Draft:International Prisoner of War Agency

The International Committee of the Red Cross on 21 August 1914 in response to the worldwide conflict and the inadequacy of the 1906 Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field created the International Prisoner of War Agency also referred to as the Central Agency for Prisoners of War. The initial intent behind creating the agency was to regain contact with prisoners of war and other displaced persons during the war. The agency operated as a vehicle for for informational exchange between belligerent countries. Upon the reception of the information either in forms of requests from families about missing service members or correspondence from the states on the transfer or holding of the POWs, the International Prisoner of War Agency compiled the information into individual files and an collective index. The creation of the International Prisoner of War Agency marked a significant rise in humanitarianism in response to the Great War. Throughout the war, international organizations like the International Prisoner of War Agency and the World Alliance Y.M.C.A. worked in tandem with neutral country embassies to standardize the treatment of prisoners of war and work towards a prisoner of war diplomacy that eliminated retaliation.

Tracing Prisoners of World War I

Locating missing soldiers on the battlefield remained a priority for the International Prisoner of War Agency in World War I. The tracing department was divided into fourteen sections based and evolved as more countries joined the war. These sections included tracing agencies for Franco-Belgian, British, Italian, Greek, American, Brazilian, Portuguese, Serbian, Romanian, Russian, German, Bulgarian, Turkish and Austro-Hungarian.

Civilian Prisoners

Prior to the Great War, international law failed to address the protections and rights afforded to civilians. During an International Committee of the Red Cross Conference in September 1917, the President Gustave Ador argued that the civilian prisoners were no different than detained military combatants. He articulated that their novel position in the war warranted a discussion on an international level. Unlike their military counterparts, civilians held by belligerent states were harder to track and thus international agencies could not hold their captors accountable for good treatment. Civilian families also suffered in the absence of international law. Not only was information sparce but they also did not receive the financial support that the families of military prisoners of war were allotted.

Seeking to improve the treatment of civilian prisoners a Civilian Prisoners' Bureau was created as part of the International Prisoner of War Agency in 1914. Agency volunteers extended their tracing services to include civilians taken prisoner by belligerent nations or those living in occupied territories. In addition to managing correspondence between the civilian prisoners, the host country and their nation of origin, the Bureau also conducted 524 visits during the course of the war.

Women of the International Prisoner of War Agency

The International Prisoner of War Agency opened up opportunities for women to support the war effort in a humanitarian way. One of the numerous women employed through the agency was Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer. Frick-Cramer was born in Geneva on the 28th of December 1887. During her childhood, Frick-Cramer witnessed her family's involvement in philanthropic activities. Her familial tie to the International Red Cross began with her maternal grandfather, Louis Micheli, who served on the committee in its early years. Despite her family's engagement in philanthropy, Frick-Cramer spent her young adult years attending universities in Paris and Geneva to focus on law and history. It was not until the opening of the International Prisoner of War Agency, that she decided to dedicate her life to the ICRC. Shortly after joining the agency, Frick-Cramer was made co-director of the Département de l'Entente which traced and managed the correspondence for Allied Prisoners held in Central Power agencies. In addition to serving in this capacity, Frick-Cramer also served as a diplomatic representative for the agency. During the First World War, Frick-Cramer traveled to Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Paris. With each trip, she sought to improve the relationships and correspondence between foreign governments and the ICRC and ultimately improve the conditions for prisoners of war. Shortly before the end of the First World War, Frick-Cramer was the first women recommended as a member of the International Committee based on her service and contributions to the organization. Sixteen days after the war ended, Frick-Cramer's appointment was approved. In the subsequent years, she continued her work with prisoners of war and their repatriation. In 1922, she resigned from the organization due to geographical constraints. Despite her departure from the ICRC, Frick-Cramer would co-author a draft document that would inspire the 1929 Geneva Convention which would outline the standard and provisions for prisoners of war during the World War II.

Prisoner of War Diplomacy

World War ushered in a new form of prisoner of war diplomacy led by the United States and neutral nations. Prior to the first "total war" relationships between captors and captives underwent several transformations as Europe evolved into a modern state. Before the seventeenth century, the treatment of prisoners of war was based on the value and need of their labor. As slavery began to decline, Medieval Europe began to commodify their prisoners of war and using them as ransom. The professionalization of militaries brought in another wave of changes in the handling of prisoners of war. European countries now exchanged their prisoners of war during conflicts. This system benefited states in a multitude of ways by enabling them to sustain their fighting force and reserving logistical supplies for their own soldiers rather than parceling out sustenance for the long-term care of prisoners. The foundation of the exchange system relied on the principle of reciprocity. Each state recognized the equal value of each prisoner as they were exchanged in equal numbers and rank for rank. As Europe expanded its colonial reach into the Americas, they brought with them the practices of Prisoner of War diplomacy which were employed in subsequent conflicts with other European powers and eventually the American Revolution. Despite its benefits, the system of exchange broke down during the 19th Century American Civil War. The Union's unwillingness to recognize the Confederacy as an independent nation and the Confederacy's refusal to exchange African American soldiers degraded the principle of reciprocity essential for this diplomatic practice. Amidst this crisis, Abraham Lincoln employed Francis Lieber to draft General Order No. 1 which acted as the first attempt to codify the conduct of war and included guidelines for the treatment of prisoners of war. Despite these attempts, both the Union and Confederate administration was unprepared to care for thousands of prisoners for an unknown amount of time. Due to this lack of preparation, prisoners on both sides suffered greatly. Following the Civil War, Americans used their experience as captors to facilitate prisoner of war diplomacy in World War I.

The need to codify protections and rights for prisoners of war came shortly after the end of the Civil War through international conventions and agreements. Henri Dunant published Souvenirs de Solferino which detailed the miserable condition that soldiers faced on the battlefield. His essay later led to his founding of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the organization of sites across the globe.

While the years leading up to World War I changed prisoner of war diplomacy by creating international agreements between states, during the war a new practice was adopted which enforced these standards. Pioneered by Americans, the prison checks became an essential part of the new prisoner of war diplomacy of the twentieth century. The International Prisoner of War Agency played an instrumental role in maintaining this practice and sent representatives to camps across Europe during World War I.

Funding

Funding for the International Prisoner of War Agency arose from numerous groups. As a novel organization within the larger International Committee of the Red Cross, the International Prisoner of War Agency relied on the Red Cross societies in belligerent nations since they would directly benefit from the agency's services. Some funding was derived from the Central Committees of the Red Cross Societies and later in the war various countries themselves made financial contributions. Despite the contribution of these large actors, surprisingly the majority of the agency's funds came the general public. While many of these monetary contributions were unsolicited, the agency found innovative ways to fundraise. One way of bringing in funds was through a theatrical production written by Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer and her colleagues called Château historique. Other methods included the sale of stationary or censorship seals or stamps and postcards that provided a picturesque view of life inside the camps. To further satisfy curiosities, the agency developed a weekly bulletin called Les Nouvelles de l'Agence. Its 900 subscribers received photos of the camps, prisoners and relevant information about diplomatic conferences regarding prisoners. Unfortunately, the agency also generated revenue in some unsavory ways such as the selling of prison inspections conducted by ICRC officials.

Archives

The International Prisoner of War Agency records are held in several International Red Cross archives. Most documents are held in the main archive in Geneva while information on the Russian front is housed at the Danish Red Cross in Copenhagen. These records provide valuable insight into the Agency's operations. Since tracing captured prisoners remained a central task for the agency, the archive contains five million index cards that detail the information of two million prisoners. In addition, researchers can find reports from prisoner of war camps and internment camps in Europe, North Africa, India and Japan.

Additional Reading

• Piller, Elisabeth, and Neville Wylie, eds. Humanitarianism and the Greater War, 1914–24. Manchester University Press, 2023. http://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.7794628.
• Barnett, Michael. “Saving Soldiers and Civilians during War.” In Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism, 76–94. Cornell University Press, 2011. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt7z8ns.8.