The Wilfrid de St. Aubin collection consists of seven feet of correspondence, reports, memoranda, and other official papers covering his Red Cross work during World War II and the immediate postwar period. Of special interest is a letter and report written by St. Aubin containing his impression and observations of the Buchenwald concentration camp. St. Aubin was one of the first to come to the camp after its liberation. There are also diaries which provide added background and detail of St. Aubin's varied career.
Wilfrid de St. Aubin was born in Chicago, Illinois on November 24, 1902. He was educated at Notre Dame University and the Chicago-Kent College of Law. During the depression, he worked for various relief agencies in Indiana and Washington DC.
It was during World War II that St. Aubin first began his association with the American Red Cross. In September 1943, he was appointed field representative for the American Red Cross Civilian War Relief program in Italy, France and Germany. His responsibilities centered around the distribution of relief supplies to civilians, the evacuation of these civilians, and the establishment of hospitals in combat areas. During the later period of the war, St. Aubin supervised welfare programs at Buchenwald.
In 1945, St. Aubin became director of the Red Cross Civilian Relief program in Austria where he was concerned with relief and rehabilitation and where he helped re-establish the Red Cross society of that country. In 1947, he moved on to Hungary where he performed similar functions. During this time, he also carried out Red Cross missions in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
In 1948, St. Aubin was appointed Delegate of the League of Red Cross Societies to the Middle East. Here he surveyed and advised national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Greece, Egypt, and Ethiopia. During part of this time, St. Aubin was attached to the staff of Count Folke Bernadotte, United Nations Mediator for Palestine. He surveyed the humanitarian problems of the Palestinian conflict, and was a special consultant on the needs of the refugees.
In 1949, St. Aubin became supervisor for International Agency Relations of the American National Red Cross. During the Korean War, he was on an advisory committee on the prisoner of war situation. In 1955, he was appointed executive director of the Washtenaw County chapter of the American Red Cross. He retired from this position in 1969.
Beyond the Red Cross, St. Aubin was involved in a variety of charitable and public service organizations, notably the American Overseas Association, the National Council of Christians and Jews, the Washtenaw County Interfaith Council of Churches, and Spaulding for Children (an adoption agency).
Wilfrid de St. Aubin died November 2, 1980.
