Red Cross files reveal WWI cost
The World War I archives look at first glance like little more than a series of glass cases, containing some very dusty and dilapidated file cards.
But look closer, and the true terrible scale of World War I is revealed.
There are rows of boxes, from floor to ceiling, whole shelves with the same surname: Smith, Smith, Smith, Smith. Muller, Muller, Muller, Gautier, Gautier, Gautier, Gautier... and on it goes.
Each box contains thousands of file cards, and each card refers to an individual human being, a soldier missing, imprisoned or killed during the war.
At the start of hostilities in August 1914, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) set up its International Prisoners of War Agency. The aim was to restore contact between all those separated by the conflict.
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But look closer, and the true terrible scale of World War I is revealed.
There are rows of boxes, from floor to ceiling, whole shelves with the same surname: Smith, Smith, Smith, Smith. Muller, Muller, Muller, Gautier, Gautier, Gautier, Gautier... and on it goes.
Each box contains thousands of file cards, and each card refers to an individual human being, a soldier missing, imprisoned or killed during the war.
At the start of hostilities in August 1914, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) set up its International Prisoners of War Agency. The aim was to restore contact between all those separated by the conflict.