The year 1969 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Polish Red Cross.

In our country the assistance brought by the population and voluntary associations to wounded soldiers originated from a very ancient and fine tradition. It goes back to the time of Kosciuszko's Insurrection and was continued during the national insurrections of 1830 and 1863. Throughout the 120 years and more of Poland's servitude and dismemberment it was extended to those who had been imprisoned for fighting for liberty and justice. One of the organizations of voluntary assistance and first-aid was called the Red Cross Society (1862–1886).

The congress is held by some writers to be the present day antidote to modern man's isolation. Must this be seen as the reason for the constantly large participation in International Conferences on social welfare, in spite of the proliferation of seminars and meetings ?

Undoubtedly social workers and representatives of allied professions are not immune from this modern trend. Thus, every two years, when the International Council on Social Welfare organises its international forum there is a veritable “Migration” of office holders in the social welfare field. They come from all quarters to pool, for a week, their experiences and ideas on the selected theme.

Some months ago Mr. Samuel A. Gonard informed the International Committee of his wish, for reasons of age, to be relieved of his presidential office which he had held for over four years.

The International Committee has agreed to this request with great regret, expressing to Mr. Gonard its appreciation of the devotion with which he has carried out his task and for the considerable services he has rendered to the Red Cross cause.

The previous issue of International Review gave a table recapitulating to the end of December 1968 the relief activities undertaken by the ICRC in Nigeria and the secessionist province (Biafra), as well as the donations in cash and in kind which enabled it to continue and extend those activities. These cover various fields, and we now wish to explain some aspects. We would first mention that the appeal launched by the ICRC for financial support for its operation produced the sum of 40 million Swiss francs by the end of January 1969.

Reuniting of families.—In spite of increased tension in the Middle East, the International Committee of the Red Cross has managed, through its delegations in Cairo and Tel Aviv, to get 143 persons across the Suez canal. This “reuniting of families” operation took place on December 30 at el Qantara.

Mr. Marcel A. Naville, recently appointed President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, will assume office on 1st July 1969.

The ICRC had convened a Round Table conference on “The Red Cross as a Factor in World Peace”. This took place in Geneva from January 21-23, 1969, and was attended by various notabilities of the Red Cross world. Representatives of the League and the Henry-Dunant Institute also took part.

H.I.H. Crown Prince Merid, President of the Ethiopian Red Cross, and Princess Mediferish of Ethiopia visited on 7 January the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross and of the League of Red Cross Societies.

It is known that following on events which took place in Greece in April 1967, the International Committee of the Red Cross intervened on behalf of political detainees and was thus able to undertake a humanitarian action which the International Review has described on several occasions. It has been considered of interest to mention certain facts on the subject and show the present position.