61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

Bircher sending Swiss doctors to the German eastern front, the economic
agreement with Germany of 18 June 1941 is particularly notable. 118 The entry
of the USA into the war in December 1941 as a reaction against the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbour and the almost simultaneous faltering of the German
advance towards Moscow were not immediately perceived to be a decisive
turnaround. It was the German defeats in the autumn of 1942 that heralded the
beginning of the end. In September 1942, Ernst Reinhard, the Socialist
National Councillor from Bern, made the point that one had to accept the fact
that the war was lost for the Axis powers, but also be aware that «we are
completely powerless vis-à-vis Germany». 119 In January 1943, a report on the
general mood claimed that the anti-German stance had changed to a surprising
extent into a pro-Soviet stance which was primarily an expression of impatience
at the slow progress of the Western Allies. 120 A determining factor was the
economic war which was particularly significant for Switzerland. The two
World Wars of the 20 th century may be interpreted as production wars based on
the mobilisation of all available economic resources. From the beginning, it was
an important strategic aim of the Western powers to cut off the continent
dominated by the Axis powers by a blockade of overseas supplies (and also
export opportunities to a lesser extent). Germany reacted to this with a counterblockade.
This was connected with the plan to forge a post-war «New Europe»
under Nazi hegemony as an independent, self-sufficient continental bloc in
accordance with the ideas of the German «Grossraumwirtschaft» (integrated
economic area). In actual fact, German occupational rule was based on
systematic and methodical exploitation and enslavement which the term
«looting economy» only goes some way to describe. With these conquests the
Nazi state also appropriated gold, foreign exchange and other valuable assets.
The dispossessed owners were deported and murdered, primarily in the «east»
where the occupation forces reigned with particular cruelty. Finally, enslaved
men and women, namely «Ostarbeiter» (Russian and Polish slave workers in
occupied countries during the war), forced labour, prisoners of war and concentration
camp prisoners were also incorporated into the production process.
When one considers the vehement anti-bolshevist stance of the European
governments and the USA and the widespread fear of communism since 1918,
it appears surprising how quickly the Alliance against the Axis powers came
into being after the German attack on the Soviet Union. Still, it corresponded
to the logic of concurring interests if «West» and «East» understood the war
against Hitler’s Germany to be a common struggle. The level of understanding
and co-operation practised amongst the Allies is, however, often overestimated.
The military power of the Red Army was based primarily on its own resources.
Discussions with the USA, which committed itself as a supplier of important
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