61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

spectre of a renewed post-war crisis. Switzerland, on the other hand, despite
certain bottlenecks triggered by the war, had at its disposal a largely wellbalanced
production capability both during and after the war.
The accusation of having profited from the war is levelled not so much at the
Swiss economy as a whole, but rather at two specific aspects of it. Firstly, it was
said of Switzerland that it had acted as a «hub» for all kinds of dubious business
transactions. In fact, a «grey» or «black» market which was more or less
tolerated by the authorities, if not exactly encouraged, complemented the
official market. This is where stolen goods were exchanged: banknotes,
securities, works of art, diamonds, watches, jewellery, stamps, and much more.
The difference between the two markets, however, is not always clear. Precisely
where the gold deliveries from the German Reichsbank are concerned, it is
apparent that the stolen bullion came into the country with the knowledge of
individuals at the highest level, even though it came in via a secret route. Many
covert and illegal transactions were also managed and financed alongside
«normal» business transactions. Transactions of this kind were partly for the
benefit of the official Nazi regime, and partly for the personal enrichment of its
representatives who were endeavouring, in the light of imminent defeat, to
bring stolen goods into Switzerland to safety. Although the ICE was able to
document specific cases, it was impossible to come to any quantitative conclusions.
But it is beyond doubt that these transactions substantially benefited the
«middlemen».
Secondly, there were, of course, those who profited from the increased demand
for certain goods caused by the war. Through the organisation of the war
economy attempts were made to manage and restrain this process through price
ceilings, contingencies, and other administrative controls. In order to prevent
circumstances like those which had prevailed in the First World War, the
Federal Council, with the close co-operation of the political parties and business
associations, had recourse to financial and special fiscal instruments such as the
tax on war profits. 10 The question here is not whether Switzerland should have
maintained business and trade relations with foreign countries at all, since the
possibility of suspending them did not exist. The question should rather be that
of how far these activities extended, whether they should be assessed as
unavoidable «concessions» or, on the contrary, whether they were viewed as
desirable by companies and the authorities. Moreover, not all these business
transactions should be categorised as equally problematical. The supply of arms
to the Axis powers or the acceptance of gold from Nazi Germany are more politically
and morally questionable than the export of foodstuffs, for instance.
During the war, large Swiss companies were in a position, precisely because of
continued commercial exchanges with the Axis powers, to pursue innovative
520