"Under fire for its failure to speak out against the Holocaust or to extend substantial assistance to Jews trapped in Nazi camps across Europe, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was desperate to salvage its reputation ... The organization emerged from the world war with a new commitment to protecting civilians caught in the crossfire of conflict. But it did so while defending former Nazis at the Nuremberg Trials and issuing travel papers to many of Hitler's former henchmen. ... In spite all of this, by the end of the decade, the ICRC had emerged triumphant from its moment of existential crisis, navigating the new global order to reaffirm its leadership in world humanitarian affairs ..."--Jacket.

Introduction -- The birth of an idea -- The silence on the Holocaust -- Intervention and opportunism -- The Red Cross in crisis -- Between Geneva and Nuremberg -- The ICRC and aid politics in ruins -- The humanitarians and the Nazis -- A window of opportunity -- Towards the Geneva Conventions -- Conclusion.