Missing International Archives

Missing International Archives

Historians of interwar internationalism can draw on archives of international organisations established in countries that remained neutral during World War Two, including the Geneva archives of the League of Nations, and on records of American philanthropic foundations established after 1918 to promote international reconciliation. The archives of international agencies based in cities that were occupied by German forces during World War Two, including those of the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation (IIIC) in Paris, are less complete. This page from an inventory of IIIC archives marks a typical absence by noting: ‘Durant l’occupation allemande à Paris (1940-1944) certains dossiers ont disparus, notamment ceux concernant les questions scientifiques’ (‘During the German Occupation in Paris (1940-1944), some files disappeared, especially those concerning scientific issues’). These documents were often seized by Nazi officials or local police forces seeking information on the activities of internationalists and pacifists during the 1920s and 1930s.

Inventory of the Archives of the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation (IICI) 1925-1946. Correspondence files, documents and publications in the UNESCO Archives, Paris. Volume I (UIS.90/WS/1, AG 1/1:I) [not paginated, document page 57]; http://www.unesco.org/archives/files/ag01fa00001f.pdf