ABSTRACT
By 1950 the International Rescue Committee had grown to become a major presence in the field of refugee relief. It had succeeded in attracting some of the most influential figures in public life to its board of directors. Yet the Committee was still oriented to the moderate Left, as it deepened its ties to European social democrats within both Western Europe and the communities of exiles from the Soviet bloc countries. These ties left the IRC vulnerable to attack, especially since David Martin, its executive director, combined a brash approach to clandestine operations with an ascerbic personality that attracted the ire of others within the covert network. The Committee soon found itself under siege, forced to deflect a barrage of assaults on its credibility as a stronghold of anticommunist fervor.
