61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

Holocaust and the context of the Second World War. In doing so, we are less
interested in the question of the extent to which the war facilitated governmentbacked
mass murder under Hitler. Rather, we are concerned with Switzerland’s
response to this dual catastrophe and the question of how deeply it was involved.
A historical depiction integrating the Holocaust produces interpretations
different from one limited to the challenges posed by the war. As far as the war
years are concerned, the prevailing opinion in Switzerland was that the country
had passed the test. On the other hand, the question as to what extent
Switzerland was involved in the Holocaust has given rise to considerable
vexation and in most cases bewildered defensiveness. It is not easy to shed light
on this relationship in an adequate manner, and yet any investigation of the
treatment of refugees and the property of the Nazi regime’s victims
undoubtedly refers us to this investigative context.
When it started work in early 1997, the ICE found that Swiss historiography
dealing with the Nazi period had focused heavily on the context of war. Whether
it was positive about the country or critical of society, the question as to how
Switzerland responded to the injustice created by the Nazi regime concentrated
much more heavily on the decision-makers (who tended to be let off lightly in the
former case and criticised in the latter) than on the victims of the Holocaust and
the related problem of restitution. The question of why there was such strong
resistance in Switzerland to legislation affecting private law with the aim of
protecting the victims of National Socialism was seldom asked. In the investigations
connected with the Washington Agreement of May 1946 and the analysis
of the execution of the provisions concerning German assets in Switzerland which
continued until 1952, the victims’ perspective also received only scant attention.
Hence for example, no mention was made of the fact that Switzerland had made
an unpublished declaration, which it did not then fulfil, to look into the question
of «assets of deceased and heirless Nazi victims» on its territory. 15 There are no
signs of any international comparative analysis of post-war legislation with
respect to looted assets in different countries. Neither is there any research into
the involvement of Swiss companies in the «Aryanisation» of the German
economy or the corporate policy of the Swiss insurance industry in the Third
Reich. The «Federal Decree on the Registration of Dormant Accounts» which
came into force in 1962 after many false starts and which – in the words of the
Federal Council – was intended to refute any suspicion that Switzerland had
«intended to enrich itself from the assets of the victims of contemptible events» 16,
was likewise not subject to any historical investigation – although it was clear
that it could not be used to find an acceptable solution with regard to the property
rights of Holocaust victims. The ICE’s mandate was formulated in such a way as
to take these shortcomings into account.
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