Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2019 Training Friends and Overseas Relief: The Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, 1939 to 1948 Nerissa Kalee Aksamit West Virginia University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, European History Commons, and the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons Recommended Citation Aksamit, Nerissa Kalee, "Training Friends and Overseas Relief: The Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, 1939 to 1948" (2019). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7405. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7405 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2019 Training Friends and Overseas Relief: The Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, 1939 to 1948 Nerissa Kalee Aksamit West Virginia University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, European History Commons, and the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Commons Recommended Citation Aksamit, Nerissa Kalee, "Training Friends and Overseas Relief: The Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, 1939 to 1948" (2019). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 7405. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/7405 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Research Repository @ WVU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Training Friends and Overseas Relief: The Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, 1939 to 1948 Nerissa K. Aksamit Dissertation submitted to the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History Katherine Aaslestad, Ph.D., Chair Robert Blobaum, Ph.D. Joseph Hodge, Ph.D. Joshua Arthurs, Ph.D. Cynthia Gorman, Ph.D. Department of History Morgantown, West Virginia 2019 Keywords: Humanitarianism; Second World War; Society of Friends; Friends Ambulance Unit; Friends Relief Service; Relief; Rehabilitation; Refugees; Displaced Persons; British Occupation Zone Copyright 2019 Nerissa K. Aksamit ABSTRACT Training Friends and Overseas Relief: The Friends Ambulance Unit and the Friends Relief Service, 1939 to 1948 Nerissa K. Aksamit This transnational case study investigates the establishment and development of training programs by two British faith-based voluntary relief organizations, the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU) and the Friends Relief Service (FRS), during the Second World War and explores the implementation of learned skills by members of those organizations working during the immediate postwar period in the British Occupation Zone in Germany. It contributes new perspectives to scholarship on humanitarianism as it highlights both the continuities and ruptures in the approaches to and practices of humanitarian aid. It identifies the Quaker traditions that shaped the work of the FAU and FRS—particularly the core principles of promoting self-help, impartiality, democratic structures, and internationalism—as they delivered relief and fostered the rebuilding of communities in war-torn northern Germany. It demonstrates how small voluntary organizations integrated their values into the new relief structures of planning-mindedness, professionalization and international collaboration that also characterized the larger relief organizations. Although the FAU and FRS shared in their convictions of pacifism, goodwill, and humanitarian service, the two organizations conceptualized their role in relief differently and reflected those differences in their respective training programs and to a substantial extent in their postwar service. The FAU focused on the “first stage” of emergency relief that focused on working alongside military bodies to provide medical and material aid to both civilians and the military. In contrast, the FRS focused on the “second and third stages” that centered on providing impartial relief and rehabilitation to civilian populations that did not require assistance or direction from the military. To provide aid in the “second and third stages,” the FRS trained volunteers for postwar emergency relief and rehabilitation as well as how to foster reconciliation among all populations impacted by the war. Training programs for both the FAU and FRS believed that by integrating past experiences as well as contemporary developments to the approach and practice of humanitarian aid, their relief teams would provide efficient and effective relief in the postwar period. By retaining their core principles and traditional approaches to relief work as well as adopting new professional methods to dispense aid, the relief teams sent to the British Occupation Zone in 1945 exhibited an impressive and unique flexibility as they worked with and alongside displaced populations, camp victims, refugees, and Germans in a landscape engulfed with destruction and displacement. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and gratefully thank all those who helped me complete this project. The Global Humanitarianism Research Academy provided me with the opportunity to discuss, share, and explore the history of humanitarianism with an amazing group of scholars, as well as conduct research at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. The a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities at the University of Cologne, offered me the opportunity to conduct research in library and archival holding at the university as well as gain valuable insights from Professor Dr. Habbo Knoch and the graduate students in the History Department. A research grant from the Central European History Society supported my research in the archives at the Bergen-Belsen Memorial, the Sandbostel Stalag XB Memorial, and the Ecclesiastical Archive Center in Berlin. Support from the West Virginia University History Department and Eberly College of Arts and Sciences of West Virginia University allowed me to conduct research in London at the Friends House Library and Imperial War Museum. I am deeply indebted to the librarians and archivists whose advice and extensive knowledge helped make this project possible; all those at the West Virginia University Downtown and Evansdale Libraries, particularly the staff at the inter-library loan office who helped track down some relatively esoteric materials; Lisa McQuillan and the staff at the Friends House Library in London, Klaus Tätzler at the Department of Research and Documentation at Bergen-Belsen Memorial, Ronald Sperling at the Sandbostel Stalag XB Memorial, and the many archivists and staff at the Imperial War Museum in London. I cannot begin to express my deepest appreciation for my advisor and mentor, Dr. Katherine Aaslestad, whose unwavering support and guidance made it possible for me to complete this project. Her profound belief in my work gave me the confidence to ask the tough questions and become a stronger historian. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to my committee— Dr. Robert Blobaum, Dr. Joshua Arthurs, Dr. Joseph Hodge, and Dr. Cynthia Gorman—who provided me with invaluable insights and suggestions. Studying, reading, writing, and researching is both exciting and exhausting; without the love and support from my family and friends none of this would have been possible. I am so extremely grateful to my husband, Dr. Matthew Kesterke, whose love, patience, and encouragement gave me the strength and courage to pursue and complete a PhD. iii CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii Abbreviations v Chapter One: Introduction 1 Part One: The FAU and the FRS Chapter Two: Reviving the Friends Ambulance Unit 31 Chapter Three: Building the Friends Relief Service 52 Part Two: Training Volunteers Chapter Four: Medical Training 70 Chapter Five: Infectious Diseases and (Mal)Nutrition 91 Chapter Six: Ambulance and Transport Services 122 Chapter Seven: The “Refugee Problem” 139 Chapter Eight: Rehabilitation and Reconciliation 165 Part Three: Relief and Rehabilitation in the British Occupation Zone Chapter Nine: The “First Stage” 187 Chapter Ten: “Stages Two and Three” among Displaced Persons 213 Chapter Eleven: “Stages Two and Three” and the German Youth 245 Chapter Twelve: Conclusions 272 Bibliography 278 iv ABBREVIATIONS AFSC American Friends Service Council ARA American Relief Association BRCS Joint War Organisation of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John CAD Civilian Affairs Detachment CCG/BE Control Commission for Germany (British Element)