Workcamp

[2] From 20 November 1920 to 21 April 1921, the first workcamp of Service Civil International took place in Northern France in order to reconstruct the village Esnes-en-Argonne, damaged in the Battle of Verdun in World War I.

Behind this initiative was Swiss pacifist Pierre Cérésole, who came up with the idea at a peace conference in 1920 that was part of the Bilthoven Meetings.

The English Quaker Hubert Parris, who had experience in organizing relief work, supported Ceresole in preparing the project.

The French government reduced the funds for the building materials and in March the prefect of Meuse forbade the mayor of Esnes from allocating work to the volunteers.

The experience in Liechtenstein and the enthusiasm of the volunteers became a model for future work camps, which from 1930 onwards were carried out in France, Great Britain and other countries.

[5] Until the 1950s, the concept of workcamps was mainly spread within Europe and many projects were focused on the reconstruction of the continent after World War II.