Nachlass Elsbeth Kasses (1910-1992)

Elsbeth Kasser (1910-1992) a nurse and refugee aid worker, was born in Niederscherli, Switzerland, the daughter of Friedrich, a pastor, and Anna (née von Greyerz). After secondary school, she trained as a nurse in Thun and Bern, Switzerland; between 1937 and 1939, she worked for the Swiss Working Community for Spanish Children, SAS [Schweizerischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Spanienkinder]. Between 1939 and 1940, she worked in the Women's Auxiliary Service, FHD (Frauenhilfsdienst) and participated in the Swiss Medical Mission to Helsinki. Between 1940 and 1941, she worked for the Swiss Working Community for Children with War-related Disabilities, SAK [Schweizerischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kriegsgeschädigte Kinder] in the French internment camp Gurs, and between 1942 and 1943, for the Swiss Red Cross. Between 1944 and 1945, she supervised refugees in Switzerland; between 1945 and 1948, she worked for the program of Swiss assistance to the war victims in Vienna, Hungary and Finland. She was awarded in 1947 with the first Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Vienna. Between 1950 and 1951, she was head of the Volksbildungsheim Herzberg AG (Public Training Center Herzberg). Between 1953 and 1973, she worked as an Ergotherapist in the Stadtspital Waid in Zurich. From the 1980s, she organized her own papers and worked with other publication projects.