International Federation of Reconciliation

The International Fellowship of Reconciliation ( Engl. International Fellowship of Reconciliation , IFOR) is a peace organization in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War was founded by Christians and today includes members of different religious faiths and beliefs. Today he advocates a culture of non-violence in over 40 countries, working for peace and human rights and against war, militarization and all forms of violence .

International association

The international association is divided into over 65 branches, groups and associated members, who are also the main bearers of its work. His office is in Alkmaar , the Netherlands . The focus of the international office is support in 5 areas:

• the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World of the United Nations
• nonviolence education and training in nonviolent action
• promoting young people so that they can take on responsibility in their societies
• interreligious cooperation
• disarmament.

Important members were / are the six Nobel Prize winners Jane Addams , Emily Greene Balch , Chief Albert Luthuli , Martin Luther King , Mairead Corrigan -Maguire and Adolfo Maria Pérez Esquivel as well as his travel secretaries Jean Lasserre , Jean Goss and Hildegard Goss-Mayr .

In addition, the Reconciliation Alliance played a key role in initiatives that led to the founding of War Resisters International , Eirene , Amnesty International , Peace Brigades International and other non-governmental organizations .

The International Union of Reconciliation has consultative status with the United Nations. He is a member of the International Coordination for the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010).

German branch

The German branch was one of the founding members of the International Union of Reconciliation in 1919 under the leadership of the Protestant pastor Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze . On the eve of the First World War, he and the British Quaker Henry Hodgkin had made a promise not to justify war and violence and not to allow themselves to be incited against one another. The theologian Alfred Dedo Müller and the reform pedagogue Waldus Nestler were among the board members during this period . Members were among others the reform pedagogue and social Christian oriented Nikolaus Ehlen . The young theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was elected youth secretary in 1931 .

During the Second World War , many members of the German Reconciliation Union were imprisoned for refusing to serve with weapons; two of them - the Catholic priest Max Josef Metzger and the Protestant journalist Hermann Stöhr - were u. a. Sentenced to death for this decision.

After the war they were faced with new tasks: the reconciliation work between West and East, solidarity in the work for liberation in countries in 2/3 of the world, the preservation of the natural foundations of life.

The work of the association also contributed to the founding of many important initiatives in peace work in Germany, including Action Reconciliation , Life Without Armaments , Bund für Soziale Defense , Campaign against arms exports , the Civil Peace Service Forum . The association is a member of the Central Office for Law and Protection of Conscientious Objectors . The magazine “Nonviolent Action. Quarterly Issues for Peace and Justice ”was personally and temporarily also organizationally connected to the editors Theodor Ebert and Gernot Jochheim .

The current focus of work is public education against war efforts (e.g. in Iraq, Iran and the Balkans) and the promotion of youth exchanges and voluntary services based on the philosophy of non-violence, as well as efforts to bring the idea of ​​peace into the constituted churches.

The association in Germany had around 950 members in 2006 and its office in Minden . The association's president has been Ullrich Hahn since 2010, and the evangelical parish priest Matthias-W has been chairman since May 2010. Engelke. Previous chairmen were Ullrich Hahn (1995–2010), Konrad Lübbert (until 1995), Heinz Kloppenburg (1958–1969), Rudolf Daur and Alfred Dedo Müller (1925–1927).

Austrian branch

After the war in 1953, the branch was essentially re-established by Hildegard Goss-Mayr . The decades-long commitment of the Latin America Committee is of particular importance. The chairman Erwin Waldschütz was the driving force behind an Austria-wide human rights campaign from 1976-1978 with a platform of over 30 organizations. The publisher, author and Quaker Ernst Schwarcz was the branch's honorary chairman. The association works with the Austrian Peace Service (ÖFD). A well-known member is Friedrich Glasl , an expert in conflict management.

Swiss branch

In Switzerland, the two IFOR branches Forum for Peace Education and MIR Romand merged in March 2011 to form IFOR Switzerland - MIR Suisse . There was a Swiss branch since 1945; There has been a German-Swiss and a French-Swiss association for several years. IFOR Switzerland has around 400 members.

Web links

• IFOR, the international office of the Union of Reconciliation
• Homepage of the German branch
• Homepage of the Austrian branch
• Homepage of the Swiss branch

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nikolaus Ehlen - A Life for Your Neighbor (PDF; 86 kB) ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Article by Barbara and Gerd Wolandt. 
2. ↑ Arthur Pfeifer and the International Union of Reconciliation (PDF; 341 kB) Correspondence between Arthur Pfeifer and Gerda Baumann, edited by Sieglinde and Fritz Mierau.
3. ^ Association of Forum for Peace Education and MIR Romand to form IFOR Switzerland Article on the IFOR Switzerland website, accessed on April 4, 2011.