Caring for prisoners of war: Marguerite Frick-Cramer’s and Marguerite van Berchem’s service activities in the International Committee of the Red Cross (1914-1969)

Abstract

By examining Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer’s and Marguerite van Berchem’s work in the tracing agencies of the International Committee of the Red Cross, this article seeks to contribute to the development of a history of care involving the production of a form of humanitarian knowledge aimed at caring, at distance, for people who had been separated due to warfare. This feminist perspective, which examines the interactions between gender, class and race, allows us to rectify the masculine vision that has dominated this Geneva-based international agency, as well as to comprehend how Frick-Cramer’s and van Berchem’s service activities led to the standardisation of a sophisticated information management system aimed at promoting the well-being of prisoners of war. An analysis of the rare institutional records which have been preserved about the missions led by these two female representatives enables us to conclude that their moral concern, which led them to aid both military and civilian populations during warfare, was rooted in emotions such as indignation and resentment.