on behalf
of missing B ritish arm y personnel. As circum stances were differ
ent, in stead of enquiries being voluntary, as was the practice
for missing m en of the F rench arm y, th ey were only m ade on
individual application, or following on collective applications
from official or p riv ate bodies, such as the W ar Office or the
n a tio n a l Red Cross Societies of th e B ritish Com m onwealth.
This ty p e of enquiry was m ade by p rin ted form s sent to the
1 See p p . 108 sq q .
50
an en e m y
h o stilities,
a c tin g on
th e a p p li
inform ation about them . These cases were dealt w ith by the
N ational Sections and by two special Sections, who m ade
every endeavour to intercede, th e one in behalf of stateless
civilians, and the other for Jew ish fam ilies in countries under
Axis control 1.
The only regular source of inform ation concerning political
detainees which was available to th e Agency consisted of
receipts retu rn ed to the ICRC for parcels sent to concentration
camps. These receipts som etim es contained, in add itio n to the
addressees own nam e, those of fellow detainees who had
seized upon this unhoped-for o p p o rtu n ity of giving news of
th eir existence. Thus, betw een N ovem ber 1943 and th e end of
hostilities, 105,300 nam es of detainees becam e known to the
Agency.
(2). Enem y Civiliansn ot deprived of liberty, and civil populations
of Belligerent Countries. The Agency dealt w ith countless
enquiries relating (1) to enem y aliens in th e co u n try of a
belligerent or in te rrito ry occupied by him, b u t who had been left
a t liberty, and (2) to civilians living in th eir own country, when
these two classes were separated from th e ir relatives by a zone of
operations, or prevented from corresponding w ith th em by
obstacles due to th e war. It was in behalf of these people th a t
the Civilian Message scheme, described in detail below 2, was
introduced. A pplications concerning civilians of this category
were generally passed to the Civilian Message Section, who
dealt w ith them by despatching a Message F orm 61, w henever
the natu re of the application allowed the conditions of this
system to apply 3.
Owing, however, to the vast m ovem ents of population in
belligerent countries, either v o lu n ta ry or enforced, th e response
to civilian messages was often a m a tte r of chance. Yet it was
owing to these very circum stances th a t relatives were m ost
anxious to obtain news. Moreover, as num bers of civilians
1 See p. 299 an d 301.
2 See p. 63.
3 I t m a y be recalled th a t th e te x t h a d to deal s tr ic tly w ith m a tte rs
of fam ily in te re st, an d n o t to exceed 25 w ords.
54
55
IV. F O R W A R D IN G O F MAIL,
MESSAGES, DOCUM ENTS AND SU N D R Y A R T IC L E S
59
65
(3)
To receive, check and despatch by telegram or by Form
61 telegraphic messages received a t th e C entral Agency.
(1). Transcription of letters.
B y the end of Ju n e 1947,
425,500 letters had been transcribed on Form s 61. This work,
which a t first was very heavy, gradually decreased as th e use
of Form 61 by correspondents them selves becam e more general.
On arrival a t th e Agency, letters for tran scrip tio n were first
sorted according to language. The contents of each le tte r were
then sum m arized inot 25 words on F orm 61 by persons w ith a
sound knowledge of th e language. A receipt on Form 232 was
forw arded to each sender, and the message was th en dispatched.
In this process, th e sam e reference num ber was inscribed
on th e original letter, on the Form 61 and on th e acknow ledg
m ent. The original le tte r was then filed and could be easily
traced through the reference num ber.
(2). Civilian messages received from abroad. A fter assem bling
th e forms filled in by the senders, the N ational Red Cross
Societies forw arded them to Geneva, to g eth er w ith a list in
duplicate of the messages. One copy of th e list was retu rn ed as
a receipt, and the other kept a t G eneva for m aking out a record,
indicating the origin, date of d e p artu re and arrival of the
batch, and the num ber of messages by co u n try of destination.
This was the only record kept by the Agency of Form 61 messages
which passed th rough Geneva.
The enquiry and reply form s were separated and sorted
according to language. Then the staff fam iliar w ith the p a r
ticular language checked th e te x t of each message, deleting
all allusions to political, m ilitary, or economic m atters, th u s
keeping th e scheme strictly w ithin its prescribed scope, i.e.
messages lim ited to purely personal and fam ily m atters. The
difficulties encountered by the staff will be realized from the fact
th a t the messages were w ritten in alm ost every language. E ach
message was then stam ped w ith th e C om m ittees stam p, to
show th a t the te x t had been checked. The addresses were also
checked and com pleted, when necessary.
A fter being sorted for each country, th e messages were sent
66
26
Germ an R ed Cross
B erlin
15
B ritish R ed Cross
S ou th A frican R ed Cross
R h od esian R ed Cross
N ew Z ealand R ed Cross
D a n ish R ed Cross
A m erican R ed Cross
L ith u an ian R ed Cross
B razilian Red Cross
R u m an ian R ed Cross
C anadian R ed Cross
ICRC D eleg a tio n , E g y p t
H u n garian Red Cross
Ita lia n R ed Cross
L a tv ia n R ed Cross
P ortu gu ese R ed Cross
S lo v a k R ed Cross
Y u g o sla v R ed Cross
N eth erla n d s R ed Cross, C uraao
A rgen tin e R ed Cross
C hilian R ed Cross
E cu ad orian R ed Cross
F ren ch R ed Cross, M iddle E a st
N eth erlan d s R ed Cross
F ren ch R ed Cross
N orw egian R ed Cross
B elgian R ed Cross
S panish R ed Cross
P olish R ed Cross
E sth o n ia n R ed Cross
U ru gu ayan R ed Cross
B elgian R ed Cross, B elgian Congo
Irish R ed Cross
Icelan d ic R ed Cross
A u stralian R ed Cross
B ritish R ed Cross, Sudan
Serv. Soc. A id e a u x E m ig ra n ts
S iam ese R ed Cross
L on d on
Jo h a n n esb u rg
S alisb u ry
W ellin g to n
C openhagen
W a sh in g to n
V iln a
R io de Jan eiro
B u ch a rest
T oron to
Cairo
B u d a p est
R om e
R ig a
L isbon
B r a tisla v a
B elgrad e
W illem sta d
B u en o s A ires
S a n tia g o
Q u ito
B ey ro u th
T he H a g u e
P aris
Oslo
B ru ssels
M adrid
W arsaw
T allin
M o n tev id eo
L eo p o ld v ille
D u b lin
R e y k ja v ik
M elbourne
K h artou m
P aris
B angkok
i6
19
11
13
18
21
24
24
15
15
15
15
15
i
6
6
20
27
27
10
10
i?
17
24
24
!4
10
18
24
29
29
11
12
12
12
72
First
messages
Total as
on 30-6-47
N o v . 12
28
28
D ec. 10
23
23
C uban R ed Cross
B r itish R ed Cross, P a le stin e
L u xem b u rg R ed Cross
G erm an R ed Cross, C hannel Isla n d s
G erm an R ed Cross, G eneral G ov.
G reek R ed Cross
H avana
Jeru salem
L u xem b u rg
B erlin
B erlin
A th en s
S w ed ish R ed Cross
F in n ish R ed Cross
J ap an ese R ed Cross
A lb an ian R ed Cross
N eth erla n d s R ed Cross, G uiana
B u lga rian R ed Cross
B urm ese R ed Cross
B ritish R ed Cross, N ew fo u n d la n d
M exican R ed Cross
In d ian R ed Cross
C roatian R ed Cross
N eth erla n d s R ed Cross
Serbian R ed Cross
B ritish R ed Cross, T rinidad
F ren ch R ed Cross, Indo-C hina
F rench R ed Cross, M orocco
N eth erla n d s R ed Cross
P eru vian R ed Cross
ICRC D eleg a tio n , T u rk ey
B ritish R ed Cross, K en y a
F ren ch R ed Cross, A lgeria
French R ed Cross, T u n isia
S to ck h o lm
H elsin k i
T okyo
T irana
P aram aribo
Sofia
R an goon
S t. John
M exico
N ew D elh i
Zagreb
B a ta v ia
B elgrad e
P o rt o f Spai
S aigon
C asablanca
L on d on
L im a
A nkara
N airobi
A lgiers
T unis
L ondon
C olom bo
N assau
K am p ala
Singapore
C urepipe
H a m ilto n
M ogadiscio
K in g sto n
B erlin
Sh angh ai
2,451
3 63,777
9,838
760,348
127,255
203,412
1941
Jan.
9
12
21
Feb. 12
28
Apr. 9
18
21
22
24
M ay 15
15
July i
Sept.
Oct.
N ov.
D ec.
3
4
14
2
15
19
21
24
7,474
15,489
4 2 ,7 5 0
16,724
7,704
21,092
117
206
10,085
23,166
12,614
1 1 1 , 1 9 3
12,546
834
6,080
5 6 3 ,6 8 2
1 6 5 ,8 6 1
9,555
12,202
14,070
9 2 6 ,6 6 7
145,333
1942
F eb. 2
8
26
M arch 5
6
12
24
Apr. 22
June 8
17
28
11,378
1,720
108
2,123
292
1,639
397
3 38,324
301
24,974
103,947
73
First
messages
July 7
Total as
on 30-6-47
O ct. 8
Dec. 14
F re n ch R ed Cross, F r. W . A frica
C olum bian R ed Cross
P an am ese R ed Cross
H a itia n R ed Cross
San S alv ad o r R ed Cross
V enezuelan R ed Cross
B olivian Red Cross
C osta R ica R ed Cross
R ed Lion a n d Sun, Ira n
F re n ch R ed Cross, F r. E . A frica
G u ate m a lan R ed Cross
Ira q i R ed C rescent
P a ra g u a y a n R ed Cross
T u rk ish R ed C rescent
P o rtu g u e se R ed Cross, P o rt. W . A frica
D om inican R ed Cross
F re n ch R ed Cross, S om aliland
N icarag u an R ed Cross
H o n d u ra s R ed Cross
ICRC D elegation, C hina
D akar
B o g o ta
P anam a
P o rt-a u P rin c e
San S alv ad o r
C aracas
L a P az
San Jos
T eh eran
B razzaville
G u ate m a la
B a g h d ad
A suncion
A n k ara
L oureno-M arques
S an to D om ingo
D jib o u ti
N ica rag u a
T egucigalpa
H o n g -K o n g
1943
M ay
Ju n e
J u ly
N ov.
Dec.
F re n ch R ed Cross,
B ritish R ed Cross,
F re n ch R ed Cross,
Chinese R ed Cross
B ritish R ed Cross,
I ta lia n R ed Cross,
F ren ch R ed Cross,
B ritish R ed Cross,
F re n ch R ed Cross,
F re n ch R ed Cross,
T a n a n a riv e
B a th u rs t
N ou m ea
C hungking
A ccra
T rip o li
F o rt-d e -F ra n c e
F reeto w n
B a stia
P ap ee te
A ug.
3
7
10
10
10
10
11
12
S ep t.
13
14
14
24
28
9
22
22
21
31
30
30
30
21
29
9
22
23
1944
J a n . 20
20
1945
J u ly 23
M adagascar
G am bia
N ew C aledonia
Gold C oast
L y b ia
M artin iq u e
S ierra Leone
Corsica
T a h iti
P o in te - -P itre
Cayenne
IC R C D elegation, A u stria
V ienna
74
1 6 0 ,1 0 4
8,691
1 ,2 1 1
1,136
1,788
7-449
3.999
453
6,871
5,494
1,885
1,426
2,141
1,830
1,597
586
3,239
190
980
1,233
9,999
3
1,140
6,205
817
52,537
1,927
123
38,917
405
1,065
732
185,222
1,154,847
23,922,013
(3)
81
V.
Sottens.
Following on th is experim ent, th e Swiss Federal
authorities, as an exception, allocated a special short w ave
length to th e ICRC, and re-transm ission was ensured from
Prangins and Schw arzenburg Stations. The period of these
broadcasts was extended by degrees to tw elve hours a day,
S aturdays and Sundays included ; th ey were m ade according
to th e subject m atte r, in seventeen different languages, and
according to a carefully a rran g ed tim e-table.
The Swiss F ederal broadcasting au th o rities and th e RadioGenve Com pany g ran ted th e ICRC the use of all the technical
installations required (studio and equipm ent, telephone lines
and tra n sm itte rs), free of charge, th e actu al program m es being
carried out b y th e ICRC.
The first transm issions were m ade under the signal " R adio
C aritas , afterw ards changed to Intercroixrouge
The
lists of nam es and th e messages being sent out were read in
tu rn by two speakers, a m an and a wom an, in th e language of
those whose nam es or messages were broadcast, a t an average
rate of 150 nam es an hour, or in a day of 12 h o u rs transm ission,
about 1,800 names.
These special broadcasts of th e ICRC were picked up in
th e countries concerned (France, Ita ly , G erm any, A ustria,
H ungary, Yugoslavia, etc.), either by priv ate listeners, or by
th e N ational Red Cross Societies or th e ir local branches. As
th e Swiss postal au th o rities had placed a telephone cable to the
A ustrian frontier a t th e disposal of the ICRC, th e broadcasts
for A ustria could be relayed over the whole netw ork in th a t
country, com prising th irte e n short-w ave stations.
In addition to the broadcasting of inform ation and messages
for relatives in various countries, a weekly service was set up for
th e benefit of certain delegates of th e ICRC, who could not be
reached by post w ithout long delays, for instance, in Vienna,
Prague, B udapest, Belgrade, Rom e and Naples ; by th is m eans,
it was possible to send inform ation and instructions.
The broadcasting of inform ation was not intended by the
ICRC to tak e th e place of com m unications to the official Inform a
tion B ureaux as provided by th e 1929 PW Convention. It
was m erely a rapid m eans of reaching next of kin, when official
83
85
VI.
G E N E R A L A U X IL IA R Y SECTIONS
(1). T yp in g Section
This Section was set up in the early sum m er of 1940, when
lists of inform ation on French and Belgian PW sta rte d arriving
a t th e C entral Agency and th e inform ation had to be tra n
scribed on to cards. F rom th e beginning, th e Section was form ed
of ty p ists who m ade out the cards an d a team of assistants
who checked the cards w ith th e original docum ents.
The T yping Section grew rapidly-b y th e end of 1940, there
were 100 ty p ists and 150 checkers, th e la tte r v o lu n ta ry workers.
The work done b y these volunteers corresponded to th a t of about
50 m em bers of th e perm anent staff. The pressure of work during
1941 and 1942 was so great th a t it was found necessary to set
up an auxiliary section in a neighbouring tow n w ith a dozen
ty p ists em ployed on the same work as th e team s a t Geneva.
The T yping Section was organized w ith th e in ten tio n th a t
it should be a pool where all the cards for th e indexes of the
86
A u xilia ry Sections
93
V II.
(i).
C A R D -IN D E X E S
General Remarks
95
97
(B). Accessories.
The cards were filed in open cardboard filing boxes which
were 16 cm. wide, 8 cm. high and 37 cm. long (6 y 2 by 31/ , by
25 in.), bearing interchangeable labels, affixed in front and
indicating the alphabetical division.
The boxes were placed on sta n d a rd shelving. F our types
of shelving were in use for th e Agency card-index ; th a t in
m ost comm on use was 155 cm. wide, 105 cm. high and 32 cm.
in depth (62 by 42 by 13 in.). The shelving was placed on tables
wide enough to work on, or set on the ground in double tiers,
which economised a great deal of space 1.
For card-index work various accessories were used (clips or
elastic bands, hinge-clips, m arker-cards).
The clips or elastic bands were used to hold the batches of
cards concerning th e sam e person. A lthough th eir use m ade the
work m uch easier, th ey added m uch to the to ta l bulk of the
index, and had to be given up when it becam e necessary to gain
space b y all means. This was the case for the boxes p u t aside, e.g.
the F rench index for the B attle of F rance in 1940, and for those
which were no longer in actu al use a fter the w ar had ended.
The hinge-clips were used for holding the cards in place in the
boxes ; experience showed th a t boxes should only be tw o-thirds,
or a t m ost three-q u arters full, to work w ith ease.
The m arker-cards (also called flags) which bore tab s w ith
inscriptions to help alphabetical filing, were inserted into the
boxes to m ake research easier. The contents of the boxes were
th u s divided in groups of 100 to 200 cards.
(A). Staff.
The personnel of each card-index included :
(a) The senior assistants, who d istrib u ted and supervised the
work, train ed new personnel and did statistical work.
(b) The filing clerks, each in charge of an alphabetic sector
and responsible for boxes being in good order and kept up to
date.
Each filing clerk was given an ap p ro x im ately equal
num ber of individual cases to handle, and consequently of
boxes. The num ber of boxes was reduced, however, when the
work was p articu larly difficult, for instance, in sectors com prising
very common surnam es, such as Sm ith, M artin, Muller, and
so forth.
(c) The controllers, who were usually chosen am ong the
experienced filing clerks. A sector was allotted to each, and
this was of course m ore extensive th a n for th e filing clerk. Their
d uty was to go through each box, to see th a t th e rules of filing
were properly observed, and cases duly dealt w ith. In large
indexes the controllers perform ed no o ther duties : for small
indexes, th ey also helped with the filing.
(d) The checkers (in all sections where th e checking staff
belonged to the card-index).
(B). F iling and Research Work.
(a)
D istribution of work. W hen a num ber of cards had
been assem bled, the placing in alphabetical order was effected
by a separate service, the P relim inary Sorting Section 1.
A distinction was m ade betw een cards giving fresh inform a
tion, taken from original docum ents and being filed for the
first tim e (known as moisson or harvest ), and those
which were sent back to the card-index a fter having been tak en
out for reference by the Sections (known as re tu rn cards ).
1 See p. 87.
99
(i) Phonetic.
B A U D H U I N , B A U D O I N , B E A U D O IN .
FE RO Z ,
PERRAUD,
PERRAULT,
PERREAU,
PERREAUT,
PERROT,
PEYRAUD, PEYROT.
M A IER, M A J E R , M A Y E R ,
M E IE R, M E JE R ,
M E Y E R , M A IR ,
M A JR,
MAYR, M E I R , M E J R , M E Y R .
S T E W A R D , S T E W A R T , ST U A RT.
I R V I N E , I R V I N , I R W I N , I R V I N G , I R W IN G .
W HITA KER , W H ITT A K ER , W HITTAC K ER , W H IT E A K E R .
siL B E R S T E iN , ziL B E R S T A jN
szabo
BO U V A RD .
FERRAND a n d
FERRAUD.
G A N TH IER ,
G A N T IE ,
GA NTIER,
G A N T IE S ,
G A N T IE Z ,
G A U L T H I E R , G A U T H I E R , G A U T H IE R S , G A U T H IE Z , G A U T IE R .
JO H N S O N , JO H N S T O N , J O H N S T O N E , JO N S O N , JO N N S O N , JO N S S O N .
CRESW ELL, CRESSW ELL, CRASWELL, GRESSW ELL.
SIM ON, SIM ONS, SIM M O N D S , SIM MONS.
In m any cases, PW had the same surnam es and first nam es.
In order to distinguish them , certain civil and m ilitary p a rti
culars were necessary, e.g. date and place of b irth , first nam e of
father, domicile (address of next of kin), arm jr unit, a rm y and
PW num bers.
The m ost im p o rtan t of all was certainly th e arm y num ber ;
this in itself allowed for the full identification of th e PW in
civil life, provided of course th a t th e same num ber was never
given to more th a n one m an.
The system of arm y num bers, as useed in several countries
where it form ed an integral p a rt of each m an s id en tity , and
which was often quoted by relatives in th eir applications, ren
dered invaluable service to the C entral Agency. The work
becam e extrem ely com plicated, however, in cases where th is
system of num bers was not in current use, or had not been
adopted by certain arm ed forces.
The num ber allo tted to a PW on cap tu re was also of great
assistance for this type of research.
W hen these various particu lars were missing or incom plete,
searchers had to tr y to m ake th e cards correspond by piecing
together d a ta on cap tu re a n d th e successive places of detention
th a t m ight be shown on the cards.
If th is last a tte m p t gave no result, th e search was discontinued
and th e card p u t in place in the index, u n til th e arrival of fresh
inform ation m ight help to throw some light on th e case.
O ther difficulties arose through th e m u tilation of nam es or
th eir tran sliteratio n in other languages. The docum ents received
a t the Agency had often been dictated or copied from other
docum ents, when errors in taking down or reading were ine
vitable. I t also frequently occurred th a t th e w riters knew
little or nothing of the prisoners or ap p lic an ts language, which
resulted in serious m utilations of names, especially in the
less common languages.
Cases of this kind could of course not be foreseen, so th a t no
fixed rulings could be m ade ; the correction of errors in the cardindex th u s depended entirely upon th e searchers experience and
intuition. Reference slips were m ade use of in these cases.
105
M utilated
L U C IR A
LUCERA
B A IT O
BIT O
SA ITO
GAITO
PL E TIN C K X
BOEYKENS
BOEGEHENS.
num ber, when known, rem ained often th e sole m eans of identify
ing men whose nam es were liable to infinite variations. Thus,
the French Colonial Section set up, in conjunction w ith the
alphabetical index, a second index based on a rm y num bers
from which the searcher could work back to the first index.
It should also be m entioned th a t the C entral Agency, having
been allowed th e use of the statistical m achines of the In te rn a tio
nal Business Machines C orporation , was in a position to draw
up lists of prisoners in alphabetical order, by arm y or PW
num bers, according to the needs of th e Sections concerned.
Since errors in filing did not occur w ith th e m achines, th e
alphabetical lists th u s produced showed correctly th e id e n tity
of a PW whose b a tc h of cards has been misfiled, or had gone
a stra y in one of the national Sections.
W ith regard to lists b y arm y or PW num bers, th ey m ade
it possible, in th e case of nam esakes or of m u tilated nam es,
to add to the relevant batches any fresh inform ation or applica
tions received concerning an y given person.
This m eans of identification could of course only w ork when
all docum ents received a t different tim es by the Agency for
the same m an bore the arm y and PW num bers.
The considerable work entailed in draw ing up these lists
was as a rule only justified in the large Sections, in so far as
th ey were likely to be frequently consulted.
107
V III.
W ATSON
SEC TIO N
THE
U SE
OF
THE
H O L L E R IT H M ACHINES BY T H E C EN TR A L AGENCY
113
3rd
N u m b e r of
a s sista n ts
N u m b er of
m achines
3
40 to 50
16
perforators
sorters
tab u lato rs
reproducers
in te rp re te r
10
13
9
4
4
114
PART
II
US
Polish Section
The Polish Section was set up on Septem ber 14, 1939 and was
called upon, th roughout its service, to deal w ith cases th a t
were of great com plexity owing to the vicissitudes of this
co u n try and of its arm ed forces during th e second W orld W ar.
In 1939, the whole area of the national te rrito ry was occupied.
The G erm an G overnm ent in fact held th a t Poland had ceased
to exist as a sovereign S tate, which m ade th e task of the ICRC
extrem ely difficult. A num ber of Poles, however, who were
living abroad or who succeeded in leaving th eir occupied
territo ry , joined the Allied forces and w ithin th eir ranks, or
in units of th eir own, continued the fight against the Axis
Powers, while others carried on th e struggle against the occupy
ing Pow er w ithin Poland itself.
In these circum stances, the work of the Polish Section was
less th a t of an interm ediary betw een the belligerents for tra n s
m itting official inform ation th a n th a t of an inform ation bureau
for individuals and priv ate organizations.
The num ber of
applications relating to m em bers of the forces or civilians,
who b o th during and after the war arrived from all p a rts of the
world, led to the subm ission of a very large num ber of enquiries
to organizations of every kind.
The Polish cam paign began on Septem ber 1, 1939, w ith
the invasion by the G erm an arm ies.
On Septem ber 17, the
Soviet forces in th eir tu rn crossed the frontiers and, on Septem ber
27, the e n try of the Germ ans into W arsaw p u t an end to
m ilitary operations proper.
A very large p a rt of the Polish arm y was cap tu red by
th e G erm an and Soviet forces ; furtherm ore, a considerable
116
The internees did not as a rule sta y for long in the countries
which had received them ; the m ajo rity soon left in order to
form new units in F rance and in G reat B ritain, which took up
the fight once more against G erm any, alongside B ritish and
French troops.
As a result of the occupation, Poland was cut off from the
rest of the world. Besides th e n a tu ra l wish to receive and to
give news felt by all those who had relatives or friends in th a t
country, m uch a n x iety was aroused by the arrest of num bers
of Polish citizens by the occupying authorities.
In consequence, the Polish Section received a flood of appli
cations, concerning for th e m ost p a rt Jew ish people.
The
Section responded by the despatch of messages, whenever exact
addresses appeared on these applications. W hen these referred
to persons dom iciled in the G erm an zone of occupation, the
messages were tra n sm itte d th rough th e G erm an Red Cross.
I t was soon considered th a t it would entail too great a danger to
th e Jew ish addressees to send these messages, so th e practice
was abandoned. R elations w ith th e R ussian zone were far more
difficult, and there were, a t one tim e, about 100,000 applications
aw aiting despatch for th is zone.
*
countries.
In the second place, the break-dow n of postal
com m unications betw een certain countries, which continued long
after the war, resulted in the large num ber of Poles in those
countries being com pletely cut off, and th e Central Agency alone
was able to help them . I t was, therefore, again to th e Agency
th a t these people applied, in order to resum e or sim ply m ain
tain contact w ith th e ir relatives. In the th ird place, the fact of
captivity in Allied hands or th a t the m ajo rity of Poles recruited
by force to th e Germ an a rm y were missing since th e fighting,
caused a considerable flow of applications to reach th e Agency
after the end of the w ar 1. F urtherm ore, th e Polish Section
was called upon to draw up num erous certificates of c a p tiv ity
and to undertake steps to secure d e a th certificates. Finally, it
still received a large num ber of applications concerning the
disappearance of prisoners and deportees whose fate, it m ust
be feared, will never be known 2.
The m axim um num ber of staff em ployed in th e Section was
twenty-five.
1 Some of th ese m en d eserted to jo in th e A llied forces, an d as rela tiv e s
were in m o st u n aw a re of th is, se arch w as e x tre m e ly difficult.
2 T he P o lish S ection w as fre q u e n tly asked to u n d e rta k e enq u iries
concerning m issing m em bers of th e a rm y fighting w ith th e S oviet
forces ; as th e re w as no m eans of ta k in g ac tio n in th is m a tte r, su ch
req u ests w ere sim p ly forw ard ed to th e P o lish R ed Cross in W arsaw .
123
F rench
S e c tio n 1
124
208
sqq.
he
Ca m p a ig n
of
1939-1940
and
it s
consequences
This alm ost com plete calm was suddenly broken on May 10
by the general a tta c k of the G erm an W ehrm acht on th e W estern
front. The French forces had to bear th e b ru n t of this offensive
and its effects. The b reak-through on th e Meuse and the
lightning advance of th e G erm an forces led to th e c ap tu re of
increasing num bers of French troops, whereas th e roads were
thronged w ith civilians try in g to flee before th e invader.
M aterial and m oral chaos spread rap id ly th roughout th e country.
On June 5, a fter several days of calm on th e Somme, th e
German a tta c k was resum ed. Paris fell on Ju n e 14, and on
June 22, France signed a t Compigne th e arm istice convention
with Germ any, by v irtu e of which th e m ajor p a rt of her forces
were tak en prisoner.
In flu x of applications
The effect of these outstanding events on th e French Section
was practically instantaneous. Countless fam ilies were, from
one m om ent to the next, a prey to th e g reatest a n x ie ty about
the fate of near relatives, m ilitary or civilian, w ith whom th ey
had lost a ll'c o n ta c t.
The French G overnm ent offices and
the French Red Cross had neither th e staff nor th e organization
needed to undertake a t an h o u rs notice th e im m ense task,
which events laid upon them . In addition, m ost of th e French
agencies had left Paris and th eir new address was as yet
unknown.
In the circum stances, th e French families, m any of whom still
had memories of the Agency of 1914-1918, were convinced
th a t Geneva would, sooner or later, be in a position to give
them news which would relieve th e ir fears. A flood of lette rs
submerged the Agency during the weeks th a t followed. W hereas
the French Section had received 3,755 letters only betw een
Septem ber 1939 and the end of May 1940, it now had to deal
with 1,047,525 from Ju n e to D ecem ber 1940 ; of this n u m b er
358,146 arrived in A ugust alone. To these figures should be
added 221,284 sta n d a rd enquiry cards, received betw een June
and December 1940. The to ta l incom ing m ail reached 60,000
items cn certain days. H undreds of m ail bags cram m ed w ith
127
lette rs arrived, and the picture of these stacks of m ail will long
be rem em bered.
The A gencys equipm ent was still rudim entary, when it was
suddenly confronted by a task on a scale rarely known to the
Agency of 1914. E ach le tte r had to be read and a corresponding
card m ade out. If th e work was to serve useful purpose, it had
to be done in a relatively short space of tim e. F o rtu n ately ,
a large num ber of v o lu n tary w orkers were available in Geneva ;
th e y num bered 850 in August and Septem ber 19401. The A uxi
liary Sections which had been set up in several Swiss towns,
were called upon to the fullest ex ten t. Twelve of these Sections,
com prising several hundred v o lu n tary workers, laboured a t th a t
tim e alm ost exclusively for the French Section. The paid workers
of the Section num bered 350 a t the beginning of 1941.
From Ju n e 1940 to D ecem ber 31, 1941, m ore th a n 774,000 le t
ters of enquiry were transcribed on to cards. I t was only by
a m inute subdivision of labour th a t such an imm ense task
could be accom plished. The work was com plicated by th e fact
th a t m any of the letters included several enquiries ; besides
th e details needed to identify the missing, m ost of them sup
plied a m ass of additional particulars, which w asted a great deal
of tim e.
To secure the greatest possible speed an d efficiency, the
Agency published and p rin ted large num bers of sta n d a rd
enquiry cards for missing com batants, called " Card 275 .
Its use becam e w idespread th roughout th e w ar in m ost coun
tries. It was also rep rin ted by several d e p artm en tal com m ittees
of the French R ed Cross, and by other associations. From June
1940 to D ecem ber 31, 1941, the French Section received 621,284
of these cards.
Many applicants believed th a t the Agency already possessed
th e lists of French PW in G erm any, and enclosed letters for
these men. Up to the end of 1940, the Section received close on
100,000 letters, which were forw arded to the cam ps in Germ any,
as soon as the lists of PW reached Geneva.
1 T hese 850 v o lu n ta ry w orkers co rrespon d ed to a b o u t 250 persons
d o in g a fu ll-tim e eig h t-h o u r day.
128
Receipt of Neivs
The first d a ta concerning the B attle of F rance received by the
French Section were single item s sent by local branches of the
French, Belgian, D utch and L uxem burg Red Cross Societies, by
various associations, and by p riv ate persons ; th e P W th e m
selves often supplied news also.
These h astily established
documents were as varied in appearance as in shape and size,
and were often difficult to decipher ; th e y gave th e nam es of
PW halted for a few hours in some given place, or who were in
transit camps, or m arching on the roads tow ards Germ any.
The taking of some two million men w ithin a few weeks
set the German m ilitary authorities the difficult ta sk of com
m unicating their nam es to Geneva. Owing to th e vast num ber
of men who had to be registered, it was likely th a t several
m onths would elapse before th e nam es of all F rench P W would
be recorded a t th e Agency. In actu al fact, th e first official
list of French PW connected w ith this cam paign, giving cap
tures m ade on May 15, reached Geneva by Ju n e 6 ; b u t lists
continued to arrive u n til March 1941. On D ecem ber 31, 1940,
the lists received num bered 163,667 pages ; tak in g an average
of eight names per page, these represented over 1,300,000 names.
On March 31, 1941, practically all the nam es of th e 1,700,000
French PW were known.
In the circum stances, the system of sending capture cards
to the Central Agency, which had been launched a short tim e
before on the proposal of th e ICRC, was p u t to its first largescale test and proved itself to be invaluable. These cards,
of which over 900,000 reached the French Section in 1940,
often brought th e nam es of PW several m onths before the
officials lists did so.
Gradually, as th e capture cards, official lists and o ther d a ta
came in, the next of kin were advised direct of the capture,
welfare, num ber and address of th e PW . A pplications were
not awaited, and a separate inform ation service was opened to
handle this considerable piece of work. These com m unications
were made on a p rinted sta n d a rd card, w ith spaces to be
129
notified the next of kin th rough the m ayor of th e hom e com m une.
The French Section com m unicated 15,140 death certificates
during the war. At the request, of the Service des prisonniers
de guerre in Lyon, a copy of th e le tte r to th e next of kin
was also sent to them .
Agreements concluded in 1942 betw een th e G erm an and
French authorities allowed PW to be transform ed into
civilian workers. The ICRC had no knowledge of th e w ording of
these agreem ents, and th e Germ an au thorities never supplied
them with lists of these " transform ed PW . The men generally
rem ained in the cam p where th ey had been detained as PW ,
so th a t the spokesm en were able to continue to supply inform
ation and reply to the enquiries which th e Section sent
them .
Search for civilians
Side by side w ith enquiries about co m b atan ts from next
of kin, the Section received, from the sum m er of 1940, a steadily
increasing num ber of applications concerning th e w hereabouts
of civilians. These cam e especially from P W in G erm any.
The num ber of French civilians whom events had driven from
their homes was considerable.
The Section s ta rte d m any
enquiries through th e mairies and the inform ation bureaux
which had been opened for refugees ; b u t th e work was extrem ely
slow on account of th e imm ense num ber of enquiries.
The French Post Office was also faced w ith sim ilar difficulties.
A card-index for th e centralization of all possible d a ta about
the residences of displaced civilians was opened in Lyons.
The post offices issued cards, on which th e refuges w rote th eir
former and present addresses. At th e requst of the Agency, a
duplicate of each card was sent to it by the Post Office. The
Section thus had available a m ost useful m eans of research
which enabled it to answ er a great m any enquiries 1.
W ith references to displaced civilians, m ention should be
made of the m any enquiries m ade about A lsatians and Lorrainers who had tak en refuge in the south of France.
1 As on Dec. 31, 1941, th is ca rd -in d e x com prised o v er one m illion
cards.
133
134
See p.
108
.
135
often showed w ith great accuracy the place where the missing
m an had fallen, or was buried.
Copies of th e sta te m e n ts were m ade for th e next of kin, the
Service central de lEtat-civil m ilitaire in Paris, and the French
Red Cross. All the sta te m e n ts were forw arded by the Section
to these tw o agencies, b u t only those which supplied wholly
reliable evidence were com m unicated to th e relatives. W hen
th e sta te m e n ts were liable to cause needless pain, the Section
w rote a personal letter, which softened the blow as m uch as
possible.
S tudy of th e 170,000 statem en ts forw arded by the Central
Agency enabled the French m ilitary authorities to clear up
th e circum stances in which over 30,000 men were missing 1.
The num ber of the missing being 40,000 as was said, the cases
which it was not possible to clear up were reduced to about
te n thousand.
The regim ental enquiries occupied an average of 60
workers a t the F rench Section for over a year. This task produced
some of th e best results recorded a t th e Agency, and was one
of the m ost interesting.
In d ependently of the regim ental enquiries proper, the
French Section s ta rte d o ther enquiries, to ascertain the facts
about missing service-men. This was the case in p articu lar
a fte r th e battles of D unkirk and N arvik. The enquiries were
carried out in liaison w ith the B ritish and Norwegian Red
Cross Societies.
*
II.
rom
to
the
the
attle
l l ie d
of
rance
l a n d in g
in
in
1940
1944
137
139
enquiries to the Agency. Since G erm any had no cen tral cardindex on civilian w orkers, the investigations un d ertak en by
th e French Section as a result of these applications were diffi
cult, and often unavailing.
The nam es and addresses of civilian w orkers m ight obviously
have been tak e n m ethodically from th e q u antities of Civilian
Messages which passed th rough th e Agency on th eir w ay from
th e w orkers to th eir next of kin. B ut this considerable task
would have seriously delayed the forw arding of th e messages.
The Section therefore enclosed w ith th e messages a card of
sta n d a rd size, which could be filled up by th e addressees and
retu rn ed to Geneva, th u s giving the F rench Section, w ithout
loss of tim e, the nam e and addresses of th e workers concerned.
I II .
rom
the
l l ie d
TO T H E R E L E A S E O F T H E
l a n d in g
PW
in
rance
143
B r itis h S e c t io n
uropean
and
fr ic a n
Zones
of
O p e r a t io n
1 ' ' W e h rm a c h ta u sk u n ftste lle fiir K rieg erv erlu ste u n d K riegsgefangene (A rm y In fo rm a tio n Office fo r C asualties an d PW ) of th e O berk o m m an d o d e r W e rh m a c h t (A rm y H ig h C om m and) referred to in
th is re p o rt as O K W .
II.
10
145
D ep artm en t of E x tern al
Affairs, O ttaw a
(July 2, 1941)
PW Inform ation
M elbourne
(Sept. 1, 1941)
B ureau,
c ap tu re cards sent by the prisoners, and the rem ark ab ly wellprepared lists draw n up by cam p leaders in m ost of the cam ps,
co n trib u ted to a large e x te n t to th is re tu rn to the norm al
routine. These docum ents form ed a t this tim e one of th e m ain
sources of inform ation for th e Section, and were all the more
a p preciated because, in th e circum stances, the official G erm an
inform ation was often subject to long delay.
Reference should be m ade here to th e air operations, which
were of p rim ary im portance in the conduct of th e w ar by
the Com m onw ealth a n d the U nited S tates, and for th a t reason,
had w idespread repercussions on the B ritish Section. In contrast
to the course of land operations, B ritish a ir w arfare against
G erm any gained im portance and developed steadily since 1942.
In form ation regarding B ritish airm en, who had fallen, either
dead or as PW , into enem y hands was regularly received.
On th e basis of reciprocity, which was adhered to by the
B ritish authorities, th e G erm an official B ureau telegraphed
th e nam es of these airm en th ro u g h o u t th e war, as it did in the
case of P W who died in cap tiv ity . These telegram s were a t
once forw arded b y th e B ritish Section, a n d th is procedure
ensured a p rio rity transm ission for th e initial notifications
regarding airm en. In favourable conditions, th e official B ureaux
of th e Com m onw ealth were th u s able to receive inform ation
in less th a n a week.
The last phase of a c tiv ity of th e B ritish Section in relation
to th e E uropean zone of operations began w ith th e Allied
landing in F rance of Ju n e 1944.
A lthough, as strateg y , it
was to introduce events so great and so decisive, the landing
had little or no direct effect on the w ork of the Section.
The Allied arm ies, who continued to hold th e initiativ e, were
no longer subject to great losses by casualties or prisoners.
It was in o th er fields th a t the effects on th e B ritish Section
of th is last phase of th e w ar in E urope were a p p a re n t, and
chiefly in th a t of postal com m unications.
In th e first place, all postal traffic wras suspended on the
eve of m ajor offensives as a security m easure. In the second,
th e tra n sp o rt of m ail becam e precarious, or was even quite
150
151
ar
ast
heatre
of
ar
Telegraphic Communications
As already m entioned, th e B ritish Section m ade frequent
use of th e telegraph in com m unicating inform ation received
from th e D etaining Powers to th e various official B ureaux of
th e Com m onwealth.
In order to save tim e in checking a t th e B ureaux and to
keep their expenditure on cables as low as possible, th e B ritish
Section, as th e mass of d a ta increased, was led to work out a
p a rticu la r scheme for th e drafting of its telegram s. This m ethod,
as will be dem onstrated, differed from th a t of th e other N ational
Sections (with th e exception of the A m erican Section).
Inform ation received b y th e Section was divided in tw o
categories as follows :
154
156
G erm a n S e c tio n
W ar P er io d
This was the period when G erm any was a t w ar w ith m any
countries. T h at fact had far-reaching effects on th e Section
and gave rise to a num ber of technical problem s. The various
countries a t w ar w ith G erm any all had different m ethods for
sending inform ation on prisoners and other victim s of the w ar :
the Germ an Section, in greater degree th a n the o ther national
Sections, had th u s difficulty in settling on its working m ethods.
There was great v ariety in the sources of inform ation, and th a t
157
161
I2
Liberation of France,
Invasion of Germany and Allied A ir Offensive
( I944-I945)
II.
P ost- W a r
P e r io d
W ith the arm istice of May 7, 1945, G erm any entered into a
far more troubled period th a n th a t experienced during the last
phase of th e war. The surrender of the G erm an arm y, the
c ap tu re of several million m en by the Allied forces, th e collapse
of the M ilitary High Com m and and the G overnm ent, to g eth er
w ith th e loss of political sovereignty and territo ria l in te g rity
created in G erm any an unprecedented situation, w hereby th e
Central Agency was faced w ith extrem e difficulties.
The fact th a t there were no longer in G erm any a n y national
agencies w ith whom to co-operate rendered the A gencys ta sk
m ost uncertain. The first phase of the post-w ar period was
indeed a critical tim e of tran sitio n for th e G erm an Section ;
the com plete suspension of postal com m unication, added to the
173
12
177
co ntact w ith PW con stan tly grew, and th a t the P. 10,079 Cards
which reached the Agency concerned an increasing num ber of
m ilitary personnel, whom th eir relatives had h ith erto sought
in vain.
The system provided th a t next of kin could m ake use only
once of th e Red Cross Message. In practice, however, it often
occurred th a t two or three m em bers of the same fam ily each sent
in a message, in th e a tte m p t to get in touch w ith the same PW ;
th is com plicated the A gencys work and was likely to delay the
co ntact desired.
The Red Cross Message scheme enabled th e C entral Agency to
find a satisfactory solution to a problem as urgent as it was diffi
cult ; th e G erm an Section th u s g radually m astered a situation
which a t first sight appeared overw helm ing.
Thus, th an k s to Card No. 275, to the Red Cross Message,
and to the m eans of tra n sp o rt available to the Com m ittee,
a tw ofold stream of applications and inform ation was estab
lished by degrees, a t a tim e when exchange of messages or
inform ation by post was still impossible.
1945
1946
2,870,000 4,605,000
2,753,000 2,900,000
145
190
postal traffic w ith G erm any. The ICRC was therefore asked to
forw ard th is m ail to G erm any by its own tra n sp o rt, if possible.
The C om m ittee was able to give effect to this request, and the
Agency organized in Septem ber the sorting of the m ail by
postal districts.
Since it was impossible to u n d ertake this
am ount of work in th e Agency itself, it was e n tru sted , by
agreem ent w ith th e com petent authorities, to selected m em bers
of the G erm an forces in tern ed in Sw itzerland. As soon as it was
so rted , the m ail was sent to G erm any by R ed Cross vehicles and
th ere handed over to th e G erm an Post Office or to the censor.
In seven m onths, th a t is from O ctober 1945 to A pril 1946,
over six million letters and cards were th u s sorted under the
C om m ittees auspices and forw arded by its own tra n sp o rt.
The resum ption of postal traffic in April 1946 fo rtu n ately
relieved Geneva of th is additional burden.
Special Problems: Surrendered Enem y Personnel, and German
Civilians evacuated from Eastern Europe
A ny account of th e period which followed th e end of the
w ar would be incom plete w ithout reference to tw o categories
of w ar victim s which, th e one m ilitary, and the other civilian,
placed the G erm an Section before serious difficulties.
Im m ediately a fter the capitu latio n of th e G erm an A rm y,
m any more thousands of m en gave them selves to th e Allies, the
m ajo rity in obedience to th e term s of surrender. These units
were disarm ed and confined in certain areas. Since the sta tu s
of PW had not been gran ted by all th e Powers to these men
S E P or Surrendered E nem y Personnel, as th ey were to be
called late r th e G erm an Section received only scraps of
inform ation concerning them and had no m eans of m aking
enquiries about them . The Agency, owing to the flood of appli
cations from relatives who believed these men to be missing ,
was in a difficult position. I t had to content itself w ith the
occasional lists and news sent in by the G erm an com m andants
and cam p leaders of the huge regional encam pm ents in which
S E P were assem bled. The efforts of th e Com m ittee to secure
for them a sta tu s equal to th a t of PW were only p a rtly success183
The official resum ption of a postal service betw een G erm any,
Sw itzerland and m ost o ther countries, brought the German
Section a certain relief, since it allowed th e direct and regular
forw arding of the great num ber of com m unications aw aiting
despatch to relatives. On th e o ther hand, this resum ption gave
rise to a v ast fresh influx of applications. Since the m ajority
184
of the 275 and P. 10, 079 Cards had u n til then still not been
answ ered, it was n a tu ra l th a t next of kin should avail th em
selves widely of the o p p o rtu n ity of w riting direct to the Agency.
A flood of letters, usually both long and urgent, and often
followed up, poured into th e Germ an Section, w hilst sta n d a rd
cards continued to arrive in steady volum e. The great pressure
of work laid on th e Section a t th a t tim e is clear from com parison
of th e following figures :
N um ber of Applications (Letters and Forms) received by the
German Section:
Average 1 9 4 2 - 1 9 4 4 ........................................
In 1945
In 1946
44,000
207.000
737.000
85
1 See p. 79.
2 O n Ju n e 30, 1947 th e re were still 98 a s sista n ts in th e G erm an
S ection.
189
num ber of letters which were still coming in and which increas
ingly referred to com plicated cases.
I t was th u s n ot u n til over tw o years a fte r th e end of th e war
th a t th e largest of th e N ational Sections of th e C entral Agency
began to be w ound up, a fter a busy career of eight years, of
which th is rep o rt has given only an incom plete survey.
Spanish Section
Portuguese Section
Latin American Section
192
ortuguese
S e c t io n
L a t in A m e r ic a n S ec tio n
13
193
194
S c a n d in a v ia n
S e c tio n
196
B e lg ia n
S e c tio n
L u x e m b u r g S e c tio n
B e l g ia n S ec tio n
The Belgian Section was set up on May 15, 1940, during the
E ighteen D ays Cam paign (May 10-28, 1940), when th e
G erm an W ehrm acht advanced from th e banks of th e Meuse
to the coast of th e N orth Sea.
M ilitary Personnel
D uring the days a fter th e capitulation, p a rt of th e Belgian
A rm y was sent in to c a p tiv ity in G erm any, where th e PW
tak en during th e operations were alread y in cam p.
N otifications by lists from th e official G erm an B ureau and
cap tu re cards were first received by th e Agency early in Ju n e :
the flood of inform ation reached its height in Septem ber. Many
applications from th e m ens relatives were received a t the
same tim e in the Belgian Section. In these conditions, and in
order to avoid too long a delay in replying to them , it was
decided to forw ard the inform ation given in th e cap tu re cards
direct to th e fam ilies concerned, w ithout w aiting for cards to
tally in the index. These notifications were sent a t th e ra te
of about 1,500 a week. At th is tim e, th e Section reached its
peak, w ith a staff of 27.
A considerable num ber of prisoners reported to the Agency
th a t th ey were w ithout news of th eir relatives ; hundreds of
thousands of Belgians, fleeing in disorder before th e invasion,
had found perm anent refuge across the Channel, or tem p o rary
shelter in th e N orth, and above all in th e South of France.
The search for these fam ilies called for a good deal of persever
ance, as the difficulties involved were considerable.
197
1 See p. 54.
200
L u x e m b u r g S ec tio n
202
D u tc h S e c tio n
(A).
E v e n t s in E u r o pe
A fter the cap itu latio n of the D utch A rm y in 1940, the greater
p a rt of th e prisoners were released, w ith the exception of a few
hundred officers of the regular arm y. In 1943, however, th o u
sands of officers and NCOs were m ustered in assem bly cam ps
203
(B).
E v e n t s in t h e I n d ia n A r c h ipe la g o
a com m on practice in H olland, com plicated work on th e cardindex considerably. The D utch Section m ade a list of first nam es
and th e ir usual dim inutives, such as T ruus for G ertrude ; Bep
for E lizabeth ; R iets for F rederick ; K at, K atje, Catho, Trin,
T rientje, or Toosje for C atherine ; Cor, Cees, Koor, Kees, Nel
or Nelis for Cornelis, an d so on.
By p a tie n t and scrupulous work, more th a n 12,000 cards
were m ade to " ta lly up to 1945, and th e inform ation was
forw arded to the applicants.
P h o to sta ts of cables received from th e Japanese official
B ureau were forw arded a t regular intervals to th e D utch Red
Cross a t The H ague a n d in London, also to th e rep resen tativ e
of the D utch E a st Indies Red Cross a t M elbourne. W hen filing
th e inform ation, it was found th a t m any civilian internees
had already appeared on PW lists.
A certain num ber of civilian internees were able to send
news direct to th eir relatives in H olland, and thousands of
reply letter-cards, collected by th e Red Cross a t The Hague,
were received up to A pril 1944 for transm ission to th e D utch
E a st Indies. The inform ation supplied by this exchange of
m ail often led to tallies
and inform ation could th u s be
sent to applicants, especially in Sw itzerland, G reat B ritain,
A m erica and South Africa. Finally, it was som etim es possible
by th is m eans to com plete th e addresses of relatives in H olland.
Com m unications betw een th e N etherlands an d her overseas
te rrito ry having broken down, the Section received a consider
able num ber of requests for news concerning D utch nationals
presum ed in tern ed or prisoners of w ar in the territo ries occupied
by th e Japanese. T housands of enquiry form s were sent to
th e Jap an ese B ureau for m ilitary personnel, or to th e Japanese
R ed Cross for civilians, b u t th e results of these enquiries were
m ost disappointing.
On O ctober 5, 1945, th e first message from B atav ia, d ated
Septem ber 12, was received a t the Agency. A fortn ig h t later,
th e delegation of the ICRC in Cairo inform ed Geneva th a t th ey
could send th e C om m ittees m ail to the D utch E ast Indies.
*
206
207
F rench
C o lo n ia l S e c t io n
O p e n in g
and
D ev elo pm en t
of
the
S e c t io n
20 9
I n f o r m a t io n
and
Ca r d - I n d e x e s
(A).
212
213
st a b l ish m e n t
of
xternal
e l a t io n s
S e c r e t a r ia t
eaths
Ser v ic e
(1) Lists of the missing who had belonged to the same com
p a n y of th e same regim ent were m ade up :
(2) W ith the help of the M inistry of W ar and of the overseas
G eneral Staffs, a search was m ade for th e surviving officers and
NCO who had com m anded these com panies :
(3) E ach of these officersm ost of them were in c a p tiv ity
received a list of the missing who belonged to their u nit : th ey
were asked to supply relevant inform ation.
These regim ental enquiries helped to clarify a large num ber
of cases of missing ; through a system of cross-checking of the
testim onies received, th ey m ade it possible to recognize the
routes followed by th e units during the fighting. B y questioning
th e m ayors of the com m unes situ ated along these routes,
unsuspected burial places were discovered, and other identifica
tions m ade. Thus, the a n x iety of m any fam ilies was relieved,
and th eir legal position could be established. As an exam ple,
one investigation alone resulted in th e discovery of 38 graves.
The Colonial Section also carefully listed th e graves throughout
all th e com m unes of F rance where fighting had tak en place,
and th u s built up an index of com m unes which proved an
invaluable aid in its work.
The m ost reliable m eans of identifying the native who has no
tat civil is inform ation from his regim ent, and in particular,
his a rm y recruiting num ber. F or this reason it was indispen
sable to work in cooperation w ith the m ilitary a u th o rity under
whose orders he had been. A special working procedure was
therefore adopted : the so-called S huttle lists .
These were rolls bearing the nam es of missing co m b atan ts
and th e particu lars available about them , arranged according
to countries and regim ents. They were draw n up by the
General Staff in the co u n try of origin and travelled back and
fo rth betw een the Staff and Geneva, each of th e parties pro
ceeding m eanw hile to m ake investigations, checking inform ation
w ith particu lars already available and m aking notes on the
lists a t each passage, u ntil the m issing had been found and
identified.
218
220
221
I ta lia n S e c t io n
The Ita lia n Section was opened on Ju n e 20, 1940, ten days
a fter I ta ly s e n try into th e war. From th e w inter of 1940-1941
onw ards it was extrem ely active, and th ere was to be no decrease
in its w ork up to th e end of hostilities. B oth on account of the
volum e of work handled and the num ber of its staff, th is becam e
one of th e A gencys m ost im p o rta n t d epartm ents.
The tre n d of th e m ilitary operations was not th e only cir
cum stance which influenced th e grow th of the Section and which
caused it to be confronted by new duties and ever-increasing
difficulties. C ertain political events also reacted profoundly
on its work. I t will suffice to recall th e critical and dram atic
events in the sum m er of 1943, which led to the division of
Ita ly into two hostile cam ps, to im agine th e in tric a te n atu re of
some of the problem s encountered by th is Section.
The year 1943, which m arked a veritable tu rn ing-point in
Ita lia n histo ry during the w ar years, sim ilarly affected the life
of th e Ita lia n Section during th is same period and divided it
into tw o d istinct p arts.
(1) The period from Ju n e 1940 to Septem ber 8, 1943, date
of th e arm istice concluded betw een Ita ly and the Allied Powers.
D uring these three years, Ita ly , under a single governm ent,
fought on th e side of G erm any against th e Allies. This phase
was m arked by a m ilitary and political situ atio n which was
m ore or less clear.
(2) The period from Septem ber 1943, u n til th e cap itu latio n
of th e Axis forces in Ita ly on May 2, 1945, during which th e
situation was far m ore com plicated. The occupation by the
Germ an A rm y of a large p a rt of th e country, and th e decla222
I.
F r o m I t a l y s
to
the
e n t r y in t o t h e
ar
(June
io
, 1940)
A r m is t ic e w it h t h e A l l ie d P o w e r s
(S e p t e m b e r 8, 1943)
it did so. This great volum e of correspondence betw een Ita lia n
fam ilies and th e Agency was, however, rem arked by th e Ita lia n
authorities, who were opposed to it.
A fter discussion w ith th e representatives of th e UPG, the
ICRC was obliged to cease replying direct to fam ilies when
applications m et w ith th e first official inform ation contained
in th e card index. F rom th a t tim e, th e Ita lia n Service sent the
replies to such enquiries to the UPG, which had und ertak en
to tra n sm it th em to th e families in th eir original form . At the
sam e tim e, th e U PG still acting on th e G overnm ents in stru c
tions, conducted a vigorous cam paign to persuade th e Ita lia n
people to address their applications direct to its offices, and
not to th e C entral Agency.
Finally, the Ita lia n censorship
sim ply retu rn ed all such letters to the senders, w ith the request
th a t they address th eir inquiries to th e official B ureau in Rome.
A fter this, the U PG reserved to itself th e rig h t to apply to
th e Agency, in order to com plete its own p articulars, and charged
it to convey enquiries to the detaining Powers concerning the
fate of missing co m batants, or of PW who had not w ritten for
a long tim e.
To give an accurate idea of th e evolution of the Ita lia n
Section, th e principal m ilitary events in Ita ly should be followed
in chronogical order.
Sum m er 1940,
From th e first days of the war, th e Ita lia n Section enquired
into the fate of Ita lia n airm en reported m issing in the Medi
terran ean , of Ita lia n m erchant seam en c ap tu red by the B ritish
forces, and of Ita lia n civilians interned in G reat B ritain, the
Com m onwealth, or B ritish m andated territo ries. Following on
the signature of the F ran co -Italian arm istice of Ju n e 24, and
up to th e w ar w ith Greece, the B ritish Com m onwealth was the
only rem aining adversary of Italy .
At th e end of Ju n e, and during J u ly 1940, Ita ly suffered its
first naval reverses in the M editerranean. The Section a t once
received large num bers of applications from next of kin of the
crews of the ships which had been sunk. The nam es of the
224
225
D uring th e first half of 1942, mass tran sfers of Ita lia n P W took
place w ithin th e B ritish Com m onwealth. The Ita lia n Section
had to deal w ith num erous lists referring to these rem ovals.
F urtherm ore, naval w arfare in th e M editerranean was in te n
sified, and m any ships of the Ita lia n N avy and m erchant m arine
were sunk, leading to an influx of enquiries concerning missing
seam en.
It was not only th e next of kin in th e hom eland who were
anxious for news ; the PW likewise were w orried by the lack
of news from th eir fam iliesth e delays in th e transm ission
of PW m ail increased stead ily and were co n sta n tly appealing
to th e Agency, in an a tte m p t to get inform ation of some kind.
These appeals becam e still more pressing when Ita ly began to
experience heavy air bom bardm ents.
The ICRC now succeeded in securing the extension to Ita lia n
P W of th e system of " cap tu re cards , w ith retrospective effect.
H undreds of thousands of these cards th en began to arrive
in Geneva, and c o n stitu ted a m ost valuable source of inform
ation for the Ita lia n Section. U nhappily, illiterate P W en tru ste d
to others th e ta s k of filling out th e ir cards, w ith th e result
th a t th e inform ation given was often incorrect. O ther PW were
barely able to w rite ; th e ir nam es were alm ost illegible and
spelling m istakes plentiful.
This m ade classification of th e
cards in th e index a long and difficult m atte r.
From the Battle of E l A lam ein to the Arm istice with the Allies
(Nov. 1942 to Sept. 1943).
A t th e end of October 1942, the B ritish E ig h th A rm y, a fte r
breaking th rough the Axis front a t El Alamein, advanced in to
Cyrenaica and T ripolitania, and reached T unisia in J a n u a ry
1943, tak in g large num bers of PW in the process.
M eanwhile, on N ovem ber 8, 1942, th e Allied landings took
place in French N o rth Africa, and were followed sh o rtly a fte r
wards by th e appearance of Free French forces and th e e n try of
Axis troops into Tunisia.
Up to th a t tim e, the Ita lia n Section had, as a rule, dealings
w ith only one group of D etaining Powers, th e B ritish Com m on
231
232
II.
(S e p t . 8 ,
F rom t h e A r m is t ic e w it h t h e A l l ie d P o w e r s
1943)
in
to
the
ca pitu la tio n
N orthern Italy
of
the
A x is
F orces
(M a y 2 , 1 9 4 5 )
234
237
238
III.
P ost-W
ar
and
P e r io d . R e p a t r ia t io n o f P r is o n e r s
I d e n t if ic a t io n o f t h e D e a d
Repatriation of Prisoners
The advance of the Allied arm ies through G erm any and
A ustria in 1945 led to th e release of form er IM I. These the
G erm ans had gradually been tran sferrin g from th e east tow ards
th e west, in the face of the advancing Soviet forces. These men
rem ained, however, during m any m onths in th e hands of the
occupying authorities, and th eir rep a tria tio n , which was con
siderably delayed owing to the destruction of railw ays and b rid
ges, began only in th e au tu m n of 1945. The Agency tried to
relieve th e an x iety of relatives by broadcasting th e nam es of the
released, as well as those of form er deportees who had survived
th e concentration cam ps.
The rep a tria tio n of th e Ita lia n from overseas took even longer,
owing to th e scarcity of shipping. Postal services were still
irregular and slow in m any areas, and both relatives and PW
continued to w rite to Geneva for news.
In th e sum m er of 1945, the Agency considered th a t the
Allied A uthorities would now be able to tra n sm it inform ation
concerning P W direct to the official Ita lia n B ureau, and decided
to abandon th e work of indexing the particu lars tak en from the
lists of rep atriates. The work of th e Section th u s gradually
decreased.
N evertheless, eighteen m onths after th e end of
hostilities, the num ber of men aw aiting rep atriatio n was still
nearly 200,000. We need feel no surprise, therefore, th a t the
Section had to pursueon a reduced scale, naturally-its
various work for P W and internees. It was, in p articu lar,
concerned about th e Italian s tak en by the Y ugoslav forces.
L ists showing the nam es of some 10,000 PW arrived from Bel
grade a t the end of 1945, and th e Section passed on this inform
ation to next of kin.
239
24O
241
243
G reek
S e c tio n
th e w ar, alm ost all G reek Jew s were deported, and th e Section
received over 8,000 enquiries. Corresponding requests were
sent to th e G erm an R ed Cross as to th e fate of these deportees,
b u t w ith one or tw o exceptions th e enquiries proved fruitless.
*
Y u g o s la v
S e c tio n
Number of enquiries
from i. i. 41
to 30. 6. 47
Object of search
Positive results
. . .
6,414
C463
13 ,144
5-390
T o ta l . . .
19,558
6,853
252
R u s s ia n
S e c tio n
253
254
(3)
Various R ed Cross Societies and adm inistrative bodies,
which occasionally furnished inform ation on PW and on men
who had died.
It should fu rth e r be m entioned th a t a certain num ber of
Soviet prisoners in G erm any were enlisted, v o luntarily or under
compulsion, in th e G erm an arm y or in special units fighting
w ith it. Some of these men were captured by the Allies and
th eir nam es then appeared on lists of G erm an PW sent by
th e official bureaux of th e Allied Powers to Geneva.
The R ussian Section received only a very sm all num ber of
enquiries concerning m ilitary personnel. Most of the requests
cam e from persons who lived outside Russia, or in Soviet
te rrito ry occupied by the enem y : very few applications came
from unoccupied Russia.
The enquiries the Section was asked to m ake were lodged
w ith th e Finnish, R um anian, G erm an Red Cross Societies, and
in some cases w ith th e Alliance of Red Cross and R ed Crescent
Societies of the USSR. The only response to these applications
cam e from the Finnish and R um anian R ed Cross Societies.
The G erm an Red Cross sta te d it would reply direct to the
inquirer, if contact could be m ade w ith th e applicant.
I I . 17
257
C z e c h o s lo v a k
S e c tio n
258
259
A m e r ic a n S e c t io n
260
ar
in
the
a c ific
fore to the B ureau were those for supplem entary details about
men whose cap tu re had already been officially notified.
In 1944, the Japanese authorities took th e initiativ e of
arranging an exchange of cable messages betw een P W and
th eir next of kin. The restrictions the Japanese authorities
had previously laid on th e exchange of correspondence m ade
th is move p articu larly welcome. The messages, which all
passed through Geneva, were assem bled in th e U nited S tates
both on departu re and arrival by the Am erican R ed Cross.
In the F a r E ast, transm ission of cables devolved on the Jap an ese
official B ureau. This system came into force in J a n u a ry 1945.
I t worked satisfactorily for messages from nex t of kin to PW ,
b u t very few messages arrived for relatives from th e F a r E a st h
Thus th e only service of th e Japanese official B ureau was to
cable inform ation on capture, transfers and deaths of A m erican
m ilitary personnel to the Agency. Such inform ation was often
sent only after considerable delay. No lists were ever forw arded
confirm ing d a ta given in these cables, and no news reached the
Agency concerning w ounded and sick prisoners. The Japanese
official B ureau also failed to send any d e a th certificates. W hen a
reckoning is m ade of th e sm all success in seeking inform ation from
th e B ureau, of the fact th a t the A m erican Section was quite
unable to m ake contact w ith cam p spokesm en, and of the restric
tions on m ail im posed by th e Japanese m ilitary authorities, it
m ust be a d m itte d th a t the situation was far from satisfactory.
uropean
T heatre
of
O p e r a t io n s
fiir
263
th e sam e nam e or where the nam es were d isto rted : w ithout this
system , the cards relating to one m an would have been filed
separately. I t was therefore decided th a t the lists of A m erican
P W should be draw n up in this way, and th a t for the A m erican
Section, th e H ollerith cards should be a t once established in
duplicate. One copy was filed in the card-index and the other
used for establishing lists. The H ollerith cards filed in the
Sections index served th e sam e purpose as th e ty p escrip t cards
in th e other Sections.
As explained above, the A m erican Section cabled inform ation
received from various sources on P W and internees to the
W ashington Official B ureau. This inform ation very often came
through, however, in a sequence different from th a t of events,
and frequently inform ation on the sam e m an was received in
ex actly th e sam e form from different sources. In these cir
cum stances, it is obvious th a t had the A m erican Section cabled
all d a ta as received to W ashington, the U. S. Official B ureau
would have been obliged, in dealing w ith such a flow of notifica
tions, to classify them itself ; further, cable charges would have
been very high.
To m eet these difficulties, the Section m ade use of a system
already tried out by the B ritish Section, and which can be
sum m arized as follows. On a rriv al in the Section d a ta were
sorted into tw o categories, each of which was dealt w ith in a
different way. In the first were placed all docum ents giving
nam es of P W or of deceased who, app aren tly , were unknow n
to the Agency.
This inform ation was im m ediately cabled
to W ashington ; the cards were m ade subsequently and
filed in the index. The second class included all docum ents
providing supplem entary d a ta or notification of tran sfer to
other cam ps of PW already on the A gencys files. In this
case inform ation was first entered on cards which were checked
w ith th e card-index, and the filing clerks th en decided, on the
basis of inform ation already registered, if it was necessary or
not to cable the inform ation ju st received.
In M arch 1945, the peak period of the Am erican Section, the
staff num bered 45.
266
J a p a n e s e S e c tio n
269
H u n g a r ia n
S e c tio n
11. is
2 73
R u m a n ia n S e c t i o n
B u lg a r ia n
S e c tio n
278
F in n is h S e c t io n
W hen in N ovem ber 1939, war broke out betw een Finland
and the USSR, th e ICRC inform ed the F innish G overnm ent
th a t, although F in lan d had not ratified th e 1929 P W Conven
tion, the Com m ittee was prepared to receive and tra n sm it
inform ation concerning th e w ounded and prisoners. A t th e sam e
tim e, the ICRC m ade all th e necessary p rep aratio n for a F innish
Section at th e Central Agency. The F innish G overnm ent
inform ed the ICRC th a t it h ad in stru cted the F innish Red
Cross to co n stitu te an official Inform ation B ureau, as required
in A rt. 77 of th e Convention.
The Soviet G overnm ent, however, supplied no inform ation
on Finnish prisoners, and th e Agency was unable to be of any
service to th e Finnish P W c ap tu red in th is first cam paign.
In Ju n e 1941, when th e G erm an forces invaded Russia,
F inland once more took up arm s against th a t country. At the
s ta rt of this second R usso-Finnish war, th e ICRC rem inded
both G overnm ents of th e term s of the 1929 G eneva C onvention
proper and of th e F o u rth H ague C onvention of 1907 on the
laws and custom s of w ar on land, b o th Conventions having
been ratified by F inland and Russia. B oth agreed to apply
th e tre a ty stipulations of these Conventions, subject to reci
procity. They fu rth e r undertook to allow PW to fill in cap tu re
cards and to exchange nom inal lists of PW . U nfortunately,
no lists ever arrived from Russia and when this p a rticu la r con
flict ended in 1944, the Section had been unable to do an y th in g in
behalf of Finnish PW.
Certain tasks were nevertheless fulfilled by the F innish
Section. In Decem ber 1941, G reat B ritain and th e Dom inions
279
280
B a ltic S e c tio n
282
Sundry Nationalities
284
A u s tr ia n S e c t io n
for all the inform ation and requests received, since th a t index
contained a considerable am ount of d a ta concerning A ustrians,
which had reached th e Agency before th e settin g up of an
independent Section.
The A ustrian Section was th u s v ery quickly faced by an
onerous ta s k ; its staff had to be therefore considerably increased :
in th e sum m er of 1946, it reached the figure of ab o u t 30 people.
The Section was also g reatly assisted by the A uxiliary Sections
in Sw itzerland ; in the end, tw o w orking team s were set up
b y th e Agency am ong the A ustrian m ilitary personnel interned
in Sw itzerland.
D uring the first m onths of its existence, the A ustrian Section
experienced the sam e kind of difficulties as th e G erm an Section,
b y reason of the dissolution of the the O.K .W . and the G erm an
Red Cross, which during th e w ar had tak e n over all th e work
of d istrib u tin g the inform ation supplied by th e C entral Agency.
As in G erm any, the C om m ittees delegations in A ustria were
called on to m eet this deficiency as far as possible, u n til qualified
national bodies were set up. It was for this reason th a t, u n til
th e end of the year 1945, th e A ustrian Section sent all th e d a ta
it received to th e delegation in Vienna, which was responsible
for forw arding them to th e provincial branches of the A ustrian
Red Cross or to the relatives. The delegations on th eir p a rt
assem bled countless applications from relatives a n d sent them
to Geneva.
As soon as the A ustrian Red Cross was reco n stitu ted , th a t
organization took over the task carried out in o ther countries
by th e official Inform ation B ureaux, since circum stances did
not allow of th e settin g up of such an office in A ustria. A t first,
the A ustrian Red Cross m et w ith great difficulties in its work,
as it was still in ad eq u ately equipped and was divided into
several regional sections which were not in touch w ith each
other, b y reason of th e division of th e co u n try into zones of
occupation.
In F eb ru ary 1946, th e A ustrian R ed Cross research services
were am algam ated, and it was decided to set up a central
card-index a t Salzburg. From th a t tim e onw ards, th e A ustrian
Section sent all th e inform ation it received to this index centre,
287
M e d ic a l P e r s o n n e l
Protected P ersonnel2
19
P ro te c te d
289
290
The G erm an Service began to grow m ainly from 1943 onw ards.
The first lists arrived from N orth Africa. P h o to sta ts of all
lists containing G erm an m edical personnel received in Geneva
were sent in duplicate to B erlin, one copy for the O K W (which
h ad th e responsibility of forw arding inform ation to relatives),
and one for th e G erm an R ed Cross.
Certificates of Identity.
As we have seen, th e m ost im p o rta n t d u ty of th e Medical
Section was to keep vigilance over th e application of the Geneva
C onvention to P ro tected Personnel.
A rticle 21 of th e G eneva Convention lays down th a t P ro tected
Personnel shall be provided w ith an id e n tity docum ent to
c ertify th eir sta tu s, which th e y shall in no case be deprived of :
in case of loss th e y have th e rig h t to obtain a duplicate. In
point of fact, m any of th e m edical personnel recently c ap tu red
were not in possession of th is v ital docum ent some had never
received such a paper, some had lost it ; in o th er cases it had
been destroyed in th e course of events, or by application of
official orders ; finally, in some instances th e docum ent had
been tak e n aw ay from th e PW a t the tim e of his capture, in
violation of tre a ty stipulations.
French M edical Personnel. From the au tu m n of 1940,
thousands of applications for certificates of id e n tity for French
personnel began to reach th e Medical Section. This question was
tak e n up w ith the com petent au th o rities concerned, th a t is,
w ith form er recruiting centres which had m eanw hile become
dem obilization depots. The applications were forw arded to
these offices and in re tu rn the Medical Section received
certificates of id e n tity proving th a t the PW concerned were
recognized to be m edical personnel. These certificates, which
consisted of a single sheet of paper stam ped by th e dem obili
zation depot, were seldom accepted by the G erm an authorities,
on th e grounds th a t th ey could easily .be forged. In spite of
these difficulties, a considerable num ber of m edical personnel
were given recognition and later on rep a tria te d .
291
Ita lia n M edical Personnel. U ntil the Ita lia n cap itu latio n in
Septem ber 1943, applications for duplicate certificates were
forw arded to th e Ita lia n R ed Cross in Rom e, which assum ed th e
ta s k of seeing th a t these docum ents reached th e applicants
th rough the P rotecting Power. A fter th e arm istice of 1943, there
was no longer a n y possibility of obtaining id e n tity certificates
for m edical personnel in cap tiv ity , and th ere was therefore no
m eans of giving any help on this question. Ita lia n m em bers of
the forces held by th e Germ an arm y were not considered as
PW by the G erm an G overnm ent, b u t as m ilitary internees.
The G erm an au th o rities therefore refused Ita lia n m edical
personnel th e protection of the Geneva Convention, on the
grounds th a t the arm ed forces to which th ey belonged had not
been c ap tu red in th e course of m ilitary operations.
German M edical Personnel. The Medical Section did not
have to deal w ith id e n tity certificates for G erm an protected
personnel u n til th e end of hostilities. The G erm an Red Cross
forw arded duplicates direct th ro u g h th e P rotecting Power. A
few single applications were received a t Geneva, which the
G erm an Service forw arded to th e G erm an Red Cross.
From th e close of hostilities, and owing to the absence of
a P rotecting Power, th e G erm an Service received a great num ber
of applications for id e n tity certificates from G erm an m edical
personnel retain ed in France, G reat B ritain, th e U nited S tates
or in th e zones in G erm any occupied by th e th ree Powers.
The Medical Section was therefore faced w ith a fresh problem ,
as the a p p lican ts co u n try of origin no longer had any govern
m ent and th e N ational Red Cross had been dissolved. In
addition, th e records of the m edical personnel, in Berlin, had
been destroyed during the bom bing. A pplications continued to
accum ulate in the Medical Section, w ithout it being possible
to satisfy the applicants.
Relief of M edical Officers.
In 1943, an agreem ent was concluded betw een F rance and
G erm any to organize th e relief of m edical officers on d u ty in
293
(2).
(3) Artificial L i m b s
298
C ID ( S u n d r y C i v i l i a n
I n te r n e e s S e c tio n )
300
IMPA
Enquiries.
From May 1945 onw ards, a fter the close of hostilities, the
IM PA Section began careful search for th e people, w ith whom
it had been concerned during the war. Since the people who
were th e subject of the enquiry had. in p ractically all these
cases, disappeared w ithout leaving an y clue, the results proved
of course sadly disappointing. Cases of deported children were
very num erous and especially distressing.
(4)
Broadcasting.
1 See p. 82.
302
tra tio n cam ps, th u s bringing to the knowledge of fam ilies, often
them selves displaced, news of relatives from whom th e y had
not heard for m any years.
Finally, during 1947, tria l broadcasts were m ade in th e
a tte m p t to obtain inform ation from survivors of concentration
cam ps, who m ight possibly have knowledge of facts concerning
those who had disappeared.
303
internment in Switzerland
304
20
305
307
Dispersed Families
309
311
313
1944 .....................
1945 .....................
1946 (to M arch 31)
76,300
155,948
14,996
T o t a l ......................247,244
480,000
44,000
590,000
1,811,000
5,000
525,000
82,000
289,000
2,000
5,893,000
9,451,000
125,000
337,000
144,000
56,000
4,906,000
208,000
780,000
119,000
50,000
38,000
115,000
477,000
215,000
8,574,000
682,000
Mail I tems
R ece iv ed ...................................................................................... 54,500,000
Despatched ..............................................................................50,400,000*
* In clu d in g 23,858,000 tw en ty -fiv e-w o rd M essages.
316
CO NTENTS
Introduction
Pages
O R IG IN A N D F O U N D A T I O N .............................................................................. 5
Part I
D U T IE S , S T R U C T U R E A N D G E N E R A L M E T H O D S
OF W ORK
............................................
10
T he A gency C o m m is s io n ................................................................
T he M a n a g e m e n t..............................................................................
G eneral S e c t i o n s ..............................................................................
N a tio n a l S e c t i o n s ..............................................................................
Special S e c t i o n s ..............................................................................
N o m en c la tu re of S ections of th e C e n tral A gency . . . .
15
15
16
18
19
20
22
25
M a il a n d T e l e g r a m s .................................................................
1 . R e ce ip t an d S o r t i n g .................................................................
(A) M a i l ........................................................................................
(B) T e le g r a m s ...............................................................................
2 . D e s p a t c h .........................................................................................
(A) M a i l .........................................................................................
(B) T e le g ra m s ...............................................................................
27
27
27
28
28
28
29
31
32
32
35
35
317
III.
E n q u i r i e s ....................................................
38
1.
A ppl ic a t io n s
A p p lic atio n s
.............................................................................
(A) R e c e ip t....................................................................................
(B) W o rk in g M e t h o d s ............................................................
39
39
42
2.
E n q u i r i e s .......................................................................................
(A) N a tu re an d G eneral P u r p o s e .....................................
(B) V arious C ategories of E n q u iry co rresp o n d in g
O rg a n iz atio n in S e c t i o n s ...............................................
(C) E n q u irie s
concern in g
D e a th s Services
for
D e a t h s ....................................................................................
(D) E n q u iries b y e v id e n c e , o r " R e g im e n ta l
E n q u iries ...........................................................................
(E) E n q u irie s co ncerning C i v i l i a n s .................................
1. P o litic al D e t a i n e e s ...................................................
2. E n e m y C ivilians n o t d ep riv e d of lib e rty an d
Civil P o p u la tio n s of b ellig eren t co u n tries . . .
44
44
and
V.
V I.
48
49
52
52
54
56
1.
56
2.
M e s s a g e s .......................................................................................
(A) T elegraphic M e s s a g e s ........................................................
(B) E x p re ss M e s s a g e s .............................................................
(C) C ivilian M essage Schem e for th e tran sm issio n of
M essages b etw een free C i v i l i a n s ............................
1 . T ra n sc rip tio n of l e t t e r s ............................................
2 . C ivilian M essages received from ab ro a d . . . .
3. C ivilian M essages b y t e l e g r a m .........................
S u m m a ry of th e d ev e lo p m e n t of th e C ivilian
M essage S e c t i o n ........................................................
N u m b er of C ivilian M essages fo rw ard ed . . .
59
61
62
3.
75
4.
T ransm ission
P h o t o g r a p h s .........................................
76
5.
76
T h e U se
of
68
72
82
G e n e r a l A u x il ia r y S e c t i o n s ...............................................
1 . T y p in g S e c t i o n .........................................................................
2. P re lim in a ry S o rtin g S ection a n d E v en in g S ection
86
86
87
of
A u x ilia ry
4. O utside
B ro a d c a stin g
. . .
63
66
66
67
C e n t r a l A g en cy
3.
318
47
by
the
S e c t i o n s ................................................................
89
W o r k ...........................................................................
92
V II.
Card- I n d e x e s
...................................................................................
94
1 . G eneral R e m a r k s ................................................................................
94
2. E q u i p m e n t .........................................................................................
(A) C a r d s ..............................................................................................
(B) A c c e s s o r ie s ................................................................................
95
95
98
3 . W o rk in g M e t h o d s ...........................................................................
(A) S t a f f .........................................................................................
(B) F ilin g a n d R e search W o r k ...............................................
(a) D istrib u tio n of W o r k ..............................................
(b) F ilin g R u l e s .................................................................
(c) R e search W o rk
.....................................................
V II I . T h e W atson S e c t io n . T h e U se of t h e H o l l e r it h
M a c h in e s by t h e C e n t r a l A g e n c y ...........................................
1. B asic
98
99
99
99
100
102
108
M e t h o d s ...............................................................................
109
2 . W o rk of th e W atso n S e c t i o n ..................................................
(A) F o r th e C e n tral A g e n c y ..................................................
(B) F o r th e R elief D iv is i o n .....................................................
(C) O rganization of th e W a tso n S e c t o n ..............................
no
no
112
113
Part I I
N A T IO N A L A N D S P E C IA L S E C T IO N S
N ational Sections :
P o lish S e c t i o n .........................................................................................
F re n ch S e c t i o n .........................................................................................
B ritish S e c t i o n ........................................................................................
G erm an S e c t i o n ........................................................................................
S p an ish S e c t i o n ........................................................................................
P o rtu g u e se S e c t i o n ...................................................................................
L a tin A m erican S e c t i o n ..........................................................................
S can d in av ia n S e c t i o n ...............................................................................
B elgian S e c t i o n .........................................................................................
L u x em b u rg S e c t i o n ...................................................................................
D u tc h S e c t i o n .........................................................................................
F re n ch C olonial S e c t i o n ......................................................................
I ta lia n S e c t i o n ........................................................................................
G reek S e c t i o n .................................................................................................
Y ugoslav S e c t i o n ........................................................................................
R u ssian S e c t i o n ................................................................................
116
124
144
157
191
193
193
195
197
201
203
208
222
244
248
253
319
Czechoslovak S e c t i o n ..........................................................................
A m erican S e c t i o n ....................................................................................
Ja p a n e se S e c t i o n ....................................................................................
H u n g a ria n S e c t i o n ....................................................................................
R u m a n ia n S e c t i o n ....................................................................................
B u lg arian S e c t i o n .................................................................
F in n ish S e c t i o n ........................................................................................
B a ltic S e c t i o n .............................................................................................
S u n d ry N a ti o n a li tie s ...............................................................................
A u stria n S e c t i o n ....................................................................................
258
260
267
270
274
277
279
281
283
285
Special Sections :
M edical P e r s o n n e l ....................................................................................
C ID (S u n d ry C ivilian I n t e r n e e s ) ...................................................
IM P A (Im m ig ra tio n to P alestin e)
..................................................
I n te rn m e n t in S w i t z e r l a n d .................................................................
D ispersed F a m i l i e s ...................................................................................
289
299
301
304
308
A F ew F i g u r e s ..................................
316
IM PR IM E R IE
32O
CICR
BIBLIOTHEQUE
DU
JO U R N A L D E
GENVE