61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

Increased persecution of Jews and introduction of the «J»-stamp for passports
in 1938
With the intensification of anti-Jewish measures in Germany after 1937, the
annexation of Austria in March 1938, the pogroms in November 1938, and the
subsequent complete exclusion of Jews from the German economy the situation
became considerably more tense. Between the annexation and the outbreak of
the war in September 1939, over 100,000 Jews emigrated from Austria alone,
of whom an estimated 5,500 to 6,500 came to Switzerland for a longer or shorter
period. The total number of refugees in Switzerland thus rose to between
10,000 and 12,000 in 1938/39. 8 The attempt made by the international
community to agree on a common policy on the question of refugees at the
Evian Conference in July 1938 failed. 9 On the contrary, numerous countries
imposed further restrictions on admission. The Swiss Federal Council
strengthened border protection and adopted a series of administrative measures:
on 28 March 1938, it made it compulsory for all holders of Austrian passports
to have a visa; on 18 August 1938, it decided to refuse entry to all refugees
without a visa; and from 4 October 1938 on, German «non-Aryans» were also
obliged to obtain a visa.
As early as April 1938, Switzerland held discussions with Germany in order to
set up measures that would enable the border authorities to distinguish between
Jewish and non-Jewish German citizens. When the Federal Council was
weighing the idea of making it compulsory for all German citizens to obtain a
visa, the German authorities feared that this would signal detrimental consequences
for foreign affairs and that other countries would introduce similar
measures. For this reason, they agreed to identify the passports of German Jews
with a «J». Contrary to the Federal Council and the Swiss Embassy in Berlin,
Heinrich Rothmund, the Head of the Police Division at the EJPD, ultimately
came out in favour of making visas compulsory for all Germans in order to be
able to exert more efficient control over all German emigrants. Furthermore, he
recognised the discriminatory and legally dubious character of the Germano-
Swiss agreement. It was quite possible that such discrimination would be
extended to Swiss Jews, since the bilateral agreement gave the Third Reich the
right to demand that Swiss passports be similarly marked. With regard to
Rothmund’s doubts, Federal Councillor Giuseppe Motta said:
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«The Federal Council unanimously approved the agreement with
Germany. It also approved (unanimously too) the press release. Mr.
Rothmund can therefore put aside the little scruples that are bothering
him». 10