61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

the certification procedure had damaged Switzerland’s reputation as a reliable
partner as well as the reputation of certain Swiss banks. Investigations
conducted in order to obtain certification could have been of use to trace
unclaimed assets and to facilitate the search for their owners. No information
on such proceedings was found in the Clearing Office files, nor in the bank
archives which were made accessible to the ICE. According to a list of blocked
assets dating from 1948 (immediately before responsibility for them was transferred
from the Federal Department of Finance to the Office of Foreign
Property), frozen Swiss assets still amounted to 164.5 million dollars. The larger
part of this sum was linked to the Interhandel affair. It can be assumed, however,
that the assets that had at that time still not been certified by their owners also
included money belonging to Nazi victims with whom the bank had lost
contact. 35
The banks and assets belonging to Nazi victims
Among the customers who had confided their assets to Swiss banks in the
1920s, there were many who were to become victims of the Nazi policy of
confiscation and extermination. In the 1930s too, many people who came under
the threat of National Socialism or were already being persecuted, relied on the
security of Swiss financial institutions. Many of these customers were later
deported and killed.
In the 1930s various countries instituted ever more drastic measures to prevent
the influx of flight capital and exerted pressure on the Swiss banks to stop them
providing their facilities for such transactions. The banks thus faced the basic
dilemma of either looking after the interests of their foreign customers or giving
in to pressure from Germany and other countries. After the banking and
currency crisis of 1931, German foreign exchange controls became even more
draconian. Non-declaration of assets in foreign currencies was already being
severely punished before the Nazis came to power. Afterwards, penalties were
further increased. Under the Law on Treason against the German Economy
(Gesetz gegen den Verrat der Deutschen Volkswirtschaft) passed on 12 June 1933, all
German citizens as well as all foreigners living in Germany were obliged to
register the foreign currencies and securities they held abroad. In 1934, a similar
law was passed in Italy. In 1938, all Jewish property in Germany had to be registered.
At the same time, many special taxes and levies were introduced such as
the so-called «Sühneleistung» (atonement fine) instituted after the pogrom in
November 1938 and the Reichsfluchtsteuer (emigration tax), which were
extended and already levied on people who were likely to emigrate. To avoid the
high penalties and meet the financial burden, many Jews and others who were
persecuted had to withdraw their assets and securities from Switzerland.
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