Person

Stasius, Horst

1933–2018

Genf (1986). Born 1st July 1933 – died 13 May 2018. Many people like to talk of internationalism and solidarity. Horst Stasius, who has died aged 84, was someone who truly lived it. Born in The Hague in the year Hitler came to power, Horst grew up in a German family who had gone abroad only to see their adopted country occupied. The family returned to Germany soon after, when his father, Otto, was called up ... When Horst as a young trade unionist signed up for the Socialist Party his father nearly fainted; but later Horst convinced him and Otto abandoned his right-wing allegiances .. .Horst had a job as a waiter, and indeed it was in this role that he first visited Turkey, when he embarked in the mid-1950s on a remarkable world tour with his friend Heinz Kaulmann on a tandem bicycle ... On his return home, Horst became very involved in his trade union, a role that led eventually to a position in Geneva with the International Union of Foodworkers (IUF), for whom he worked from 1963 to 1995 ... Horst always had to be active. In his spare time he devoted himself to several distinct communities, including Amnesty International; the German Social Democratic Party; the Lutheran Church; the Centre de Contact Suisses-Immigrés; and the International Peace Bureau. In the latter NGO he occupied several roles: first as auditor; then, when Lothar Belck retired, as treasurer ... Amid his many engagements, Horst found time to write several books: Weltreise mit dem Tandem, a lively account of his youthful travels; Wo ist Mariana, an explanation of the UN for young people; Menschenrechte: Gesetze ohne Gewähr also for younger readers; and Der Weg nach Israel, a personal story with an anti-racist message