Faut-il revoir l’histoire du CICR durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale ?

Abstract

This article is a posthumous publication of the conference led by Swiss historian Jean-Claude Favez at the Yad Vashem in October 1997. Not only is it a contribution to the historiography of the Jewish Holocaust that took place during the Second World War, it is also a significant source for the understanding of the debates concerning the attitude and lack of involvement of the ICRC during this disaster. As the ICRC was highly criticized for its inactiveness regarding the policy of genocide of the Third Reich, it mandated Professor Favez to publish a piece entitled: Une mission impossible ? Le CICR, les deportations et les camps de concentration nazis (1988, ed. and transl. by John and Beryl Fletcher, The Red Cross and the Holocaust, London, 1999). Professor Favez addresses three complimentary questions during this conference at the Yad Vashem: “What did the ICRC know of the ‘Final Solution’? Did it have any intention of intervening? With what tools?” In addition to these questions, J.-C. Favez underlines alternative pathways to understand the relationship between Switzerland and the ICRC. This is an essential aspect of his analysis of the actions of the ICRC.