61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

discipline, excluding the radical Left and various types of dissidents. In turn, this
fostered the willingness not to discuss the unpleasant issues of the recent past.
The seamless transition of Switzerland from the war years to the post-war years
may be seen most clearly by considering certain individuals. This clearly applies
to the important decision-makers of the private economic sector who were much
less affected by the political vicissitudes. It was, however, also true for the leading
political figures, such as the Federal Councillors Philipp Etter and Eduard von
Steiger, the former in office from 1934 to 1959 and supporter of the reorganisation
of the Swiss Confederation in the sense of an «authoritarian democracy»
in 1940, and the latter in office from 1941 to 1951 and main proponent of the
restrictive policy on refugees. The resignation of Federal Councillor Marcel Pilet-
Golaz in December 1944, who had been responsible for foreign policy since
1940, was an exception. In addition, Hans Frölicher, who represented
Switzerland in Berlin between 1938 and 1945 and who did not fit into the new
era due to his accommodating policies vis-à-vis the Nazi regime – policies
endorsed by a majority in Bern – also experienced a premature end to his career
at the end of the war. 122 Remarkable continuity can be seen, however, on the level
of leading civil servants. Heinrich Rothmund, who served in the Federal Police
for Foreigners (Eidgenössische Fremdenpolizei) from 1919 and was a significant
participant in fostering anti-Semitic policy against asylum seekers, reached the
age of retirement and left office quite normally in 1955. Walter Stucki, the Swiss
ambassador in Vichy, was not able to make as seamless a transition to representing
Switzerland in Paris in 1944/45 as the Federal Council had imagined.
Still, in 1946 he became chief negotiator for the negotiations in Washington
regarding the Swiss purchases of Nazi gold and the assets of German nationals
deposited in Switzerland. In 1952, he also chaired negotiations on the «Clearing-
Billions» with the newly-founded Federal Republic of Germany. 123 The «strong
men» responsible for Swiss foreign trade who not only guaranteed the supplies
and provisions for Switzerland through their negotiating tactics but also pushed
for Swiss integration in the German wartime economy, continued to remain in
their important posts and some, like Jean Hotz and Heinrich Homberger,
provided widely-read self-analyses and justifications for their work. 124 The
management of the Swiss National Bank remained unchanged.
The fact that Switzerland developed in apparent continuity after the end of the
war had much to do with the widespread impression that it had passed a
historical test. This positive domestic impression contrasted strongly with the
negative image of Switzerland held by the Allies from 1943 onwards, especially
by the Americans. The reputation of neutrality was at a low point at the end of
the war and there was harsh criticism from the victorious powers.
Walter Stucki declared before the National Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee
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