61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

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Closing remarks The aim of this section has been to portray the growing significance that Alpine railway transit via Switzerland had for the war economy of the Axis powers. Barring any rash judgment on our part, it has still clearly emerged that the authorities and the Swiss railway companies reacted to events. Their indecisive policy crystallized itself in their failure to conduct any type of serious controls of freight wagon transit and in their tolerance of coal transports to Italy right up to the last minute, i.e., February 1945. And when they finally did make up their minds to adopt somewhat more energetic measures to monitor and to limit north-bound rail convoys, it was certainly due to the fact that this type of transit was in glaring contradiction with the precepts of international law in force at the time. Yet it can also be supposed that the primary reason was that the Allies were applying no small amount of pressure. Later on, those responsible for this policy attempted to justify it by invoking the dissuasive effect that it could have caused. By guaranteeing free transit, an attack on the Alpine rail links became unnecessary and hence any risk was reduced to a minimum. Nonetheless, any such deterrent also had to be made credible by intimating to the potential attacker that he should then not expect to find any bridges or tunnels left intact. However, groundwork preparations for their possible destruction proved to be technically difficult and dangerous for rail traffic, not to mention extremely costly. The project was slow in making progress since both the railway lobby and certain influential interest groups demonstrated a negative attitude to the undertaking. Only in summer 1942 were the tunnels partially mined, even though it appears that the Germans had been convinced from 1940 on that these structures had already been mined. Be that as it may, one should not underestimate the deterrent effect even if other aspects of Swiss policy played a more significant role during the war. For one thing, it was necessary to keep up appearances and hence to observe the precepts of international law (the Gotthard Agreement and the Hague Conventions) scrupulously down to the letter. For another, keeping the country supplied and nourished was an unconditional priority. And fear indeed reigned high that this could be compromised if any restrictions were to be imposed on the freedom of transport. The authorities of the Third Reich were well aware of this and reiterated on several occasions the importance which they attached to this specific service provided by Switzerland. They deemed this to be more vital than the deliveries of weapons or electric power, and almost as important as the services of the Swiss financial centre. As a consequence, they were not above resorting to and exploiting the means available for exerting pressure (delaying their deliveries of coal, detaining certain goods destined for Switzerland at the port of Genoa, etc.). 236
Nevertheless, with regard to the transport of passangers, Switzerland consistently held true to its principles, and the measures which it applied to restrict freight transit – albeit deployed only belatedly – did hamper and obstruct the despoliation of Italy’s industrial infrastructure. 1 The information contained in this section is based on Forster, Transit, 2001 (Publications of the ICE). 2 All quantities are taken from «Strom und Meer» 1945, H. 4, and «Schiffahrt und Weltverkehr», July 1948. 3 FA, E 8300 (A) 1999/71, vol. 31. 4 Cf. Bonjour, Neutralität, 1970; Bachmann, Schiffahrt, 1966. 5 FA, E 2001 (D) -/3, vol. 352, note Hohl, 27 June 1942 (original French). 6 FA, E 6351 (F) -/1, vol. 655, Bonna to the Federal Customs Administration, 23 July 1942 (original French). 7 Schindler, Fragen, 2001 (Publications of the ICE). 8 FA, E 2001 (D) -/3, vol. 349, Bonna to the Federal Customs Administration, 29 November 1943 (original French). 9 SR Archives 1.13, Kriegsbetrieb, impressions from England of Swissair representative Charles Messmer, 20 October 1939 (original German). 10 Matt, Swissair, 2000; Muser, Swissair, 1996. 237
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Final Report of the Independent Com
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Independent Commission of Experts S
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Preface This book focuses on Switze
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the monetary system and refugee pol
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sometimes difficult conditions and
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5 LAW AND LEGAL PRACTICE 391 5.1 Pu
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Abbreviations A.G.I.U.S. Assistenza
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EFV Eidgenössische Finanzverwaltun
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OECD Organization for Economic Coop
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UFA Universum-Film-Aktiengesellscha
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clever policy managed not to be dra
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economic and military power». 10 I
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Holocaust and the context of the Se
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informed will see more options, set
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with a violent threat, emergency le
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Germany although against the couran
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concerned, the findings are release
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Projects that had been suggested in
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Conscious of the importance of pers
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Considering all these developments,
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over the next few years. Only a few
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war the Soviet Union seized massive
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12 It is symptomatic in this contex
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2 The International Context and Nat
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The revolutionary upheavals at the
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1935 established a racial basis for
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The small state of Switzerland The
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Figure 1: Import and export trends,
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system. Payments from Swiss debtors
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Foreign investors desired security
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Although the political equality of
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the state and legislation was also
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Switzerland - «come what may». 28
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the Radical Party leading to a comb
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in the economy in the post-war peri
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in a far more clear-cut manner. It
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«original» Swiss values, so to sp
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take the measures deemed necessary
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also committed to an ideological co
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defence sector. The consumer price
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economic, social, cultural and spir
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28 November 1937 for a ban on Freem
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Supreme Commander - the General - a
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The phases of the war Hitler hoped
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Bircher sending Swiss doctors to th
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The victorious powers were in agree
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on 7 March 1945: «after the ‹Rus
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significantly bogged down after 194
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18 There are no recent studies on G
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73 See Imhof/Ettinger/Boller, Flüc
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126 Stucki’s speech on 12 Februar
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papers, had to go back to France. T
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Increased persecution of Jews and i
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created a legal basis for the pract
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to supervise the internees, to meet
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discourage refugee smugglers and th
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Nazi regime were forced to leave as
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times in the statistics concerning
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deal of information circulated thro
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defensive system that led to restri
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consequences - as well as from the
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epeatedly as justification. At the
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even betrayed in the face of the Ge
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situation. 83 As was customary, the
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The immense popularity of Swiss aid
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admission of illegal «French, Span
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the decisions made. As far as refug
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with the authorities in individual
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The main role played by the church
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with Switzerland and other countrie
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and resulted in improving in the fl
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occupied areas as well as taking in
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war in particular, tension arose be
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claim they were wealthy in order to
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sight of the German border police t
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of the war, the Federal Political D
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would be estranged from their famil
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country were subjected, was finally
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egard to the post-war period - favo
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the export of foreign currency and
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post-war period through «humanitar
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Federal Council’s delegate for in
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taken seriously. It was not until 1
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25 Ludwig, Flüchtlingspolitik, 195
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67 See Häsler, Boot, 1971, pp. 275
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113 Narbel, Eglises, 2001. Study un
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162 With reference to the first cam
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approaches to a critical debate abo
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But there was more to Swiss objecti
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transition to economic warfare as o
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that this important economic potent
Page 186 and 187: market became much more important a
Page 188 and 189: members of the management. In any c
Page 190 and 191: machine tools and aluminium the con
Page 192 and 193: to obtain only limited supplies, if
Page 194 and 195: of the various areas of economic ex
Page 196 and 197: «The nations which are today fight
Page 198 and 199: 11 Vereinigung des Schweizerischen
Page 200 and 201: 4.2 The Armaments Industry and the
Page 202 and 203: Table 2: Export permits issued for
Page 204 and 205: International tolerance of and cond
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Page 208 and 209: military expenditure in Switzerland
Page 210 and 211: 32 light machine gun and the MG 34
Page 212 and 213: the disastrous situation with regar
Page 214 and 215: In summer 1940, the Swiss diplomacy
Page 216 and 217: important of these was the Dixi-Jun
Page 218 and 219: Whether the contribution of Swiss e
Page 220 and 221: 4.3 Electricity The authorities of
Page 222 and 223: closer to the Swiss electricity gen
Page 224 and 225: provided by Switzerland to the Axis
Page 226 and 227: Passenger transport In recent years
Page 228 and 229: a day passed through the Gotthard T
Page 230 and 231: Table 4: A few examples of transit
Page 232 and 233: to ensure that the volume of suspic
Page 234 and 235: - first Italy, then Germany - were
Page 238 and 239: 4.5 Gold Transactions During the Se
Page 240 and 241: on 7 December 1942, when the Federa
Page 242 and 243: shipped to Switzerland even during
Page 244 and 245: lished two different dollar categor
Page 246 and 247: icance of these transactions on the
Page 248 and 249: their gold transactions and positiv
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Page 252 and 253: corporations could therefore not co
Page 254 and 255: 11 Banken, Degussa, 1999. 12 SNB Ar
Page 256 and 257: Figure 5: Balance-sheet totals of S
Page 258 and 259: phenomenon. Having such a well-esta
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Page 262 and 263: the Swiss institutions was the guar
Page 264 and 265: esumption of debt service and were
Page 266 and 267: position they were still prepared a
Page 268 and 269: The banks provided Germany with oth
Page 270 and 271: of Swiss ownership, others without
Page 272 and 273: from Germany. The corresponding fig
Page 274 and 275: the certification procedure had dam
Page 276 and 277: owners. In cases where the company
Page 278 and 279: 1 This section is principally based
Page 280 and 281: 4.7 Swiss Insurance Companies in Ge
Page 282 and 283: 1934 and 1939, which decreased slig
Page 284 and 285: 1936 and in Frankfurt in 1939. Rent
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- were able to withstand this «Ger
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Did this anti-Semitism spill across
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In cases where foreign exchange pol
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In Switzerland, insurance policies
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the German economy was to an ever-i
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Swiss-German border, and these firm
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leading figures in the Nazi regime
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which, once peace returned, would b
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independently. They backed this up
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egime. The same was the case for th
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options: either the «Generalgouver
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ities such as synthetic silks (Lonz
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6 Burrin, France, 1995, pp. 468f. 7
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Phases and extent of the use of for
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Table 7: Proportion of foreign work
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Fischer, the Aluminium-Walzwerke Si
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At Lonza, the Board Committee knew
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10 Quoted from Herbert, Fremdarbeit
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if the owner or the personally liab
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improving their position in the Ger
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their shareholders; according to a
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Willstätter to emigrate to Switzer
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of 193, not including «half-Jews»
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As a major manufacturer, Bally Wien
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their intention was to sell the thr
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December 1933 started negotiations
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were of the opinion that the admini
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ments and common international laws
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The Swiss authorities were prepared
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24 With reference to what follows,
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70 After the «Anschluss», Austria
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and irreplaceable; they are artefac
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Another channel for the transfer of
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In the case of Fides, five sub-cate
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«Switzerland plays a significant r
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was merely the first phase leading
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Case study: Curt Glaser - «I put t
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His art collection and art library
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well-known event is the «official
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Out of a total of around 20,000 con
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4 The following comments are based
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4.12 German Camouflage and Relocati
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documentation developed out of the
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ank collapses in the summer of 1931
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British branch out of the Netherlan
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interests of Switzerland. However,
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its former Swiss holding company mu
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spring 1944, as had already happene
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SS member Helmuth Maurer and the Zu
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economy syndicate in Switzerland, P
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Figures and Legends As a result of
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comply with the duty, established b
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25 On the «Red House» conference,
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emergency plenary powers). This «e
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provide for emergency powers for th
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In terms of international law, Swit
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those concerned, the rigorous separ
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opinion which had been commissioned
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material. This duty of equal treatm
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the systematic plundering of privat
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orne in mind in this context that i
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securities described above. 104 Her
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international law is applicable if
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Heynau’s petition against the Olm
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cation of Nazi injustice. This feel
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27 This included not only «politic
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66 Schindler, Fragen, 2001 (Publica
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106 Vischer, Handel, 2001 (Publicat
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142 After the war, the German crimi
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concerned, it was stated that «ind
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actions] assets in such countries o
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eplaced it with «Wiedergutmachung
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individual. 23 Reparations do not i
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6.2 Restitution Claims in Switzerla
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commission concluded that investiga
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prevented numerous claimants from m
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advantage for Switzerland was that
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was also justified by the argument
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vention of international law carrie
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transfer instructions received from
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e «never to mention the entire aff
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in question. Often, therefore, inve
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The Cold War and agreements with Po
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hensive survey to be carried out an
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of which 1.7 million francs came fr
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Learning processes of the 1990s In
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Table 8: Restitution proceedings ag
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Germany at that time, or were depor
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Judges at that time also had proble
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policies belonging to Jews who rema
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the International Commission of Hol
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international law and it had theref
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as many cases as possible by amicab
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under duress to be between 50 and 1
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Table 9: Restitution claims involvi
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Restitution claims after 1947 After
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ook with the title «Vénus de Cyr
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camouflaging. After the Allied occu
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elief that relations would continue
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group of companies was not a tradit
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communities in Switzerland supporte
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44 Letter from the three leaders of
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94 Investigations carried out by th
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139 FA, E 2001 (E) 1970/217, vol. 2
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Switzerland?» can be found in the
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French-speaking Switzerland called
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conformist tendencies, served only
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different type of conduct displayed
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also in more recent legal proceedin
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Discussions about the high level of
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this kind would be abrogated after
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State and private business. This ha
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tutional rights of Switzerland’s
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The task of the Commission did not
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The defensive attitude of private b
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much which would have failed to bec
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seemed to function outside establis
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spectre of a renewed post-war crisi
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«Axis» under the terms of the cle
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dissuasion in the broadest possible
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Sources and Bibliography The follow
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SVB (Schweizerische Volksbank) Fund
Page 531 and 532:
Federal Department of Justice and P
Page 533 and 534:
2.3 USA National Archives and Recor
Page 535 and 536:
- Zweiter Weltkrieg (ed.): Die Schw
Page 537 and 538:
Unabhängige Expertenkommission Sch
Page 539 and 540:
mémoire en construction, in: Allge
Page 541 and 542:
Bloch, Marc: Apologie der Geschicht
Page 543 and 544:
Erster und Zweiter Weltkrieg. Demok
Page 545 and 546:
Arbeitskreises «Zweiter Weltkrieg
Page 547 and 548:
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ge
Page 549 and 550:
Haab, Robert; Simonius, August: Art
Page 551 and 552:
Volkswirtschafts-Departementes, ed.
Page 553 and 554:
des réfugiés entre 1933 et 1945.
Page 555 and 556:
Kunz, Hans Beat: Weltrevolution und
Page 557 and 558:
Lüthy, Herbert: Die Disteln von 19
Page 559 and 560:
Vonarb, Zurich 1995 (Archäologie u
Page 561 and 562:
Radbruch, Gustav: Gesetzliches Unre
Page 563 and 564:
Schumann, Wolfgang: Die wirtschafts
Page 565 and 566:
Stutz, Hans: Frontisten und Nationa
Page 567 and 568:
Waeger, Gerhart: Die Sündenböcke
Page 569 and 570:
Zuschlag, Christoph: Die Ausstellun
Page 571 and 572:
Lussy Hanspeter Marden Matthew D. M
Page 573 and 574:
Ball, Alexander, 473, 474 Ball, Ric
Page 575 and 576:
Budge, Emma, 356 Bührle, cf. Oerli
Page 577 and 578:
Dynamit Nobel AG, Bratislava, 266 E
Page 579 and 580:
Grosz, George, 51 Grüninger, Paul,
Page 581 and 582:
Jezler, Robert, 113, 156 Jöhr, Ado
Page 583 and 584:
Maggi GmbH, Singen, 295, 297, 300,
Page 585 and 586:
Papen, Franz von, 381 Parfümeriewa
Page 587 and 588:
Schenker, Alois, 139 Schering AG, B
Page 589 and 590:
Sturzenegger, cf. Bank Sturzenegger
Page 591:
Wartmann, Wilhelm, 358 Weber, Ernst
Page 594 and 595:
Volume 6 Geschäfte und Zwangsarbei
Page 596 and 597:
Volume 16 Die Schweiz und die Goldt
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