For the anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, find 88 newly digitized translations of the treaties online. Pictured: Australia, DPRK, Israel, Russia, Thailand, Ethiopia, Iraq, Switzerland 🗺️🔗https://library.icrc.org/library/search/shortview?searchField=marcrecord&searchType=Simple&searchTerm=71939

☀️The ICRC Library will be closed from 20 July to 7 August, except for pre-arranged visits. To organize a visit or send a request, email library@icrc.org. We'll be operating with a smaller team, so we thank you for your patience in advance. We wish you all a nice summer!

📣Because #autonomousweapons are no longer a distant threat: ahead of the 2026 CCW Review Conference, the ICRC calls for action to prohibit certain autonomous weapons and restrict all others. A new short must-read ICRC publication in our collection : library.icrc.org/library/sear...

✨New area at the ICRC Library✨ We now have a ‘books to give away’ corner at the library. If you happen to be passing by, feel free to pick something up! #library #bookgiveaway

| Behind the stacks | 📚“We’re going to need to do a second round, aren’t we ?”: a glimpse behind the scenes of our current digitization project in a new blogpost: blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/... (also in Spanish and French)

Inside the ICRC Library’s 2025-2027 Digitization Project : Selecting and Preparing Collections - Cross-Files | ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library

This blogpost takes you behind the scenes of the ICRC library team’s work to select and prepare collections for its ongoing digitization project. Plus, a first look at the close to 9’000 publications ...

blogs.icrc.org

| Behind the stacks | Among the thousands of documents we’re digitizing is our collection of translations of the 1949 #GenevaConventions and 1977 & 2005 Additional Protocols. It represents more than 140 documents, in 40 different languages! 🌐

Today, we take a step back in time to share with you the story of the ICRC. It all began with a book: “A Memory of Solferino”. ⬇️

Big news! We’re kicking off the operational phase of our most ambitious digitization project yet. One step closer to online access to the ICRC archives and library collections for all. Read more ⬇️

Cédric Cotter@cedcotter.bsky.social · 7mo ago

The ICRC has launched an ambitious digitization programme that will facilitate access to funds collections and enable a truly global reach for our unique archival materials blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/...

✨ Happy new year! Looking back on a 2025 highlight, our colleague Clara from the ICRC archives just posted a new piece on the "Fiaccolata", the Battle of Solferino, and Henry Dunant's experience. Read at : blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/...

A Memory of Solferino: The ‘Fiaccolata’ and a Brief Research Guide - Cross-Files | ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library

A humanitarian torchlight procession in Solferino and a research guide to the archival and library materials about Solferino and its enduring humanitarian legacy.

blogs.icrc.org

Happy Holidays! ✨ The library will be closed from December 22, 2025, to January 2, 2026. We wish you a pleasant end to the year, full of rest and good reads!

🌟The ICRC library is ready for the holidays : a somewhat precarious RC tree complete with the obligatory #IHL book ornaments! 🎄

#DidYouKnow ? Twenty years ago, the Third Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 was adopted. This protocol led to the adoption of a third distinctive emblem, in addition to the #RedCross and #RedCrescent: the Red Crystal.

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of welcoming colleagues from @cern.bsky.social #library and #archives. It was a wonderful opportunity to present our collections, exchange on our working methods, discuss common challenges, and spend a meaningful moment together!

⚖️Today marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the first #Nuremberg Trial. On the 20th of November 1945, the International Military Tribunal began prosecuting high-ranking Nazi leaders for conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

📚We have posted on our blog a new article presenting a selection of books on environmental issues in times of armed conflict. Enjoy the read! blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/...

International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict: Books Selection - Cross-Files | ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library

November 6th marks the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. For this occasion, we have put together a selection of books on this subject from...

blogs.icrc.org

In the latest issue of the Int'l Review of the Red Cross on the Protection of the Dead, we recommend the book "Anthropology of violent death". 📖 Read in #openaccess: doi.org/10.1017/S181...

| Behind the stacks | The library team just started preparing its next digitization project. Highlights so far: tackling publications with three different reference codes and discovering unknown translations in Swahili or in Urdu … 50 boxes done, 250 more to go! 📚

📃 Want to know more about the adoption and the evolution of our Fundamental Principles? Read our research guide :

The Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement - Cross-Files | ICRC Archives, audiovisual and library

Chronology and online sources on the adoption of the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

blogs.icrc.org

International Committee of the Red Cross@icrc.org · 11mo ago

🌍 60 years ago, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement adopted its 7 fundamental principles: Humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. Today, they remain our compass to help communities affected by humanitarian crises.

We’re kicking off a new series on the ICRC Library & Archives blog: stories of WWII Prisoners-of-War escapes told through our unique sources. 🪁 blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/...

Did you know the @icrc.org's first president was a General? Swiss General Dufour died exactly 150 years ago. The ICRC’s humanitarian mission was grounded in battlefield experience from the start. 🔗Today’s military perspectives in the Intl Review of the Red Cross: library.icrc.org/library/sear...

It was only in 1996 that ICRC archives opened its reading rooms to external researchers. What research tools were put at their disposal back then? How have these tools evolved throughout history? #ArchivesAreAccessible blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/... [fr] blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/... [en]

Since February 2025 the ICRC Public Archives have launched their new online catalogue, enabling researchers to browse inventories covering more than a hundred years of humanitarian history! #ArchivesAreAccessible #IAW2025 Explore the Archives online catalogue: archives.icrc.org/search/simple

It’s #InternationalArchivesWeek and this year’s theme is #ArchivesAreAccessible. Perfect time to learn about the rules of access to the ICRC Archives, a balance between transparency and protection that reflects multiple stakes and challenges. library.icrc.org/library/sear... #IAW2025

Newly digitized from the ICRC Archives 👇 Contribute to making them searchable—for research and remembrance.

Arolsen Archives@arolsenarchives.bsky.social · last yr.

The Nazis deported 64,000 Jews from the Drancy camp near Paris. Less than 2,000 survived. To mark 80 years since the end of Nazi rule, we publish Drancy file cards on #everynamecounts. Help build the our digital memorial to the victims of Nazism: everynamecounts.arolsen-archives.org/en/ @icrc.org

To mark the 80th anniversary of the end of Nazi rule, @arolsenarchives.bsky.social will publish file cards from Drancy camp that are part of ICRC Archives on platform #everynamecounts. Help build the world's largest digital memorial to the victims of Nazism: everynamecounts.arolsen-archives.org/en

#everynamecounts – Digitales Denkmal für NS-Opfer!

Die Nazis verfolgten und ermordeten Millionen Menschen. Hilf mit, an die Opfer zu erinnern. Eine Crowdsourcing-Initiative der Arolsen Archives.

everynamecounts.arolsen-archives.org

Since 1863, our library collections tell the history of the #RedCross #RedCrescent Movement. On World #RedCrossDay and #RedCrescentDay, explore our collections of publications from National Societies around the 🌎 : blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/...

¡Hoy es el Día del Idioma Español! Para celebrarlo, lanzamos la versión en español de nuestro blog. Explora nuestros artículos traducidos: blogs.icrc.org/cross-files/...

📜The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are entering the @unesco.org #MemoryOfTheWorld International Register. Thank you to the Swiss Federal Archives for preserving the original signed treaties. All must preserve – and uphold – their spirit.

We mark today the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. An @icrc.org nurse, Anny Pfirter, cared for the survivors. Read about the return of hope, after dehumanization and atrocities, in her own words : library.icrc.org/library/sear...

🔎 We’ve made it easier to do a full-text search across all ICRC activity reports, from 1863 to present day. From our library catalogue’s extended search menu (library.icrc.org/library/sear...), follow the example in the screenshot below 👇 Happy searching! Write library@icrc.org for support