61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

concerned, the findings are released from the seal of secrecy with the publication
of the studies and contributions. The ICE thus considered it important to
publish all the results that have passed the scientific quality test.
The Commission had to adopt these terms of reference when it set about organising
its work in early 1997. With the definition of the mandate, it received the
general questions that were to be the focus of the research. At the same time it
was confronted with an enormous challenge. The mission to find out the
«truth» about the «extent and fate of assets» that had been transferred to or
through Switzerland during the Nazi era, was an indication of the great uncertainty
that existed as to how these transactions had come about. Of what
magnitude were they, how were they carried out, and what role was played by
various companies, private individuals and political institutions? The media
hysteria that raged for several months had created a tangle of facts and suppositions,
along with justified claims and grotesque suspicions – a situation
initially impossible to unravel. From a political perspective, it was possible to
see the ICE as a measure for relieving Switzerland of the burden of serious
accusations, but in terms of its self-image it has considered itself to be a comparatively
well-funded scientific research project set up to run for five years, i.e.,
until the end of 2001. To begin with, at the express request of the Federal
Council, it was prepared to deal with two particularly sensitive issues: the
purchase of looted gold by the Swiss National Bank and Swiss policy on
refugees, and to publish two interim reports on these subjects. Yet, from the
outset, it had set its sights on a broader range of issues and conceived a research
plan that took account of the entire breadth of the subject under investigation.
From this it was clear that the ICE could not be of any use in the search for
individual assets and their legitimate owners. This realisation was supported by
the research work of the Independent Committee of Eminent Persons (ICEP)
being conducted in the banking system. The model of a division of labour soon
came into focus with the ICEP (which had far greater financial and human
resources at its disposal than did the ICE) dealing with individual claims from
victims of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust, while the ICE investigated the
relevant context on a more general level.
In the spring of 1997, some 500 applicants responded to the advertisement for
posts, which showed that there was a huge amount of interest in this research
project. Subsequently, twenty staff members recruited in Switzerland and ten
abroad commenced their work and were coordinated by the research managers.
Once a functioning working structure had been created, the Commission
pressed ahead with the project on two levels: on the one hand, an intensive
operation was initiated to tap the rugged terrain of archival sources. The aim
was to combine an open «discovery procedure» by staff on the spot with a
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