61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

consequences – as well as from the principle of minimum guarantees under international
law that the Federal administration had long supported. 61
Foreign Jews in Switzerland suffered most from discrimination. After the First
World War, if not before, naturalisation procedures were systematically made
more difficult for them in comparison with non-Jewish foreigners; from 1919
on, their files were specially marked, not systematically but in many cases, for
internal administrative reasons, for example with the Star of David or the «J»stamp.
62 With the introduction of compulsory visas for German «non-Aryans»
in October 1938 the authorities finally based their immigration requirements
on the categories laid down in the Nuremberg racial laws. In the administration,
the categories «Aryan» and «non-Aryan» were frequently used, and
«Aryan» identification papers were issued in the case of marriages with
Germans or for work permits for Germany. 63
Economic protectionism
Unemployment and the fear of added competition on the labour market played
a certain role, these motives being far more justified in the 1930s than during
the war when unemployment was low and there was even an inadequate supply
of labour in some sectors. The government took these fears into account insofar
as, in principle, it forbade emigrants and refugees to take up gainful
employment as early as 1933. The main aim of this step was to protect the
internal labour market; a desired side-effect, however, was that this made it
virtually impossible for refugees to integrate into Swiss social life and put added
pressure on them to leave for a third country as quickly as possible. In practice,
it was therefore more or less impossible for refugees to compete with Swiss
workers, and in cases where this was contingently possible – for example, in
connection with simplified admission procedures owing to the prestige of
«famous authors» – professional bodies objected to foreign competition. 64
The consideration for Swiss citizens living abroad was advanced time and again
and, as things turned out, was only rarely or only to a limited extent respected.
However, it was an additional argument for forbidding refugees to work. In
November 1938, Rothmund explained:
«Under no circumstances can we allow emigrants to take up gainful
employment of any kind on the Swiss labour market. The unemployed in
this country, among whom there are many Swiss citizens who have come
back from abroad, would rightly be up in arms.» 65
It must be said, however, that there were also contrary economic interests. In
the 1920s in particular, differences of opinion arose between the Federal Police
124