Portfolio at NYU

Posted 03.30.03
Debunking the myth: Swiss Independent Commission of Experts

By Marjorie Conley

After five years, more than 12,000 pages of documentation and the enormous amount of material found after sifting through public and private archives, Harold James looked up from his desk at 218 Dickinson Hall, Princeton University and declared his research on Switzerland finished.

The March 22 report that he and seven other international historians published marked the end of his research. As a member of the Swiss Independent Commission of Experts (ICE), James used his knowledge as a financial/economic historian to dig deep into the myth of a country cloaked and protected under a blanket of neutrality during World War II. The ICE, formed by the Swiss government in 1996, studied and questioned Switzerland's role during the war and published a detailed report five years later discrediting some beliefs and confirming others. Contrary to the whiter-than-white Swiss image of neutrality during World War II, a continuation of historical questions and studies, most recently published in the ICE's final report, is provoking a dialogue in Switzerland and throughout the world about the truth of cooperation, collaboration and public policy during the war.

"Of course we knew there was a problem. We didn't go in with a blank mind," James said. "We knew there were a lot of problems with Swiss banks and businesses, but we found there were also problems with public policy. We expected problems in the private sector, but didn't expect them in the realm of public policy."

The British historian was referring to the Commission's published conclusion "that Switzerland had declined to help people in mortal danger and that by creating additional barriers for them to overcome, Swiss officials helped the Nazi regime achieve its goals, whether intentionally or not." The ICE found that Switzerland's politicians contributed to the Holocaust by turning away about 20,000 refugees, at times discriminating against Jews. They used neutrality and helped Germany by going further than needed in trade and financial support. Also, after the war, banks and art galleries were negligent in restoring property to Hitler's victims, according to the report. The report is a culmination of five years of intense research funded by the Swiss government's Federal Council in reaction to foreign criticism surrounding both the role of Switzerland in World War II and the role of the Swiss National Bank.

This independent research commission was not alone in tackling the Swiss myth. The Volcker Commission set up in 1996 by formal agreement between the Swiss Bankers Association, the World Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Restitution Organization conducted its own investigative audit of dormant Swiss bank accounts that may have been held by Nazi victims, according to James Nason, head of international affairs for the Swiss Bankers Association in Basel. The Swiss Bankers Association paid for the audits, and the Volcker Commission published its report in 1999.

Alex Biscaro, a spokesman for the Swiss Embassy in Washington, said he personally was relieved when the Swiss parliament and government responded to questions from the international community by calling the ICE into being. "There was a need and a wish for the population, parliament and the government to do something about what really did happen, to have a broader discussion. The time was right and the people seemed ready to tackle this issue," he said. Biscaro added that a reexamination of Switzerland's role in the war made sense at this time, after 40 or 50 years and the natural healing processes made it easier to talk about. The rampant defensiveness is not there anymore, he said. Even though the final report was quite critical of Switzerland, Biscaro said it was well received in his country and the subject is no longer cause for irrational, emotional debate.

In the beginning, members of right-wing political parties especially resented the decision to form an international commission, favoring a national endeavor instead. Biscaro said that some of Switzerland's right-wing politicians still object to the report saying it does not emphasize that Switzerland at the time was under Nazi threat.

James, for his part, said despite his World War II historical expertise - he is the author of three books on the subject - he felt particular pressure as a British citizen preparing a revised history of Switzerland. In the end, the group, representing historians from the United States, Great Britain, Israel and Poland as well as Switzerland provided more than enough documentation to silence critics. Actually, Biscaro agreed, that in the end, the fact that the commission did have such an international face contributed to the report's credibility and, in turn, to the healing process for the Swiss.

Philippe Burrin, a Swiss citizen and a professor of contemporary history in Geneva, said that if you take away critiques from the right-wing, the ICE's main critics were academics irritated by the gap between their image of Switzerland's role and the image put forth by the ICE. Certain Swiss academics like J.C. Lambert, an economist, have been at the forefront of a campaign against the ICE and its conclusions.

Because Burrin is a World War II scholar and the author of five books focusing on Europe during the war, he found nothing terribly shocking in the ICE's findings. But, the amount of documentation and the study of otherwise thinly researched topics within the economic sector make the ICE's report of real historical value. Plus the Commission was not only composed of eight historians, but also legal experts and economists. In all, more than 100 experts contributed to the report working under a government mandate that gave complete access to public and private archives that otherwise would have been sealed. It is hard to criticize, Burrin said.

Biscaro said it was too early to say how the report will reshape Switzerland. "I wouldn't say that the myth has been destroyed because it is an ongoing process. There will always be the myth, but now it is just put into a different light," he said. But the dialogue surrounding Switzerland's role has shaped Swiss society in other ways. Biscaro finds Swiss citizens more open now and more tuned toward solidarity. Case in point, the creation of the Swiss Solidarity Foundation set up in 1997 by the Swiss Federal Council at a time when Switzerland found itself in an intensive debate surrounding its role during World War II, according to Adrian Gerber a spokesperson for the Swiss Solidarity Foundation. This debate made clear, that the most important response to the suffering of the past lies in seeking to ensure that such suffering is not repeated in the future. "In that sense, the foundation represents a response to the experiences of war, poverty and need. The world is still making these experiences every day. The Swiss Solidarity Foundation is therefore a contribution to the global struggle against poverty and violence," she said. The foundation is financed by the reevaluation of the Swiss National Bank's gold reserves. Biscaro said that the creation and continuation of the Solidarity Foundation proves that Switzerland learned and continues to learn something from its past.

James said he thinks one repercussion of the report is the interest it has generated on the part of banks and private businesses now interested in investigating their own histories during World War II - something unthinkable as recently as a decade ago.

Biscaro said the Swiss government and the president have encouraged academia to continue research and develop more documentation. Switzerland wants answers to more questions that before had been protected and cloaked in the white myth, like just how many refugees were turned away. James said the history of Switzerland's role during World War II still needs further study, but on a personal level, after the dissolution of the ICE and finishing its final report, he had done his part.