Call Number:

CDG-B.Netherlands.International Fellowship of Reconciliation

Repository:

Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Extent:

3.33 linear ft. (8 manuscript boxes)

Language Note:

Materials in English.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item], in the International Fellowship of Reconciliation Collected Records (CDG-B Switzerland), Swarthmore College Peace Collection

Date:

1919- current (inclusive)

Creator:

International Fellowship of Reconciliation

Abstract:

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation was founded in 1922, though international work under the umbrella name "Fellowship of Reconciliation" began as early as 1915.

In August 1914, an ecumenical conference was held in Konstanz, southern Germany (near Switzerland) by Christians seeking to prevent the outbreak of war in Europe. Before the conference ended, however, World War I had started and those present had to return to their respective countries. Henry Hodgkin (an English Quaker) and Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (a German Lutheran) parted company at the railway station at Cologne with the words "We are one in Christ and can never be at war." To take that pledge forward, Hodgkin organised a conference in Cambridge in 1915, where the "Fellowship of Reconciliation" was formed (England FOR). Shortly after the Cambridge conference, in the autumn of 1915, he went over to America and the American Fellowship was founded (Nov. 1915). The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) was established in 1922 with the name of Movement Towards a Christian International; its current name came into use in 1923.

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation has had as many as 40 national Fellowships on all continents. The German branch, Versuhnungsbund, held its first conference in 1932, but in 1933, when Hitler came to power, it dissolved. Siegmund Schultze was arrested twenty-seven times during World War I and was forced to live in exile during the Nazi period. FOR Germany was officially reestablished just in 1956 with Schultze as President.

To learn more of IFOR history, see http://www.ifor-mir.org/index.php/about-ifor/history.

The IFOR Secretariat has been located in various places throughout the years, but has stayed in Alkmaar, Netherlands since 1977.

IFOR executives (International Secretariat), Dates, and Office Locations:
1. Kees Boeke, 1919-1921, Bilthoven, Netherlands
2. Oliver Dryer, Secretary, 1921-1928, London, England
3. Donald Grant, & Kaspar Mayr, Secretaries, 1929-1933, Vienna, Austria
4. Henri Roser, General Secretary Daniel Hogg, Assistant Secretary, 1933-1938, Paris, France
5. Percy W. Bartlett, General Secretary, 1938-1956, London, England
6. Ernest Best, 1956-1957, London, England
7. E. Philip Eastman, 1957-1966, London, England
8. J. J. Wentink (interim), 1967, London, England
9. Erwin Rennert, 1967-1968, Vienna, Austria
10. Pieter A. Eterman, Administrative Secretary, 1968-1969, Driebergen, Netherlands
11. Alfred Hassler (half-time with P.A. Eterman, Admin. Secretary), 1970-1974, Driebergen, Netherlands; Copenhagen, Denmark
12. International Fellowship of Reconciliation-Dai Dong Collective, 1974-1976, Brussels, Belgium
13. James H. Forest, Coordinator; General Secretary, 1977-1988, Alkmaar, Netherlands
14. David Atwood, 1989-1994, Alkmaar, Netherlands
15. David Atwood, 1989-1994, Alkmaar, Netherlands
16. Anke Kooke, 1995- , Alkmaar, Netherlands

This collection comprises a small amount of material collected over the years.

The main body of International Fellowship of Reconciliation records of 1919-1969 is found in the files of John Nevin Sayre, who served in an official capacity from 1935 to 1967 (DG 117, Series C).