Between the Alps and a Hard Place: Switzerland in World War II and the Rewriting of History

by Angelo M. Codevilla

In Between the Alps and a Hard Place , Professor Angelo M. Codevilla reveals how the true history of the Swiss in World War II has been buried beneath a modern campaign of moral blackmail that has accused Switzerland of secretly supporting Nazi Germany and sharing culpability for the Holocaust.

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, War

248 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Angelo M. Codevilla is professor emeritus of international relations at Boston University. Educated at Rutgers (1965) Notre Dame (1968), and the Claremont graduate university (1973), Codevilla served in the US Navy, the US Foreign Service, and on the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He taught philosophy at Georgetown, classified intelligence matters at the US Naval Post graduate School. During a decade at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, he wrote books on war, intelligence, and the character of nations. At Boston University, he taught international relations from the perspectives of history and character.

Reviews

[Ocean G · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an American who grew up in Switzerland during this time, this book was extremely interesting. I could do without the final chapter (lessons), since I think he reaches too much and starts making his (now dated) partisan arguments. It would have been 5 stars without that final part.

Otherwise it's a fascinating look at Switzerland's journey through World War 2 and what it meant to be neutral (Switzerland wasn't the only neutral country).

Interesting points from the book:
It was actually in both the Axis and Allies' interest for Switzerland to be neutral, since it was the main place through which both sides could still trade with each other (yes, they did). They also used it as a method for conveying messages. Germany also recognized that having access to Swiss transport systems made them worth more as a neutral party than as a resisting force (that could decide to demolish their tunnels through the Alps, blocking North-South European trade).
Being neutral didn't always mean treating both sides equally. Only one side was threatening to invade, so this was the more 'hated' side which, however, was also the one to whom surrendering had to be avoided.
Any Jewish family with money would most likely Not go to Switzerland. If they were moving their money out of Austria or Germany, they had every reason to believe Switzerland would eventually capitulate. So most rich Jewish families ended up emigrating (to the US, if they could).
However, Switzerland still took in 20,000 Jewish refugees (proportionately 5 times as many as the US).
Jewish families without money were the main victims.
"American forces in Thuringia in 1945 found boxes and boxes of wedding rings and dental gold; apparently the recipients in the Reichsbank had not dared turn it over to ordinary employees of the mint, lest they be scandalized. After all, the Holocaust was a state secret, and boxes of wedding rings and dental fillings would have repelled even most Nazis. Americans discovered and took possession of the Reichsbank's cache. Americans, not Swiss, authorities smelted this victim gold, and did so after the war."
Germany conducted a study, and judged they could conquer Switzerland in 8 days --- provided that the Swiss didn't retreat into the mountains. The Swiss came to similar conclusions, so they started preparing and fortifying their mountain forts (you can visit some of these. Check out the Gotthard one if you ever get a chance).
The tunnels through the alps, if destroyed, would take around 10 years to rebuild.
In 1937 and 1938 the Reich expelled Swiss journalists, since they refused to only report friendly news. This backfired since these journalists returned to Switzerland as heroes.
Switzerland Did close down a few newspapers, but they were all pro-Nazi (or soft on Nazi) publications.
Apparently Israel doesn't accept the theory that Switzerland collaborated with the Nazis either.
Henri Guisan. Cool dude.

[Dave Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Between the Alps and a Hard Place” by Angelo M. Codevilla examines Swiss foreign relations prior to and during World War II, and the subsequent efforts of certain interest groups to blackmail Swiss banks for their alleged culpability for the Holocaust. Codevilla served as a United States Navy officer, a foreign service officer, and professional staff member of the Select Committee on Intelligence of the United States Senate. Mr. Codevilla uses the Swiss experience to address several themes of international politics: balance of power, military deterrence, domestic pressure groups, economic leverage and subversive activity.

The Swiss successfully thwarted the Axis powers in the 1930s and 40s due to the courage of its military leaders and the tenacity of the average Swiss citizen. In many instances, federal bureaucrats sought to acquiesce to German demands; however, Swiss residents would not allow coercive German diplomats to diminish their longstanding legacy of freedom of the press, sanctuary for Jewish and ethnic refugees and political neutrality.

Codevilla documents the disturbing attempt by the World Jewish Congress and the Clinton administration to blackmail accusing Swiss banks of war profiteering and surreptitious support for Nazi Germany to obtain $1.25 billion from various Swiss institutions. Despite the findings of Roosevelt, Truman and a host of commissions, these claims were proffered absent from any new supporting evidence.

Codevilla’s book is challenging; the author draws on Thucydides, Tacitus and Machiavelli to illuminate his narrative. Codevilla does not shy away from the disturbing implications which ensue when domestic interest groups are able to co-opt or capture elements of a nation’s foreign policy apparatus.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is extremely disappointing. I was excited to read it because I thought I would be learning new information concerning Switzerland in WW2. That did not happen. There's nothing in this book that I didn't already know, and some of the author's claims are sketchy at best. I would have been okay with the blatant bias on the author's part if he also addressed important issues and provided useful information. I've read plenty of historical works with a very strong bias and they can be very informative. This book was not. Switzerland's dealings with Nazi Germany were extensive, and Codevilla barely scratched the surface. He also insisted that everyone 'lost interest' after the transaction was completed in 1998. That's a ridiculous claim. It did not disappear, and research into Switzerland's role in WW2 is still going strong today. This is a short book with a very narrow focus. That would be fine if I didn't suspect that it was intentional to avoid mentioning anything that didn't fit the author's conclusions.

[Steve Barney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars a best. While there is some interesting perspective of how Switzerland maintained its Neutrality in WW2, the book comes off more as a thinly veiled shot at US democrats (Clinton administration and New York democrats) and gives an overall anti-Semitic feel. Aka the premise that a Jew, Edgar Bronfman (who made money via record labels for bad “morally wrong” music Rap etc according to the author) contributes money to the Democratic Party, so they will bring pressure to Swiss to pay 1.25 billion to holocaust victims to be administered by the WJC (World Jewish Congress headed at the time by Bronfman), which the author obviously holds in low esteem, that won’t really do much benefit to the claimants, but enrich the WJC and lawyers. The author holds the claims against the Swiss are largely untrue and unprovable.

There are some interesting and seemingly valid points brought out by the author, but I would bet, many of them could be countered by others more in the know.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating book. Fascinating about how the Democratic Party raises money in a very questionable way, how the American class actions suit functions and about Swiss politics during the Second World War. Strongly recommended to anyone with interests in any of these subjects.

[Gramarye · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really more of a 2.5 star rating for this book. Codevilla's tone and research methods are so uneven -- swinging wildly as they do between scolding polemic on the American political system in the 1990s and much-needed deconstruction of a number of damaging myths about Switzerland's neutrality during World War II -- that it's hard to come down with a firm judgement on the book as a whole. More than anything, it needs to be read as part of a broader study of multiple approaches to the historical question of Swiss banking and Nazi Germany. Still, it's worth reading for its realpolitik assessment of the uncomfortable balancing act that Switzerland had to pull off during the war.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Daniel Silva's The English Assassin, I searched for more on the history of Switzerland in WWII. This book more than fit my criteria. It is refreshing to read history that hasn't been twisted to suit an agenda. Furthermore, understanding how our own perspective of WWII has been contorted to further political interest groups was fascinating. For anyone interested in WWII from an economic and political standpoint should read this book.

[Andrew Scholes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting history of Switzerland during WWII and how their policies and actions during the war years were then interpreted during the 1990's. He takes America and the Clinton administration to task for allowing other governmental units and non governmental organizations to "extort" a large sum of money from Switzerland.

[David Vanness · Rating 5 out of 5]

A history book of very current affairs that can be proven accurate today without a whole lot of the rewriting that goes on. I would hope that ever leftest liberal Clinton government loving American read, review, and verify.