The Standing Committee exists for more 50 years. From the first period only a few documents remain. It was a fascinating time, a period I personally would describe as one of hope, willingness, personal acquaintances and meetings. In the beginning there were only a few men. They had not the means of communications, we have today. It was only, thanks to the sport organisations of the national central banks that they were able to meet each other. But they had one very important thing the will to build up a new Europe, a peaceful one, an era without the atrocities of war.

Three of them can be considered as the real protagonists of SCECBU.

The first one was comrade Andreini of the Bank of Italy. During World War II he belonged to the Italian Communist resistance, after the war he became a respected trade union leader within the central bank and even outside of it.

The second one was Maurice Gousseau from the Banque de France. He too, belonged to the resistance. After the war he became a great trade union leader in his bank, where he was elected “General Secretary” of the National autonomous Union of the Banque de France (SNA) and later on “Elected councillor by the staff” of the central bank. He was a convinced socialist and a Freemason. During its whole life he continued to defend the interests of the staff of the Banque de France and the workers in general.

The third one, was a German, Wolfgang Clotten. He was a Christian and social-democrat. During the Nazi era he didn’t belong to the German resistance against Hitler, but neither did he hide his convictions and opinions. Maybe for that reason, he was sent to the Russian front where he was captured by the Russians and put in a Soviet prisoners of war camp, where he remained until the early Fifties. On his return he was lucky to find a job within the “Bank Deutscher Länder “, the predecessor of the Bundesbank.

The three of them were branded for ever by their war experiences. They were utterly convinced that Europe needed instead of nationalism and radicalism, collaboration and solidarity.