61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

The measures agreed in August 1938 to turn back unwanted immigrants were
implemented ruthlessly; despite their awareness of the risk refugees ran, the
authorities often turned them over directly to the German police. It even
happened that border guards struck refugees with the butts of their rifles to bar
them from crossing the border. 11 Nevertheless, several thousand Austrian Jews
found refuge in Switzerland, in many cases owing to the efforts of Paul
Grüninger, a police captain of St. Gallen, who until the beginning of 1939
allowed hundreds of people to enter the country illegally. He was dismissed in
spring 1939, and at the end of 1940 was found guilty by the St. Gallen district
court of violating his official powers and falsifying documents. It was not until
1993, long after his death, that he was politically rehabilitated after the
cantonal government had refused several applications from the 1960s on; two
years later he was also legally rehabilitated by the St. Gallen district court. 12
There were also Swiss consular officials in Italy and Austria who generously
issued entry visas to Austrian refugees, for which they were reprimanded by the
government. 13 Ernst Prodolliet, for example, a consular employee in Bregenz,
was told during his disciplinary hearing that «Our consulate’s job is not to
ensure the well-being of Jews». 14
Outbreak of the war: returning emigrants, emigrants, military refugees
The outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 changed the
political context fundamentally. Firstly, the war made it difficult for refugees
present in Switzerland at the time to emigrate to a third country. Secondly, apart
from those persecuted under the German dictatorship, the subsequent years
brought tens of thousands of refugees as a consequence of the war to
Switzerland. The first wave of arrivals in September 1939 was made up of over
15,000 Swiss people from abroad who came back to their home country and
needed work and accommodation; between then and May 1945, another 41,000
Swiss joined them in returning home. 15
The outbreak of the war drastically restricted the possibility of moving on for
refugees who were already in Switzerland. Nevertheless, during the first two
years of the war a few hundred people managed to emigrate to a third country;
but between 1942 and 1944 it was practically impossible to leave Switzerland.
The Federal Council reacted to the outbreak of the war and the obvious failure
of the concept of Switzerland as a transit country with a decree passed on
17 October 1939 which defined the legal status of emigrants: emigrants were
obliged to leave the country as quickly as possible; they were forbidden to
engage in political activities, in activities which breached Switzerland’s neutral
status, and in gainful employment – under threat of deportation. Furthermore,
this decree, which was backed up by the authority of the Federal Council,
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