In the mid-1980s Greenpeace Netherlands became much better known because of the attack on its ship, Rainbow Warrior, in 1985, as well as through its highly successful "Telethon" media-campaigns in the 80s.
The Rainbow Warrior of Greenpeace near Hawaii in the summer of 1985 on its way to Auckland, New Zealand. The photograph was made by Greenpeace photographer Fernando Pereira and hung in the ship’s mess room. Shortly after its arrival in the harbor of Auckland, the Rainbow Warrior suffered a bomb attack by the French secret service, which also killed Pereira. The ship partly sank in the attack, and the photograph got slightly damaged from sea water. Yet, it was saved by the crew and recently donated to the Institute by former Greenpeace activist Gijs Thieme. It now has a proper place in the collection display at the International Institute of Social History (Call no BG B35/131)
The number of financial supporters also increased dramatically in the 1980s. This can be clearly seen from the recent addition to the archives of Greenpeace Netherlands that was given to the International Institute of Social History by former Greenpeace director and board member Ron van Huizen. He donated the archival materials of Greenpeace to the Institute that he collected from 1979-1992. These were almost completely in addition to the previously acquired Greenpeace archives given to the Institute.
The most important part of this addition is a comprehensive series of reports and other pieces relating to board meetings of Greenpeace Netherlands in this period, as well as in the Telethon radio and television programs about Greenpeace by the broadcasting organizations Veronica and Dutch Educational Television. For the first time the archives of these events are now available, as well as a large collection of press cuttings from Dutch newspapers on the positions and activities of Greenpeace (Netherlands) in the first ten years of its existence. Besides, the archives include a very comprehensive set of documents on the Greenpeace Advisory and Innovation Agency (GAIA), set up by van Huizen and his co-director Hans Guyt, from 1991-1993.