Bilderberg/1954

 Bilderberg/1954 (meeting)  

The 1954 Meeting
Date	29 May 1954 - 31 May 1954
Location	Hotel Bilderberg,  Oosterbeek,  Netherlands
Participants	George Barry Bingham, Hugh Gaitskell, Alcide de Gasperi, H. M. Hirschfeld, Guy Mollet, Paul H. Nitze, Etienne de la Vallee Poussin, David Rockefeller, J. D. Zellerbach, Robert Andre, Ralph Assheton, G. De Beaumont, Pierre Bonvoisin, Robert Boothby, Max Brauer, Raffaele Cafiero, Walker L. Cisler, Gardner Cowles, Clement Davies, Jean Drapier, Roger Duchet, Maurice Faure, John H. Ferguson, John Foster, Oliver Franks, Gerhard P. Th. Geyer, Colin Gubbins, Dennis Healey, H. John Heinz II, Leif Høegh, C. D. Jackson, Nelson Dean Jay, P. Kanellopoulos, V. J. Koningsberger, Ole Bjørn Kraft, P. M. A. Leverkuehn, Giovanni F. Malagodi, Finn Moe, H. Montgomery Hyde, Roger Motz, Rudolf Mueller, George C. McGhee, George Nebolsine, H. Oosterhuis, Cola G. Parker, George W. Perkins, Harry Pilkington, Antoine Pinay, Panagiotis Pipinelis, Alberto Pirelli, P. Quaroni, Ludwig Rosenberg, Paolo Rossi, Denis de Rougemont, Paul Rijkens, Ernst Georg Schneider, Joseph P. Spang, M. P. L. Steenberghe, P. H. Teitgen, Terkel Terkelsen, Herbert L. G. Tingsten, H. Troeger, Vittorio Valletta, Andre Voisin, M. Waldenstrom, H. F. van Walsem, Jean Willems, Thomas Williamson
Perpetrators	Bilderberg/Steering committee

The 1954 Bilderberg Meeting was the first Bilderberg meeting. It had participants from European countries and the United States. All were male. It was held at the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, the Netherlands. The next one was the 1955 March meeting.

Origins

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In August 1956 Józef Retinger completed an account of how the group was set up, in which he tracks the group's origins to 1952. He reportedly approached H.R.H. Prince Bernhard, Dr Paul Rykens and Paul van Zeeland "with the suggestion that we should organize some unofficial and private meetings to discuss the difficulties and dangers which were causing us so much anxiety. To these meetings we would invite influential and reliable people who carried the respect of those working in the field of national and international affairs and whose personal contact with men at the summit of public activity could help to smooth over these difficulties." On their advice, he approached a larger group of his friends, who met in Paris on 25 September 1952 and "discussed what could be done to improve American-European relations and on the initiative of M. van Zeeland we decided to set up a corresponding group in the United States." Retinger went to USA in November that year and organised a US contingent, under John Coleman. Together they organised the list of guests for the 1954 conference.

Invitations

The invitation of Mr. George C. McGhee

In mid April, 1954, the invited guests were sent personal invitations from Soetdijk Palace to "an unofficial international conference which is to be held in the Netherlands at the end of May" for "a candid exchange of views". They were signed by Prince Bernhard.

Location

The "Hotel De Bilderberg" is located in Oosterbeek, a small town near Arnhem, which was the site of a major World War II battle. Bilderberg researcher Tony Gosling has suggested that this may have been a deliberate choice, an indirect reference to Operation Market Garden, which he sees as the deceit which deliberately prolonged World War II.

Meetings

There were morning and afternoon meetings on all 3 days. On Saturday, 29th May, 10:00-13:00 and then 15:00-18:00. On Sunday, 11:00-13:00 and then 15:00-18:00. On Monday, 10:00-13:00 and then 14:30-18:00. "For reasons of convenience only the English and French languages" were used. The conference room was equipped for simultaneous interpretation into English and French. Secretaries were "made available to the participants on request to the Secretariat."

Notes On Discussion

Subsequent Bilderberg meetings issued a formal conference report, but no such is known to exist for the original Bilderberg conference. Instead, a set of typed notes records 21 pages of opinions expressed at the meeting. These notes are exceptional in that they attribute names to the comments they record. Concern about privacy probably caused this policy to be amended, to that subsequent conference reports instead attributed comments instead to "An American", "A German" etc.

Recording

The 1954 conference

An audio recording of Prince Bernhard opening the conference was made, which was posted on YouTube. It is occasionally taken down due to claims of copyright infringement, but remains available.

Agenda

The Bilderberg meetings website (which is known to have omitted certain items) summarised the agenda as follows:

1. The attitude towards communism and the Soviet Union
2. The attitude towards dependent areas and peoples overseas
3. The attitude towards economic policies and problems
4. The attitude towards European integration and the European Defence Community

 

Known Participants

62 of the 63 of the participants already have pages here:

Participant	Description
Robert André	Attended the first Bilderberg and 2 more, president of the "Syndicat de Petrole"
Ralph Assheton	Lord Clitheroe, Chairman of the Conservative Party in the 1940s, attended 2 Bilderbergs in the 1950s.
Guerin De Beaumont	Attended the first Bilderberg as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of the European Defence Community. Made French Minister of Justice soon after. Died in 1955.
Barry Bingham	Kentucky media owner who collaborated with British Security Coordination. Attended 3 Bilderbergs in the 1950s. Ran the Marshall Plan in France in 1949.
Pierre Bonvoisin	Attended the first Bilderberg and three more. Société Générale de Belgique. Councilor to King Baudouin. Father of Benoît de Bonvoisin
Robert Boothby	British politician and UK deep state operative, Clermont Set, Bilderberg
Max Brauer	Mayor of Hamburg. One of a dozen men whom Józef Retinger consulted when setting up the Bilderberg
Raffaele Cafiero	Italian monarchist politician who attended two Bilderbergs in the 1950s
Walker Cisler	As well as the first Bilderberg, he attended the next four, and 3 more in the early 1960s, US businessman
Gardner Cowles	US media mogul involved with a number of CIA-front organizations. Attended the 1954 Bilderberg Conference.
Clement Davies	Attended the first Bilderberg as Leader of the UK Liberal Party
Jean Drapier	Principal Private Secretary to Belgian Prime Minister Paul-Henri Spaak, went to 3 of the first 4 Bilderbergs
Roger Duchet	French politician who attended the first Bilderberg in 1954
Maurice Faure	French politician who co-signed the Treaty of Rome for France in 1957.
John Ferguson	US lawyer, attended the first Bilderberg and 7 others in the 1950s. US Ambassador to Morocco 1962-64
John Foster	US Nuclear physicist who attended the first Bilderberg and two more.
Oliver Franks	Bilderberg UK Ambassador to the US, 'One of the founders of the postwar world'.
Hugh Gaitskell	A UK Labour politician who reportedly died of a rare illness in hospital.
Gerhard P. Th. Geyer	Esso director who attended the 1st and 4th Bilderbergs
Colin Gubbins	Bilderberg invitee and spook
Denis Healey	Bilderberg Steering committee member, who attended 23 Bilderberg meetings.
Hans Hirschfeld	Dutch economist/diplomat. Rapporteur in the attendance list of the first Bilderberg.
H. Montgomery Hyde	Spooky UK politician and lawyer who attended the first Bilderberg and one more.
Leif Høegh	Bilderberg Steering committee, as was his son
H. John Heinz II	34 Bilderberg meetings, Bilderberg Steering & Advisory Committees
C. D. Jackson	OSS, US Deep sate operative, first Bilderberg
Nelson Dean Jay	David Rockefeller said: “Dean Jay is important, if for no other reason, because he was one of the ten Americans to be invited to the first Bilderberg Conference.”
George Perkins Jr	US diplomat who went to the first and fourth Bilderbergs. US Permanent Representative to NATO in the 1950s. Died in January 1960.
Panagiotis Kanellopoulos	Attended the first Bilderberg as Greek Defence Minister and former Greek Prime Minister. Also attended the 1956 Bilderberg.
V. J. Koningsberger	Dutch academic who attended the first Bilderberg meeting
Ole Bjørn Kraft	A Danish conservative politician whom Józef Retinger consulted when setting up the Bilderberg group
Paul Leverkuehn	German politician who went to the first Bilderberg and fourth Bilderbergs
George McGhee	US ambassador, spook, Committee on the Present Danger, 12 Bilderbergs in the 1950s and 60s.
Finn Moe	Transatlantic and pro-EU Norwegian politician who attended the First Bilderberg and two more in the 1950s
Guy Mollet	One of a dozen men whom Józef Retinger consulted when setting up the Bilderberg group
Roger Motz	Belgian politician who attended 4 Bilderberg meetings in the 1950s, including the first one.
Rudolf Mueller	Consulted by Józef Retinger when setting up the Bilderberg group
George Nebolsine	CFR, Russian born naturalised US lawyer who attended all Bilderberg meetings until his death the day after the 1964 Bilderberg.
Paul Nitze	US deep politician, hawkish United States Deputy Secretary of Defense.
Henk Oosterhuis	Attended the first Bilderberg as President of the Netherlands Federation of Trade Unions, and also the 1956 Bilderberg
Cola Parker	US businessman and John Birch Society leader who attended the 1st and 4th Bilderbergs
Harry Pilkington	Attended the first Bilderberg as President of the Federation of British Industries, and two more in the 1950s
Alberto Pirelli	Italian businessman who attended the first Bilderberg and 7 others up to 1963.
Etienne de la Vallee Poussin	Belgian politician who attended the first Bilderberg and three more in the 1950s
David Rockefeller	US deep politician. CFR founder. Only person to attend over 50 Bilderberg meetings.
Ludwig Rosenberg	German-Jewish trade unionist. Worked in the International Department of the British Foreign Office during World War 2 during exile. Attended two more Bilderbergs in the 1950s after the first one. Leader of the German Trade Union Confederation 1962-1969.
Paolo Rossi	President of Antimafia Commission, attended the first Bilderberg and the 1956 Bilderberg
Denis de Rougement	Attended the first 4 Bilderbergs. Promoted European federalism
Paul Rykens	Dutch businessman and friend of Józef Retinger who was initially consulted on the founding of the Bilderberg Group
Ernst Georg Schneider	German businessman who attended 2 Bilderbergs in the 1950s
... further results

 

Witnesses

Witness	Description
E. G. Focke	In attendance at the first Bilderberg and two further Bilderbergs
G. E. Overweg	Unidentified Dutchman who was "in attendance" at the first two Bilderbergs
John Pomian	Multi-Bilderberg Polish nobleman who settled in the UK
W. Veenstra	A director of the secretariat who was "in attendance" at the March 1955 Bilderberg.
B. H. M. Vlekke	Dutch academic who did propaganda work when in exile in the United States during WW2. In attendance at the first Bilderberg 1954.

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