2 m. meter
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
INVENTORY
Period 1919-1940
CONGRESSES 4
GENERAL COUNCIL 6
CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES organised by the I.F.T.U. 8
Peace Congress 8
IFTU/ITS-Conferences
Working Women Conferences
Economic Conferences 10
USSR - IFTU-Conferences 10
EDUCATIONAL WORK 10
VARIOUS SUBJECTS 10
CIRCULARS 11
Period 1939-1953
GENERAL COUNCIL 11
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 11
SECRETARIAT 12
General 12
Finances 12
Relations with affiliated and non-affiliated organisations
Relations with International Trade Secretariats
Relations with countries
Conferences and Congresses
EDUCATIONAL WORK 18
AID TO REFUGEES 18
CIRCULARS 18
PROPAGANDA AND PUBLICITY 19
LIQUIDATION 19
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
The International Federation of Trade Unions (I.F.T.U.) was set up on the 21st of
August 1901 in Copenhagen, Denmark and was known as the International Secretariat
of Trade Union Centres till the First World War.
In 1902 at the Conference of Stuttgart it was decided to establish the Secretariat
of the I.F.T.U. in Berlin under the direction of Karl Legien .
In view of the wartime conditions in 1914 a Sub-Secretariat was set up in Amsterdam
on neutral ground under the management of the Dutch trade unionist Jan Oudegeest ,
while the headquarters of the I.F.T.U. stayed in Berlin. The so-called "Entente-countries"
(U.S.A., France, Great-Britain, Russia and Belgium) raised serious objections to the
latter and desired the removal of the headquarters from Berlin to a neutral country.
The German trade unionists took the position that such a decision could only be taken
by an international conference, which could not possibly meet under the prevalent
circumstances. According to them it was necessary to wait for the end of the war.
Thereupon the trade unions from the Entente-countries decided to set up a Central
Office of Correspondence in Paris under the direction of Léon Jouhaux . Berlin and
Paris competed with each other.
In 1919 at the Conference of Amsterdam it was decided to establish the Secretariat
in Amsterdam. In 1930 the headquarters of the I.F.T.U. was removed again to Berlin,
in spite of opposition from many within the I.F.T.U. who did not think the circumstances
in Germany were favourable.
Within two years the headquarters had to be removed to Paris. At the outbreak of
the Second World War the headquarters and the staff had to move to London.
The funds of the I.F.T.U. were transferred to London and to New York. The greatest
part of the archives was hidden from the Nazis in a house in Savigny-le-Temple, a
very small village 26 miles south of Paris. The rest of the archives and other documents
was hidden by the staff of the I.F.T.U. in a small village called Sables-d'Olonne
on the Atlantic coast 250 miles west of Paris.
However, within a few months the Gestapo succeeded in finding the archives, which
were transported by the German military police first to Paris and later to Berlin.
Then the archives and documents were distributed in all directions of Germany with
the intention to reclassify or possibly to destroy them. Most of the buildings, where
the archives of the I.F.T.U. were kept, were completely destroyed by bombardments
during the last months of the war.
After the war several attempts were made to find the archives but unfortunately without
any result.
In December 1945 it was decided to dissolve the I.F.T.U. and to create the World
federation of Trade Unions.
The present documents from before 1939 were collected by the former librarian of
the International Institute of Social History, Mrs. Annie Adama van Scheltema . The
documents from the period after 1939 were collected by Walter Schevenels who was the
General Secretary of the I.F.T.U. from 1930 up to 1945. After the dissolution of the
I.F.T.U. Schevenels had been instructed to liquidate the I.F.T.U., which was completed
in 1953.
The greater part of the collection covers the period from 1939 up to 1953, but there
are no documents concerning the Congresses from that period.
Organisation
The management of the I.F.T.U. was in the hands of an Executive Committee and General
Council who were bound to act in accordance with the decisions of its Congress.
The Executive Committee consisted of a President, five Vice-Presidents and the General
Secretary and met at least six times a year. The Executive Committee decided all questions
except those expressly reserved for the General Council and the Congress. In case
of emergency the Executive could take decision on any question whatsoever.
The General Council consisted of the members of the Executive Committee and one delegate
from each affiliated national centre. Meetings of the Council were held once a year.
The Executive Committee had the right to convene extraordinary meetings. Such meetings
should also be convened on the demand of at least one-third of the members of the
General Council. The duties of the General Council were among other things: to examine
the activities of the Executive Committee; to examine the programme of action for
the coming year; to pass the annual financial report; to pass the budget for the coming
year; to deal with all matters pertaining to the affiliation or expulsion of National
Centres.
The Congress consisted of delegates of the affiliated National Centres. The ordinary
Congress of the I.F.T.U. met every three years. Extraordinary Congress could be convened
at any time.
The final decision on all questions rested with the Congress. Its specific duties
included among other things: supervising the activities of the Executive Committee
and the General Council; determining the programme of action; deciding upon any alterations
to be made in the rules and regulations; electing the members of the Executive Committee,
the General Secretary and the Assistant Secretaries.
the General Secretary managed the Secretariat taking care of the administration of
the I.F.T.U.
Sources: L.L. Lorwin, Labor and Internationalism. New York, 1929.
W. Schevenels, Forty-Five Years International federation of Trade Unions 1901-1945.
Brussels 1956.
L.E.G. Schwidder
INDEX
Inventorynumber
A
Adama van Scheltema, A. 338
Adamczyk, Al. 191
Aget, Edouard 338
Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond 338
Allina, Heinrich 227, 229
Alter, Victor 293
Amalgamated Engineering Union 238
Amalgamated Union of Building Trade 145
Amalgamated Union of Operative Bakers Confectioners and Allied Workers 215
American Federation of Labor 194, 338
Anderson, Gunnar 193
Arbeidernes Faglige Landsorganisasjon i Norge 338
Arbejdernes Landsbank Kobenhavn 338
Armstrong, H.T. 191
Aronson, Gregor 156
Association of Austrian Socialists 229
Association of Engineering and Shipbuilding Draughtsmen 216, 273
Association of Free Germans 265
Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain 266
Association of Polish Railwaymen in Great Britain 292
Association of Scientific Workers 188
Auerbach, Walter 184, 257
Australasian Council of Trade Unions 258
Austrian Communists in Great Britain 229
Austrian Representative Committee 231, 232
Austrian Trade Union 338
Austrian Youth Association 227
B
Banque Centrale des Coopératives 338
Baxter, W.H. 250
Becker, K. 269
Becu, O. 283
Belgian Commission for the Study of Post-War Problems 192-194, 237-243
Belgian, Danish, Dutch, French and Polish Central Transport Workers' Organization
237, 238, 273
Belgian Trade Union Centre in Great Britain 235-243, 258
Belgisch Vakbondscentrum 191
Belgisch Vakverbond 243, 244
Belgische Transportarbeidersbond 222
Belgische Zeemansbond 222
Bell, E.A. 266
Benoit, S. 338
Bieligk, Fritz 257, 263, 265
Biennenveld, Maurice van 338
Block, Aug. De 239, 241
Bock, Max 269
Bodson, V. 263
Bogaert, Charles 338
Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders Society 242
Bondfield, Margaret 143
Bornstein, P. 338
Bratu, A.E. 319
Braunthal, Julius 195
British Broadcasting Corporation 189
British Labour Party 263
British Ministry of Information 261, 262
British Workers' Sports Association 202, 203
Broczyner, Alfred 258
Buttinger, A. 197
C
Caballero, Francesco Largo 197
Cabossel, L. 338
Camera Confederale del Lavoro Napoli 283
Camaerts, Emile 239, 240, 242
Captain Santos Bassauri 298
Carillo, Weceslao 184, 193, 204, 298
Carllos 270
Carré, René 252
Casserini, Karl 337
Celler, Emanuel 229
Central Committee for Refugees 197
Central Federation of Jewish Labour in Eretz Israel 223
Central Union of Allied Workers 235, 236
Centrale Bond van Transportarbeiders 222
Centrale des Metallurgistes de Belgique 241, 242
Centrale Générale du Bâtiment Ameublement et Industries Diverses de Belgique 236,
238
Citrine, Walter 194, 322, 324, 338
Clerical and Administrative Workers' Union 266
Confederacion National del Trabajo de la República Argentina 298
Confédération Générale du Travail 193
Confédération Générale du Travail du Luxembourg 338
Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavaro 283
Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. 338
Czechoslovak Economic Service in U.S.A. 323
Czechoslovak Forces in England (Welfare Section) 319
Czechoslovak Trade union Centre in Great Britain 193, 319
Czechoslovak Trade Union Movement 338
Czech Refugee Trust Fund 256
D
Daniel, Jean 197
Danzing Movement 272
Derkow, Willi 257, 259, 261, 263, 266, 269
Deutsch, Ladislav 271
Doberer, Kurt K. 216, 260
Dominlea, Franz 271
Dove, P.R. 322
E
East Lewisham Labour Party 229
Eichler, Willi 257-260, 262, 263, 266, 267
Electrical Trades Union 216
l' Émancipatrice 338
Erlich, Henryk 293
Evans, Lincoln 216
F
Fabian International Bureau 275
Fabian Society 319
Fachgruppe Bühne, Film, Rundfunk 263, 264
Fassin, A. 235
Fassin, L. 338
Federated Gas Employees' Industrial Union 258
Federazion Antifascista Italiana 262
Feierabend, Ladislav 250
"Fight for Freedom" 266
Fircroft 144
Foreign Scientists Committee 188
Free German League of Culture in Great Britain 264
Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund 269
French Trade Union Centre in Great Britain 204, 319
Freyd 216
Friedmann, D. 319
Front de l'indépendance 243
G
Gann, E.J. 262
Gärtner, Marie 338
General Federation Jewish Labour 194, 291
Genossenschaftliche Zentralbank Basel 338
Gentili, Dino 283
German Trade Union Centre in Great Britain 196, 257-259, 261-268, 269, 325
Geyer, Curt 270
Gherman, E. 338
Gluck, P.St. 247
Goodrich, Carter 191, 322, 324
Gottfurcht, Hans 254, 257-264, 267, 269, 315, 338
Gotthelf, Herta 259
Graetzer, Rosi 261
Greidinger, Arpad 230
Groenewald, E. 269
Group of Austrian Trade Unionists in Great Britain 197, 227-233
Groupe socialiste Emile Vandervelde 236, 239, 240
Gruppe unabhängiger Deutscher Autoren 266
Guérin, Henri 252
H
Haase, Emil 271
Hahn, Otto 191, 256
Halasi, A.B. 322
Hantusch, R. 256
Harris, Pippa 338
Hayes, Ellen 143
Heidorn, Wilhelm 258, 259
Heine, B.F. 260, 265
Heine, F. 260
Herbert, George 262
Hertz, Paul 255
Herz, Carl 263
Heuman, W. 266
Hindahl, Olav 191, 192
Hofmann, Rudolf 271
Holowatyj, Rudolf 228, 229
Holtermann, K. 264
Huysmans, Camille 241
I
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions 338
International Co-operative Women's Guild 191, 192
International federation of Commercial Clerical 263 and Technical Employees
International Federation of Textile Workers' Associations 191, 192
International Group of Teachers Trade Unionists 319
International Labour Office 190-194, 240, 244
International Solidarity Fund 261
International Transportworkers' Federation 184, 193, 194, 259, 338
Interned Enemy Aliens Tribunal 264
Irmer, E.K. 266
Iron and Steel Trades Confederation 264, 265
Isner, Inna 260
Italian Antifascist Federation 263
J
Jahn, H. 259
Jakerlová, Maren 271
Jaksch, Wenzel 256
Jakubowicz, A. 261
Janssens, Jos 235
Jewish Refugee Committee 197
Jouhaux, Leon 324
K
Kempner, M. 260
Keuwet, G. 242
Kirschmann, Emil 267
Kiss, Alfred 261
Klein, Alexander 197
Knellesen, G. 338
Koegler, Franz 256
Kolarz, A. 338, 340
Kolb, Karl 228, 229
Köller, Joh. 271
Kramer, F. 283
Krautter, Erich 264
Krautter, Rudolf H. 239
Krebs, Martin 263, 264
Kretschmar, Richard 196
Kreyssig, Gerhart 324, 325, 338
Krier, Pierre 191
Kunosi, Alexander 250
L
Labour College 144
Ladig, Josef 271
Landesexekutive Oberösterreich des Oesterreichischen Gewerkschaftsbundes 233
Landsorganisationen i Sverige 251, 338
Laurent, Charles 338
League of Austrian Socialists in Great Britain 229, 231
League of Nations Union 250
Lewin, Hans 259
Lietz, Carl 272
Lievers, T.D 260
Lipscher, Koloman 262
Litauer, M. 319
Llopis, Rodolfo 298
Locker, Berl 204, 243, 265, 291
Loeb, Walter 261
Loew - Klein, Stella 319
London Bureau of the Austrian Socialists 197, 203, 227, 229, 232, 233
Londoner Vertretung der freien Arbeiter-, Angestellten- und Beambten- Gewerkschaften
257, 258
Lopez, Juan 298
Löwenthal, R. 255
M
Malfati, F. 283
Man, H. de 244
Meister, Martin 270, 325
Menne, Bernhard 255, 263
Mereminsky, Israel 291
Muller, J.M. 260
N
National Council of Labour Colleges 144, 320, 321
National Federation of Building Trades Operatives 210, 236
National Labour Committee for Palestine 291
National Society of Operative Printers and Assistants 223
National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives 209
National Union of Clerks and Administrative Workers 146
National Union of Distributive Allied Workers 192, 212
National Union of Journalists 263
National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers 194, 211, 228
Nauen, Robert 262
Nederlands Verbond van Vakverenigingen 338
Nenni, Pietro 283
Neu Beginnen 255
Neumann, G. 256
New Zealand Printing and Related Trades Union 223
Nordahl, Konrad 216, 280, 289
Norwegian Association of Trade Unions 216, 229, 231
Novy, Franz 228, 229, 231
O
Ofen, Friedel 261
Olday 262
Ollenhauer, Erich 258, 325
Oppenheimer, F. 269
Otra Alemania Buenos Aires 269
P
Palestine Labour political Committee 194
Palestine Trade Union Centre 291
Parti Socialiste Ouvrier Espagnol 298
Partito dei Lavoratori d'Italia 283
Paulick, Bruno 262
Pierleoni, Bruno 283
Polák, Franz 271
Polish Social Information Bureau 319
Polish Trade Union Centre in Great Britain 292, 305
Pollak, Oscar 197, 229, 232, 233
Pordes, Friedrich 231
Potters 262
Preminger, Isidor 263
Procházka, Adolf 198
R
Ravitzki, K. 259
Reigate Borough Labour Party 229
Reitzer, Richard 256
Relief Committee for Trade Union Refugees 270
Rens, Jef 193, 194, 236, 243
Reparation 268
Reventlow, Rudolfo 265
Richter, Georg 263, 270
Rosal, Amaro 298
Rosenberg, Ludwig 264
Ruskin College 144, 321
S
Salgado, M. 298
Samvirkende Fagforbund i Danmark 338
Sander, Wilhelm 196, 203, 255, 257-262
Sander - Gruppe 197
Saran, Mary 201
Schiff, Viktor 263, 266
Schilde, Hans 269
Schilling, Erich 269
Schilling, Ernst 260, 261
Schlimme, H. 269
Schmidt, Heinz 262
Schnacke, Ernst 260
Schoettle, Erwin 255
Schuersch, Ch. 300
Schuil 338
Schulz, F. 338
Schweizerische Arbeiterbildungszentrale 146
Schweizerische Gewerkschaftsbund 223, 270, 300, 338
Seger, Gerhart 255
Siebert, J.G. 188
Smith, Rennie 144
South African Typographical Union 223
Soviet Monitor 292
Sozialistische Jugend Internationale 146
Spaak, P.H. 236
Spanish Aid Committee 197
Spanish Workers in Great Britain 204, 298
Specht, Minna 319
Staal, Ad 322
Stampfer, Friedrich 255, 261
Stevenson, J.W. 260
Stolz, Georges 186, 256, 257, 258, 322, 323
Storch, R. 202, 203
Strobl, Anna 262
Sudeten German Social Democratic Party 256
Süss, Bruno 270
Svitanics, Johannes 197, 227
T
Tewson, Vincent 338
Thelen - Moisel, Friedel 262
Topalovitch, Z. 283
Trade Union Centre for Austrian Workers in Great Britain 227, 229, 230
Trades and Labor Congress of Canada 258
Trades Union Congress 125, 237, 238, 241, 243, 260, 262, 263, 264, 273, 283, 319,
321
Trades Union Congress General Council 143, 144, 145
Tschoffen, Paul 241
Turner, Ben 144
U
Ufficio Regionale del Lavoro 283
Union Deutscher Sozialistischer Organisationen in Gross Britannien 265
Union General de Trabajadores de Espana 298, 338
Union of Jewish Clerks and Office Employees 212
Union of Post Office Workers 143, 144, 145
unione Ferrovieri Italiani 283
Unitarian Service Committee 197, 322
V
Verband der Bekleidungs-, Leder- und Ausrüstungsarbeiter der Schweiz 211
Vogel, Hans 259, 262-265
W
Wahusinski, G. 338
Waldheim, Harald von 259, 261
Watson Collin and Co. 338
Wauters, A. 235, 236, 240, 241
Weckel, Curt 322
Weidmann, F. 269
Weigel, Wilhelm 271
Werner, H. 197
White, D. 338
Wietesky, Werner 266
Winter, Frederik 260
Wolstencroft, F. 210
Wolkers' Chess Association 203
Workers' Educational Association 143, 144, 319, 320, 321
Workers' Educational Trade Union Committee 144
Workers' Travel Association 263
World Council of Churches 338
Wouwe, Jan van 336, 338
Z
Zarras, J. 198
Zeidler, Alfred 262
Zinner, Josef 256
Zinner Gruppe 256
Zygielbojm, S. 265