Swiss banks and nazi capitulation during WW2

[Gelgoog]

An independent investigation into Switzerland's wartime past has published a report which concludes that the country largely ignored moral and ethical issues.

The Bergier Commission, which was set up in 1996 by the Swiss parliament to examine Swiss relations with the Axis powers, claims that the Swiss authorities had secret dealings with Nazi Germany which helped to prolong the second world war. The study also says the Swiss refused to allow refuge to thousands of Jews in spite of the fact they already knew of the existence of concentration camps.

The nine members of the commission who come from Switzerland, Britain, the United States and Israel have spent five years on their research.

They say Swiss authorities of having contributed to the expansion of the Nazi economy, by striking trade and financial agreements with Germany which helped to fund the Nazi regime.

Complicity

They add that the provision of interest free credits to the Axis powers by the Swiss banks, and their willingness to trade gold for the valuable Swiss franc, allowed the Nazis to buy machinery and even war materiel from Switzerland.

But the commission says its most disturbing finding was learning of the effect of the "excessively restrictive" Swiss policy towards refugees.

According to the commissioners, and to Swiss sociologist, Professor Jean Ziegler, the Swiss authorities knowingly sent refugees to their deaths.

"The Swiss Government and the army leadership knew exactly what would happen to the men women and children they turned down at the Swiss borders," he said.

"The Bergier report says there were 110,000 Jewish people turned back. And I think that`s a complicity in genocide, that`s a complicity in genocide."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1887789.stm

A commission of historians looking into Switzerland's activities during World War II have revealed how the country served as a financial centre for the Nazis and its relationship with fascist Italy.

The newly-released reports also provide a look at Switzerland's treatment of Jewish refugees during the war years. The nine reports from the Commission of Historians are altogether over 1,000 pages long.

They are an exhaustive study of Switzerland's financial transactions with Germany during WW II.

The historians found that German assets worth more than $1bn were transferred to Switzerland between 1939 and 1945.

'Stolen' diamonds

The report says the Swiss authorities moved only reluctantly to control the transfers after pressure from the allied powers.

Looted possessions from the occupied countries also found their way to Switzerland. Thousands of dollars worth of diamonds, some thought to have been stolen from Holocaust victims, were found in the German embassy in Berne at the end of the War.

The Commission of Historians also criticises Switzerland's relationship with Italy at the time.

Lawyers working for the Commission say Switzerland violated its own neutrality laws by granting Italy credits to pay for Swiss supplies of armaments.

And while Switzerland's rejection of Jewish refugees during the war years was documented some time ago, a new report confirms that thousands of Jews were turned away from Switzerland's borders after 1942, when the Swiss authorities had clear knowledge of the Nazi death camps.

The historians say anti-Semitism was an important factor in the Swiss decision not to accept Jewish refugees.

The Swiss Government has already apologised for that policy.

The Commission of Historians was set up by the Swiss Government in 1997, at the height of the controversy over Switzerland's wartime past.

A final report is due to be published early next year.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1683194.stm

How much gold did the swiss steal from European Jews during WW2 and to what extent did the Swiss capitulate with the nazis in things like manufacturing and accepting stolen gold? Should the swiss be held more responsible for their actions during and after the war?

[B5C]

Also note the Swiss did the same thing with the allies. The Swiss are like the Ferengi. They will make a profit by helping both sides of the war.

[gsoxx]

Also note the Swiss did the same thing with the allies. The Swiss are like the Ferengi. They will make a profit by helping both sides of the war.

And here I thought Roddenberry formed the Ferengi after the Jews.

[Boer]

While morally/ethically it is easy to criticize the Swiss for their dealings with the Axis powers, we should keep in mind that they were basically (depending on how you view Vichy France) surrounded by the Axis. They had ample reason to be concerned about an invasion and, likely, believed that dealings with the Nazis were necessary to prevent such an invasion.

[ShADoW]

While morally/ethically it is easy to criticize the Swiss for their dealings with the Axis powers, we should keep in mind that they were basically (depending on how you view Vichy France) surrounded by the Axis. They had ample reason to be concerned about an invasion and, likely, believed that dealings with the Nazis were necessary to prevent such an invasion.

this

[Jagdpanzer]

The Germans planned the invasion of Switzerland (operation Tannenbaum) but they never executed it.

[Pious Agnost]

All I see is a country trying to maintain its traditional neutrality and independence

[eisenkopf]

How much gold did the swiss steal from European Jews during WW2 and to what extent did the Swiss capitulate with the nazis in things like manufacturing and accepting stolen gold? Should the swiss be held more responsible for their actions during and after the war?

I think you mean cooperation/collaboration, not capitulation, right? Anyway, the reaction in Switzerland to the Bergier report was foreseeable:

While the left acknowledged the faults or even guilt that is implied by the Swiss wartime policy in dealing with Nazi Germany, the right denounced the report as biased, unfounded, irrelevant, propaganda, etc. etc.

This is basically the situation until now. For the right, Bergier is synonymous with the attempt to build a Swiss guilt-complex around WW2, for the left it is a dark chapter of Swiss history.

The history taught in schools, btw, is reduced to the myth how the Swiss discouraged a German invasion by the Reduit, and the Anbauschlacht.

The Anbauschlacht (or "farming battle") is an attempt to instill patriotism by gloryfying the fact that every available patch of land was used for agriculture during the war. Ignoring the fact that nobody was hungry or even starving, because of the close collaboration with the Axis.

The Reduit was the strategy that in case of a German invasion, the military and political elite should retreat into the mountains, and basically stay there in a bunker system for as long as necessary, while all infrastructure would be destroyed by bombs. This cowardly strategy is now hailed as the ultimate deterrence.

As a final side note, the Swiss are still the only country that celebrates the beginning of WW2, and not the end, much to the embarassement of the left.

[SorelusImperion]

While beeing in a problematic situation I am under the impression that the Swiss "supported" the Nazis a lot more than nessecary to prevent economic blocade or invasion.

And here I thought Roddenberry formed the Ferengi after the Jews

I thought it was the other way around

[Lysimachos11]

I hate such accusations. If the Swiss didn't want hundreds of thousands of Jews into their country, that's their decision. It's their country after all. Great Britain and France (as well as many other Allied powers) also turned back the Jews on their borders in the 1930's, so what's the big deal?

And about lending money to Germany, there is no blame in that as well. The Swiss were neutral, so why should they prefer the Allied murderers from the skies to the Axis murderers in the camps?

[Poach]

I agree with Lys, Boer and Pious. Switzerland is a tiny country, surrounded by the Axis powers (who had already shown they're happy to invade neutral countries), attempting to remain neutral. You lot who criticise them can sit on your pedestals all you like, but if I was the Swiss government during WW2 I wouldn't give the Germans any reason to want to invade my country: I would make it policy to close the borders to refugees (as if the country could COPE with that many refugees, there's roughly as much Swiss in total as there are Londoners today) and I'd enter into business with them if they expressed an interest, I'd make sure I was a friendly acquintance to the Axis.

As I said, sit on your pedestals all you want, you know fine well that when faced with the choice of protecting your own or risking everything to protect strangers you'd go with the former every time, morals and ethics be damned.

[Gelgoog]

I agree with Lys, Boer and Pious. Switzerland is a tiny country, surrounded by the Axis powers (who had already shown they're happy to invade neutral countries), attempting to remain neutral. You lot who criticise them can sit on your pedestals all you like, but if I was the Swiss government during WW2 I wouldn't give the Germans any reason to want to invade my country: I would make it policy to close the borders to refugees (as if the country could COPE with that many refugees, there's roughly as much Swiss in total as there are Londoners today) and I'd enter into business with them if they expressed an interest, I'd make sure I was a friendly acquintance to the Axis.

As I said, sit on your pedestals all you want, you know fine well that when faced with the choice of protecting your own or risking everything to protect strangers you'd go with the former every time, morals and ethics be damned.

Germany did not have the resources to attack switzerland even though he wanted to do it since the war began.

The difference between turning away refugees and turning away people who you know are going to be sent to death camps.

They also had no problems acting as the central bank for nazi germany and laundering stolen gold from occupied europe and dead jews.

Then they refused to give back funds deposited by jews after the war.

Other newly released World War II-era documents, meanwhile, show that Swiss-Nazi collaboration went to the military level.

The United States was so outraged by massive Swiss supplies of munitions to Germany during the war that it considered imposing a total economic blockade of Switzerland, according to an October 1943 letter from Adm. William Leahy, a member of the joint chiefs of staff, to Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

Leahy said an increase in Swiss military aid to Germany was damaging the Allied war effort.

"It is particularly significant that at the very time that the British and American combined bomber offensive is beginning to substantially affect German production of munitions," the letter states, "Swiss exports of munitions to Germany have been considerably increased..."

The joint chiefs suggested a ban on exports to Switzerland, but the WJC said it has been unable to determine if that happened.

The swiss used their "neutrality" to act as a secure base to sell armaments to germany while not being able to be bombed by the allies.

Seven studies released on Friday by the Independent Commission of Experts (ICE) show that the lion’s share of Swiss munitions exports went to the Axis powers.

The studies, the last of 25 produced by the ICE, also confirm that Switzerland acted as the main clearing house for Nazi gold even though the Swiss central bank knew that some of it was stolen from victims.

The ICE presented its final report in Bern on Friday, after a five-year investigation into the volume and fate of assets moved to Switzerland before and during the Second World War.

The report on arms revealed that from 1940 to 1944, 84 per cent of Swiss munitions’ exports went to Axis countries. The remaining 16 per cent was split between the Allies and neutral countries

After 1941, Germany became the main market for Swiss weapons’ components benefiting some companies, which made fat profits.

Indeed, some companies – notably Oerlikon Bührle, Dixi, Hispano Suiza and Waffenfabrik Solothurn - gave priority to foreign sales rather than the domestic market because far higher prices could be obtained from exports.

However, the country itself gained little from supplying the Nazis – munitions’ exports depleted reserves of raw materials and frequently breached neutrality laws.

The ICE found that Switzerland’s foreign trade policy clearly violated the country’s self-declared neutrality.

On the one hand it declared itself politically and economically neutral, but on the other its main export market was Germany, and export credits issued by the state effectively meant it was actively financing the Nazi war machine.

Also at issue is how Swiss banks handled the accounts of Jews who hid their money in Switzerland -- they thought for safekeeping -- as storm clouds gathered over Europe in the 1930s. For the past 50 years, relatives and a few survivors have tried to reclaim their assets, but their efforts have been stymied by Swiss banks. Some bank officials demanded official death certificates, as if Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen maintained such documents. In one instance, a bank was discovered shredding wartime records that likely contained the details of unclaimed Jewish accounts.

Such messages did little to dissuade the Swiss. To this day, Berne still argues that it was surrounded by Germany and Nazi-occupied countries and therefore had little choice but to deal with Hitler during the war. Really? Then why, as our research revealed, did the Swiss continue to do business with Berlin even as the Nazi regime was in retreat? In addition to its factories continuing to produce war materiel for the Germans, the Swiss allowed German troop trains to traverse the country en route to Italy. Most important, it continued to buy looted gold long after the other neutrals -- Sweden, Spain and Portugal -- acceded to Allied demands to halt their purchases in 1943.

[Pious Agnost]

Germany did not have the resources to attack switzerland even though he wanted to do it since the war began.

Supposing this is true, which I doubt considering the massive offensives undertaken by Germany against much larger countries, how were the Swiss to know?

The difference between turning away refugees and turning away people who you know are going to be sent to death camps.

If they had let them in, Germany would've gone in to get them. With interest.

They also had no problems acting as the central bank for nazi germany and laundering stolen gold from occupied europe and dead jews.

Were they supposed to refuse?

Then they refused to give back funds deposited by jews after the war.

That's the part I won't defend...

The swiss used their "neutrality" to act as a secure base to sell armaments to germany while not being able to be bombed by the allies.

Realpolitik.
It is unlikely that Nazi Germany could have fought the war without supplies from the U.S' Standard Oil, who continued to supply them up until 1944. This is not a hit out at the U.S, this is just an example of a similar arrangement.

[Gelgoog]

Supposing this is true, which I doubt considering the massive offensives undertaken by Germany against much larger countries, how were the Swiss to know?

ok let me rephase that, germany did not have the resources to waste on something that was not worth the time and casualties they would be subject to in conquering this contry. The swiss was never sure that germany would not invade, but they fortified the country so heavily to dissuade Hitler.

If they had let them in, Germany would've gone in to get them. With interest.

Not necesarily, as mentioned in the articles, germany was already using the country to store all of its stolen loot, so while it may not have looked kindly on letting jews get away, it could not afford to invade that country, at least not until it dealt with the allies first.

Were they supposed to refuse?

Yes, especially when germany was quite clearly losing the war. Instead up until the end the took gold they knew was stolen and even help transfer lots of wealth to nazi's fleeing via Odessa.

Realpolitik.
It is unlikely that Nazi Germany could have fought the war without supplies from the U.S' Standard Oil, who continued to supply them up until 1944. This is not a hit out at the U.S, this is just an example of a similar arrangement.

really? do you have a link for that because its news to me.

[Pious Agnost]

ok let me rephase that, germany did not have the resources to waste on something that was not worth the time and casualties they would be subject to in conquering this contry. The swiss was never sure that germany would not invade, but they fortified the country so heavily to dissuade Hitler.

Perhaps, but Hitler was a madman, and the Swiss had no real way of resistance.

Not necesarily, as mentioned in the articles, germany was already using the country to store all of its stolen loot, so while it may not have looked kindly on letting jews get away, it could not afford to invade that country, at least not until it dealt with the allies first.

Well the article says 1942.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Soviets were still fighting to take back their territory, and the allies wouldn't re-enter Europe until 1943. Switzerland would have just made itself hostile towards Italy and Germany, with no-one convenient to help them.

Yes, especially when germany was quite clearly losing the war. Instead up until the end the took gold they knew was stolen and even help transfer lots of wealth to nazi's fleeing via Odessa.

The transferring of wealth to escaped Nazis is despicable, true, and I will not defend that either. But we are, and are used to thinking of Germany as 'the enemy' Switzerland, and especially Switzerland at the time, had no reason to consider Germany an enemy.

really? do you have a link for that because its news to me.

http://reformed-theology.org/html/bo...chapter_04.htm

Not what I was looking for, but it looks into it

[Gelgoog]

I agree with Lys, Boer and Pious. Switzerland is a tiny country, surrounded by the Axis powers (who had already shown they're happy to invade neutral countries), attempting to remain neutral. You lot who criticise them can sit on your pedestals all you like, but if I was the Swiss government during WW2 I wouldn't give the Germans any reason to want to invade my country: I would make it policy to close the borders to refugees (as if the country could COPE with that many refugees, there's roughly as much Swiss in total as there are Londoners today) and I'd enter into business with them if they expressed an interest, I'd make sure I was a friendly acquintance to the Axis.

As I said, sit on your pedestals all you want, you know fine well that when faced with the choice of protecting your own or risking everything to protect strangers you'd go with the former every time, morals and ethics be damned.

Germany did not have the resources to attack switzerland even though he wanted to do it since the war began.

The difference between turning away refugees and turning away people who you know are going to be sent to death camps.

They also had no problems acting as the central bank for nazi germany and laundering stolen gold from occupied europe and dead jews.

Then they refused to give back funds deposited by jews after the war.

Other newly released World War II-era documents, meanwhile, show that Swiss-Nazi collaboration went to the military level.

The United States was so outraged by massive Swiss supplies of munitions to Germany during the war that it considered imposing a total economic blockade of Switzerland, according to an October 1943 letter from Adm. William Leahy, a member of the joint chiefs of staff, to Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

Leahy said an increase in Swiss military aid to Germany was damaging the Allied war effort.

"It is particularly significant that at the very time that the British and American combined bomber offensive is beginning to substantially affect German production of munitions," the letter states, "Swiss exports of munitions to Germany have been considerably increased..."

The joint chiefs suggested a ban on exports to Switzerland, but the WJC said it has been unable to determine if that happened.

The swiss used their "neutrality" to act as a secure base to sell armaments to germany while not being able to be bombed by the allies.

Seven studies released on Friday by the Independent Commission of Experts (ICE) show that the lion’s share of Swiss munitions exports went to the Axis powers.

The studies, the last of 25 produced by the ICE, also confirm that Switzerland acted as the main clearing house for Nazi gold even though the Swiss central bank knew that some of it was stolen from victims.

The ICE presented its final report in Bern on Friday, after a five-year investigation into the volume and fate of assets moved to Switzerland before and during the Second World War.

The report on arms revealed that from 1940 to 1944, 84 per cent of Swiss munitions’ exports went to Axis countries. The remaining 16 per cent was split between the Allies and neutral countries

After 1941, Germany became the main market for Swiss weapons’ components benefiting some companies, which made fat profits.

Indeed, some companies – notably Oerlikon Bührle, Dixi, Hispano Suiza and Waffenfabrik Solothurn - gave priority to foreign sales rather than the domestic market because far higher prices could be obtained from exports.

However, the country itself gained little from supplying the Nazis – munitions’ exports depleted reserves of raw materials and frequently breached neutrality laws.

The ICE found that Switzerland’s foreign trade policy clearly violated the country’s self-declared neutrality.

On the one hand it declared itself politically and economically neutral, but on the other its main export market was Germany, and export credits issued by the state effectively meant it was actively financing the Nazi war machine.

Also at issue is how Swiss banks handled the accounts of Jews who hid their money in Switzerland -- they thought for safekeeping -- as storm clouds gathered over Europe in the 1930s. For the past 50 years, relatives and a few survivors have tried to reclaim their assets, but their efforts have been stymied by Swiss banks. Some bank officials demanded official death certificates, as if Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen maintained such documents. In one instance, a bank was discovered shredding wartime records that likely contained the details of unclaimed Jewish accounts.

Such messages did little to dissuade the Swiss. To this day, Berne still argues that it was surrounded by Germany and Nazi-occupied countries and therefore had little choice but to deal with Hitler during the war. Really? Then why, as our research revealed, did the Swiss continue to do business with Berlin even as the Nazi regime was in retreat? In addition to its factories continuing to produce war materiel for the Germans, the Swiss allowed German troop trains to traverse the country en route to Italy. Most important, it continued to buy looted gold long after the other neutrals -- Sweden, Spain and Portugal -- acceded to Allied demands to halt their purchases in 1943.

Even the end of the war in 1945 didn't stop the Swiss from cashing in on their Nazi connections. As the Allies scrambled to recapture millions of dollars worth of stolen Nazi treasure, the Swiss continued to fill their pockets by helping fugitive Nazis flee to South America, along with untold fortunes in loot, in what U.S. intelligence described as "the largest transfer of wealth in history."
For a brief time after the war, the Allies tried to force Switzerland to return the Nazi gold to its rightful owners. At first the Swiss denied it dealt with any stolen gold -- a claim the Allies quickly disproved by producing records of Belgian gold found in Portugal and shipped through Switzerland. Then the Swiss, playing for time and falling back on their neutrality, refused to recognize the Allies' authority over this matter. Their ploy worked. The Allies, now more concerned about rebuilding war-ravaged Europe and blunting the threat of communism, agreed to let the Swiss pay back only $58 million out of an estimated $250 million in the looted gold it had taken in. Officially, the payment was described as a humanitarian contribution to the reconstruction of Europe. Even then, the Swiss didn't come through, eventually paying out only half the agreed amount.