The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an international humanitarian aid organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, that was instrumental in the creation and revision of the Geneva Conventions governing armed conflict. ¹

The ICRC has admitted failures related to its conduct during the Second World War and the Holocaust. Peter Maurer, a former president of the ICRC, admitted in 2015 that the organization had “failed to protect civilians and, most notably, Jews persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime” during the Holocaust, adding that the ICRC “failed as a humanitarian organization” because it had “lost its moral compass.” François Bugnion, a former ICRC Director for International Law and Cooperation, stated in a 2002 article that there was “no doubt that senior ICRC officials had become aware of the genocide by the summer of 1942.” ^{2 3} In 2007, Argentina handed over the travel document issued by the ICRC used by Adolf Eichmann, one of the main architects of the Holocaust, to escape Europe after the end of the war. The ICRC has also admitted that at least ten leading Nazi war criminals were able to flee capture and prosecution after the war and escape to Argentina using documentation provided by the ICRC. ^{2 4}

History

The International Committee of the Red Cross is an international humanitarian aid organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization was founded in February 1863, and in 1864, it persuaded governments to adopt the first Geneva Convention, a treaty requiring armies to tend to wounded soldiers, no matter their allegiance, and introduced the Red Cross insignia, a red cross on a white background, as a unified emblem representing medical services protected from military targeting. ¹

The ICRC expanded its work to establish national societies, the first of which was formed in Germany in November 1863. As of February 2026, the Red Cross and Red Crescent (the symbol used in Muslim countries) movement consists of the ICRC, 191 national societies based in nearly every country in the world, and the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, a representative body of the national societies. National societies work in partnership with public authorities based on national and international laws. ^{1 5}

During the First World War, the ICRC opened the International Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva to assist in restoring contact between captured military personnel and their families. The ICRC persuaded governments to adopt a new Geneva Convention in 1929, which provided greater protections to prisoners of war. ¹

During World War II, the ICRC assisted in shipping relief supplies around the world to help prisoners of war and civilians. ICRC delegates also visited prisoners of war around the world, although the organization states that World War II was its “greatest failure” due to “a lack of action on behalf of victims of the Holocaust and other persecuted groups.” ¹

At the ICRC’s initiative in 1949, governments agreed to revise the three Geneva Conventions in action at the time, covering the wounded on the battlefield, prisoners of war, and victims of war at sea. Nations also agreed to add a fourth Geneva Convention, which aimed to protect civilians living under hostile control. ¹

The ICRC also implemented two Additional Protocols relating to the Geneva Convention in 1977. These protocols, one relating to international conflict and the other to non-international conflict, added additional rules to the conduct of hostilities. ¹

The ICRC has a mandate that enables it to protect people affected by armed conflict and other violence. The mandate was given to ICRC under the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Additional Protocols of 1977 and 2005, as well as the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement of 1986. This enables the ICRC to act independently of governments. ⁶

According to its website, the ICRC has more than 18,000 members of staff at its headquarters and in the field. ⁷

Inaction During the Holocaust

The International Committee of the Red Cross has faced criticism for its lack of action during the Holocaust, ² and it and its officials have acknowledged substantial failures. Peter Maurer, a former president of the ICRC, admitted in 2015 that the organization had “failed to protect civilians and, most notably, Jews persecuted and murdered by the Nazi regime,” adding that the ICRC “failed as a humanitarian organization” because it had “lost its moral compass.” ²

Carl Jacob Burckhardt, vice president of the organization in the 1930s, attended the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and was invited to the Nazi Party’s annual rally in Nuremberg in 1937. Burckhardt also personally inspected the Dachau concentration camp in 1938, as part of a Nazi effort to reassure public opinion on the treatment of people and living conditions in the camps. The ICRC, in an official statement following Burckhardt’s tour, said, “We must recognise, in all objectivity, that the Dachau camp is a model of its kind in terms of the way it is built and managed.” ²

Historians have also concluded, after examining ICRC documents, that the organization knew about the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question,” the Nazi policy to murder the entire European Jewish population, since the spring of 1942, although the ICRC neither intervened to stop nor publicly condemned the existence of extermination camps. ^{2 8 3}

Francois Bugnion, a former ICRC director for International Law and Cooperation, stated in a 2002 article titled “Dialogue with the past: the ICRC and the Nazi death camps,” that there was “no doubt that senior ICRC officials had become aware of the genocide by the summer of 1942,” and that the principal guidelines of the organization had “never been so outrageously flouted.” He continued by stating that the failure was “that of the ICRC’s inability – or unwillingness – to fully recognize the extent of the tragedy that was unfolding.” ³

In 2007, Argentina handed over a travel document issued by the ICRC that was used by Adolf Eichmann, one of the main architects of the “Final Solution,” to escape Europe after the end of the war. ²

The ICRC has also admitted that at least ten leading Nazi war criminals were able to flee capture and prosecution after the war and escape to Argentina using documentation provided by the ICRC. ⁴

Despite its failings during World War II, the ICRC received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1944 “for the great work it has performed during the war on behalf of humanity.” It also received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1917 and 1963. ⁹

People

Pierre Krahenbuhl has worked as director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross since April 2024. He was previously commissioner-general and under-secretary general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in 2014. ¹⁰ UNRWA is a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel refugee aid organization dedicated to serving refugees in and from the Palestinian territories. ^{11 12 13}

Krahenbuhl resigned from his position at the UNRWA in 2019 during a misconduct inquiry that was investigating allegations that he, and other members of UNRWA leadership, abused their positions and engaged in nepotism, discrimination, and sexual misconduct, including an accusation that Krahenbuhl was having an affair with an employee. ^{14 15}

According to Swiss media reports, Krahenbuhl created a new position, which he called a “special advisor,” and gave it to his mistress. The role was funded by the Swiss foreign affairs ministry from March 2015 to December 2018. The Swiss government temporarily froze funding to the organization, although it pledged to fund UNRWA in May 2025. ^{15 16}

A group of U.S. Senators wrote a letter to the ICRC in March 2024 urging the organization to reconsider the appointment of Krahenbuhl as its director-general, citing the UNRWA investigation. The Senators were also concerned with the actions of the UNRWA during Krahenbuhl’s tenure, alleging that UNRWA facilities were used to store weapons of the terrorist organization Hamas. The Senators also noted that under his leadership, UNRWA textbooks contained antisemitic material. ¹⁷

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The International Committee of the Red Cross lists on the “careers” version of its website that it is “committed to creating an inclusive working environment,” and that it is also committed to “ensuring fair and equitable recruitment and promotion opportunities.” The website also states that the ICRC is “committed to achieving gender parity” for management positions. ¹⁸

Affiliated Organizations

The International Committee of the Red Cross is a part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, which also consists of 191 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. ¹⁹

Funding

The International Committee of the Red Cross receives most of its funding from governments. According to the ICRC, during the past five years, as of February 2026, government contributions make up, on average, around 82 percent of its budget. It also receives other contributions from national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and supranational organizations such as the European Commission, the main executive arm of the European Union (EU). ²⁰

The organization had a total budget of CHF 2.22 billion (around $2.87 billion) in 2024, and its total expenses amounted to CHF 1.92 billion (around $2.48 billion) that year. ²¹

1. “Our history.” International Committee of the Red Cross. July 28, 2014. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.icrc.org/en/our-history. 
2. Kohn, Eduardo. “Darkness in Red Cross History: A Century of ICRC Failures Toward the Jewish People.” B’nai B’rith International. March 4, 2025. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.bnaibrith.org/darkness-in-red-cross-history/. 
3. “Dialogue with the past: the ICRC and the Nazi death camps.” ICRC. November 5, 2002. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.icrc.org/en/article/dialogue-past-icrc-and-nazi-death-camps. 
4. “BBC News.” Red Cross “helped” Nazis escape. Accessed February 25, 2026. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/281523.stm. 
5. “About.” International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.ifrc.org/who-we-are/international-red-cross-and-red-crescent-movement/about-national-societies. 
6. “We are the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).” ICRC. December 17, 2023. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.icrc.org/en/we-are-international-committee-red-cross-icrc. 
7. “International Committee of the Red Cross.” ICRC. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.icrc.org/en. 
8. “Red Cross Admits Knowing of the Holocaust During the War.” New York Times. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/19/us/red-cross-admits-knowing-of-the-holocaust-during-the-war.html. 
9. “International Committee of the Red Cross – Facts.” The Nobel Prize. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1944/red-cross/facts/. 
10. “Pierre Krähenbühl.” Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog. October 23, 2025. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/contributor/pierre-krahenbuhl/. 
11. “Home.” UNRWA. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.unrwa.org/. 
12. “Stop Israel’s Violent Campaign Against Us.” UNRWA. June 30, 2024. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/unrwa-stop-israel%E2%80%99s-violent-campaign-against-us. 
13. “Investigation completed: allegations on UNRWA staff participation in the 7 October attacks.” UNRWA. August 5, 2024. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/official-statements/investigation-completed-allegations-unrwa-staff-participation-7-october. 
14. Beaumont, Peter. “Head of UN Palestinian refugee agency resigns amid misconduct inquiry.” The Guardian. November 6, 2019. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/06/pierre-krahenbuhl-steps-down-head-un-agency-palestinian-refugees-investigation. 
15. “Swiss UNRWA boss said to have created ‘toxic work environment’.” SWI swissinfo.ch. August 4, 2019. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/mismanagement-allegations_swiss-unrwa-boss-said-to-have-created-toxic-work-environment/45139970. 
16. “Swiss government pledges CHF11 million to UNRWA amid Gaza crisis.” SWI swissinfo.ch. May 21, 2025. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/foreign-affairs/switzerland-pledges-chf11-million-to-unrwa-amid-gaza-crisis/89378028. 
17. “Reconsideration of Pierre Krahenbuhl as General-Director of the ICRC.” United States Senate. March 4, 2024. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/03-04-2024_icrc_letter.pdf. 
18. “Diversity and Inclusion.” Accessed February 25, 2026. https://careers.icrc.org/content/Diversity-and-Inclusion/?locale=en_GB. 
19. “About the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.” ICRC. December 17, 2023. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.icrc.org/en/about-international-red-cross-and-red-crescent-movement. 
20. “About our funding and spending.” International Committee of the Red Cross. February 14, 2024. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://www.icrc.org/en/about-our-funding-and-spending. 
21. “Annual Report 2024.” International Committee of the Red Cross. Accessed February 25, 2026. https://library.icrc.org/library/docs/DOC/icrc-annual-report-2024-overview.pdf.