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Henrik Beer<br />
1948-1950<br />
Mr Beer was a member of the Standing Commission between 1948 and 1950. When Count<br />
Folke Bernadotte was assassinated in 1948 (not long after having been elected Chairman of<br />
the Standing Commission), Mr Beer stepped in as one of the members and François-Ponçet<br />
took over as Chairman and Lord Woolton became Vice-Chairman. However, in 1950 Justice<br />
Sandstrom of Sweden was elected as President of the IFRC and Mr Beer (also from Sweden)<br />
voluntarily stepped down to avoid making it appear that Sweden was in a privileged<br />
position. 44 During World War Two, he became involved with the Swedish Red Cross when he<br />
was put in charge of coordinating neutral Sweden’s relief efforts for war victims. He was<br />
Secretary General of the Swedish Red Cross until his appointment to the Geneva<br />
headquarters in 1960. He was the Secretary General of the League of Red Cross and Red<br />
Crescent Societies from 1960 until his retirement in 1981. During his tenure he travelled to<br />
over 80 countries, including many war zones, as well as overseeing the increase in<br />
44 The Eighteenth International Conference of the Red Cross Records<br />
30
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