Arthur Bill

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Arthur Bill (born August 31, 1916 in Wabern near Bern ; † April 5, 2011 in Bern ) was a Swiss educator and organizer of international humanitarian aid .

Life

Arthur Bill trained as a primary school teacher at the Berner Lehrerseminar Hofwil and taught from 1936 to 1946 in the canton of Bern . At the beginning of the Second World War , he was trained as a military pilot by the Swiss Air Force . As a militia officer, he commanded Fliegerstaffel 8, Fliegerregiment 2 and became a colonel in the general staff of the aviation and army troops .

In 1947 he became the first director of the newly founded international children's village Pestalozzi in Trogen , which he ran with his wife Berta until 1972. During this time, he worked for various international missions at the same time: in 1961 as deputy head of the Swiss delegation to the UN Monitoring Commission in Korea , and after the Six Day War of 1967 as the ICRC's general delegate for the provision of aid in the Middle East . He is a founding member of the International Federation of Children's and Youth Settlements and was a member of the Swiss UNESCO Commission until 1972 . He was the UN commissioner for humanitarian aid.

In 1972 the Federal Council appointed him its delegate for disaster relief abroad . He built up the Swiss Disaster Relief Corps (today the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Corps ) and led the first operations. Based on his idea, the Swiss rescue chain was created in 1981 . Until 1981 he was head of the humanitarian aid department of the Federal Agency for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DEH, today: SDC ).

After retiring due to old age, he made his experience available to various humanitarian foundations and aid organizations. He was president of the children's aid organization Enfants du monde (EMDH) and until the end of 1986 a member of the local council (executive) in his community of Gerzensee .

From 1987 to 1989, at the request of the Federal Council, he took over his former role as a delegate for disaster relief ad interim . This was followed by other tasks as a special representative of the FDFA for the deployment of the Swiss “ blue hats ” contingent in Namibia and in 1989 as the person responsible for the deployment of Swiss election observers in Namibia.

Arthur Bill had been retired since 1990. From 1991 to 1996, as head of the International Service of the Rotary Club of Bern, he carried out relief operations for schools and hospitals in Albania . Arthur Bill was the father of four daughters, including the actress and singer Maria Bill .

"Humanity means helping"

The many different activities in Arthur Bill's life have in common that they were all in the service of others, true to his motto: "If you take care of young people in your life, you can cope better with your own worries."

As a military pilot and air commander, he was actively involved in the military to defend neutral Switzerland against the aggression of National Socialism . After the war he took on the European war orphans as householder and teacher of the Pestalozzi Children's Village. In international conflicts he offered good offices as a representative of Switzerland. He set up the Disaster Relief Corps to provide rapid assistance in international disasters. As the highest head of Swiss development aid, he organized humanitarian aid for countries in need. As a pensioner, he served his community as a member of the executive branch.

“Solidarity with the Third World is a human imperative of international law. Today we are better informed than in earlier times about events around the world, about the problems and needs of developing countries. Compared to them, the life expectancies and living conditions of their residents, most Swiss are doing very well. But we are recognizing more and more clearly that we humans have become dependent on one another with our fate worldwide. This fact can lead us to the realization: If we Swiss are to continue to fare well, we would do well to help so that 'the others' are a little better. "

- Testimonial from Arthur Bill

Awards

Publications

  • Helpers on the go. Stories of a country schoolmaster, children's village director and disaster relief worker. Stämpfli, Bern 2002, ISBN 3-7272-1323-X
  • Aviator Latin. Stories from seventy years of Swiss aviation. Stämpfli, Bern 2003, ISBN 3-7272-1274-8
  • Of people and places. Events, encounters, reflections. Stämpfli, Bern 2006, ISBN 3-7272-1279-9

literature

  • Argyris Sfountouris : The Pestalozzi Children's Village in Trogen and its Greek poet. Pictures from the first 25 years. 16 poems by Nikiforos Vrettakos . View from Arthur Bill. Haupt, Bern 1996
  • Walter Robert Corti : A village for the suffering children. The Pestalozzi Children's Village from 1949 to 1972 with Arthur Bill as village director. Haupt, Bern 2002, ISBN 3-258-06470-9

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur Bill and the Pestalozzi Children's Village in Trogen.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bill, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss educator and organizer of international humanitarian aid
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Wabern near Bern
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 2011
Place of death Bern