La Frontiere Jurassienne au Quotidienne 1939–1945 (Daily events at the Jurassic frontier 1939–1945), by Henry Spira. Geneva, Switzerland: Editions Slatkine, 2010. In French. Available at Amazon.com
Henry Spira’s monumental and illuminating achievement took 15 years to complete. It provides the reader with an objective account of the events that occurred, mostly between 1939 and 1945, during one of the darkest periods in Swiss as well as world history. He presents both the positive and negative interpretations of the bizarre saga that unfolded during World War II in this nation of longstanding neutrality. While enumerating the flaws and failures in Switzerland during the war years, Spira simultaneously attempts to preserve the honor, reputation, and integrity of the Swiss heritage—a reputation that has often been criticized during the post-war era by numerous nations, including the United States. This negative perception largely was due to the reprehensible treatment, mostly of Jewish immigrants, by members of the Swiss police and other government officials during the Holocaust years. The infamous Dr. Heinrich Rothmund, chief of police, is frequently mentioned as one of the most ruthless.
Spira, now 87, is Jewish. His family had lived in Switzerland for generations. One can readily understand his sense of frustration and the dilemma he faced when he discovered that members of the Swiss government had attempted to prevent what was pejoratively called the “Jewification” of Switzerland (l’Enjuivement), a concept akin to the Nazi ideology. Jews, according to Spira’s description, were looked upon as unable to assimilate with the Swiss because of their culture, practices, customs, and so forth. In sum, they did not “mix well.” A distinction was made between Swiss Jews, considered “good” and foreign Jews, especially Eastern European Jews, considered “bad.” Soon after the outbreak of the war, in October 1939, many Jews were ordered to leave the country. Most of those who remained in Switzerland were labeled as “foreigners.” Life for them became more and more difficult. When the Swiss officials admitted a token number of Jews across the frontier, it was initiated as an act of appeasement.
By early August of 1941, the Swiss borders were closed. Foreigners, mostly Jews, were prohibited from entering. This ruling engendered vehement protests and outcries from the press, Jewish and non-Jewish organizations, and influential Swiss citizens, including Spira’s parents (who spent most of the war helping Jews cross the border and then sheltering and feeding them). As a result of the prevailing outrage, the borders reopened before the month ended. Spira provides numerous lists and charts of both Jews and non-Jews who crossed the Swiss frontier, as well as those who were turned back. He lists them according to a variety of categories: nationality, district, religion, place of entry, military or civilian, prison location, and more. He also provides lists of names, mostly of Jews, who were forced out of Switzerland or rejected at the borders. Many of the people whose names were listed ended up in the death camps and perished. While providing invaluable information to genealogists, archivists, historians, and ordinary citizens who wish to obtain family information regarding loved ones who had been in the Holocaust, Spira acknowledges that numerous records were either lost or destroyed. Despite this handicap, he spent years attempting to track down Jews who were spared and ended up in Switzerland.
Spira repeatedly cites the heads of police and other government officials who ordered Jews to be turned back at the frontier. On the other hand, he assures us that most Swiss citizens were against the brutal policies of the government. He enumerates the Jewish organizations, convents, and private citizens who assisted Jews, often at great personal risk.
As the result of Spira’s in-depth research, he questions some of the findings, validity, and statistics presented by the Independent Commission of Experts (ICE), the commission established later to investigate some of the questionable policies of the Swiss government during the war years. He also questions some of the criticism directed against the Swiss government by numerous countries, including the United States, for not having done enough for Jews and others who attempted desperately to enter Switzerland. Spira asserts that the United States was remiss in criticizing the Swiss, in view of the fact that on a percentage basis of the population, the United States admitted approximately 50 times fewer Jews than Switzerland. Hence, he claims that the American quota system pertaining to Jews was unquestionably more severe than that of the Swiss government’s policy. He also refutes some of the findings regarding Swiss banks, particularly stolen gold, money, and art works, most of which were pilfered from the Jews. Lastly, Spira criticizes several films such as Closed Country as well as a film about the Sonabend affair. Sonabend sued the Swiss government for large amounts of money in settlement for the suffering he and his family had to endure. These films, Spira claims, greatly misrepresented and discredited the Swiss reputation of the past.
In reviewing Spira’s laborious work, one might want to ponder several difficult moral, philosophical, or perhaps existential questions. Did the Swiss government overstep the limits of its neutrality when its leaders imposed their strict policies of rejecting thousands of Jews and others who tried to escape the clutches of the Nazis and ultimately ended up in the death camps and perished? Should the Swiss be pardoned for providing armaments to the Nazi war effort in exchange for desperately needed food supplies? Spira seems to challenge this question by claiming that the United States was remiss “in doing business as usual with Germany” before declaring war on the Axis powers immediately after Pearl Harbor.
Correcting inaccurate statistics and inaccurate accusations is certainly a worthwhile undertaking. One is prone to inquire of Spira, however, whether anything constructive can be gained from comparing wrongdoings. When all is said and done, one is left with the stark realization, which may not have been the intention of the author, that most nations were guilty of not having done enough. The true heroes (in addition to the dedicated service of the Allied troops who defeated the Nazis) were the courageous citizens, such as Spira’s parents and others, who devoted the war years to saving refugees. It did not matter whether the Spiras were Swiss or Jews. They undoubtedly would have performed the same acts of courage as citizens of any other nation for one main reason: They were altruistic humanitarians. Does such unselfish personal commitment balance out some of Switzerland’s transgressions? The reader must decide.
Rene Stolbach
