Saving Foreign Children from "Moral Decay": Switzerland’s Children’s Homes during the Second World War

During the Second World War, the Swiss Red Cross provided assistance to destitute children in France and Belgium through various initiatives, including establishing Swiss-run children's homes. However, the strong Swiss curriculum at Boitsfort Children's Home in Belgium also sought to inspire Swiss nationalism within the children, in order to cure what the Swiss termed as "the moral decay" of the child. Therefore, the goal to redeem both the child's health and child's national character were central to the Boitsfort operations, providing unique historical insight into the vital link between children and nationhood during war.