61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

Projects that had been suggested in the beginning, such as «Ideology and the
Elite» and «Victim Protection» («Opferschutz») as well as a project based on the
method of oral history, were thus not pursued any further. At the same time,
individual topics were outsourced to specialists as external mandates and some
new topics were included in the programme. For instance, several legal experts
were commissioned to submit a series of legal opinions with a view to clarifying
various legal facts.
In terms of organising the work and making strategic research decisions, it was
crucial for the Commission to work primarily in those areas that had been newly
opened up through the privileged access to the archives. The focus here was on
the corporate archives of the private sector. Valuable references to company
strategy and transactions were also found in public archives both in Switzerland
and abroad – for instance in Washington and Moscow. It was also important to
consider how the material and results of the ICEP could be put to use, as the
latter’s work was nearing its end. It was and remains entirely unclear to what
extent companies will be prepared to grant researchers access to their archives
after the end of 2001.
In spring 2000, the scientific research project management – which had already
been planned the previous year – commenced operations to prepare publication
of the studies. This included processing the comments and opinions provided
by members of the Commission and external specialists as well as undertaking
additional research where necessary. Companies that had already received the
entire (or even only a part) of the study concerning their enterprise – based on
material from their own archives – also provided feedback which was at times
extensive. The relevant objections or references were taken into account
whenever this was deemed appropriate. There has been close cooperation since
early 2001 with the publishing company Chronos (Zurich) which is responsible
for publishing the studies and contributions. These were published in three
stages between August 2001 and March 2002. At the same time, intensive work
was conducted on this concluding report, a rough outline of which had been
prepared in late 1998. The latter was constantly adapted and modified to reflect
the progress and results of the on-going research. All members of the
Commission were involved in drawing up this synopsis.
Over the last five years, the ICE has completed a fascinating, technically
difficult, and scientifically demanding research project on a subject area
overshadowed by unresolved moral issues and depressing discoveries. In
addition to gaining important knowledge of the «fate of assets» that arrived in
Switzerland from the Nazi sphere of influence or were moved on from here, it
has also tried to link them to the fate of people, which is – after all – what really
matters. As far as the «extent» of these assets is concerned, our findings remain
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