Series SOA 417 - Victims of War

Identity area

Reference code

SOA 417

Title

Victims of War

Date(s)

  • 1948-1957 (Creation)

Level of description

Series

Extent and medium

10 sub-series and 668 files.

Context area

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The Division of Human Rights was charged with responding to communications dealing with human rights from individuals, groups and governments to the Secretary-General. In accordance with ECOSOC resolutions 75 and 116A, these communications were compiled and communicated to the Commission on Human Rights and to governments concerned.

With the creation of the ad hoc Commission on Questions of Prisoners of War the Division supported the three member Commission in its work on the repatriation of prisoners of war.

In addition to the question of prisoners of war, the plight of survivors, notably those that had been subject to scientific experiments by Nazi doctors, was a humanitarian problem which the Secretariat approached in an unorthodox way. Not only was the Division of Human Rights charged with the task of bringing to the attention of the German government individual case information on victims, but the Director and Assistant Director of the Division traveled to Germany for the purpose of direct negotiations with the German authorities regarding legislation enabling compensation for the victims.

This series of records documents the work of the Division concerning victims of war and includes records from the Diplomatic Conference in Geneva in 1949 that established the four Geneva Conventions.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Numeric file code.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Archive Employee

Restricted

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Italian
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • zz

Script of material

    Language and script notes

    Physical characteristics and technical requirements

    Finding aids

    Allied materials area

    Existence and location of originals

    Existence and location of copies

    Microfilm reference number: ARR 1157/ Reels 125 - 131

    Related units of description

    Related descriptions

    Notes area

    Note

    UN NY Archives has related records on the ad hoc Commission on Prisoners-of War (1951 - 1957) [Department of Social Affairs, Human Rights Division - Section V, ad hoc Commission on Prisoners-of-War, Non-Registry Files.]
    Protection period to: 1977-12-31

    Alternative identifier(s)

    Scope ID

    9549

    Access points

    Subject access points

    Place access points

    Name access points

    Description control area

    Description identifier

    Institution identifier

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Status

    Draft

    Level of detail

    Dates of creation revision deletion

    Language(s)

      Script(s)

        Sources

        Archivist's note

        Protection period duration: 20

        Archivist's note

        Protection period note:

        Archivist's note

        Permission:

        Archivist's note

        Physical usability: Without limits

        Archivist's note

        Term of protection: UN Classified (20)

        Accession area