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Die Schweiz, das Gold und die Toten: Jean Ziegler
German
314 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
12 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
About the author
Jean Ziegler
100 books134 followersJean Ziegler is a former professor of sociology at the University of Geneva and the Sorbonne, Paris. He was a Member of Parliament for the Social Democrats in the Federal Assembly of Switzerland from 1981 to 1999. He has also held several positions with the United Nations, especially as Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food from 2000 to 2008, and as a member of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council from 2008 to 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 15, 2020
The title of this shocking book is pretty much self-explanatory. Jean Ziegler, a professor of Sociology at Geneva University, reveals startling evidence of Switzerland helping to finance the Nazi war-effort.
Switzerland escaped World War II by shrewd, active, organized complicity with the Third Reich.
Az Ziegler asserts, from 1940 to 1945 the Swiss economy was largely integrated into the Great German economic area. It is estimated that in the years 1941-1942, sixty percent of the Swiss munition industry, half of its optical industry, and forty percent of its engineering industry worked for the Reich. The largest private arms manufacturing company in the country – and one of the largest in the world – was owned by Emil Buhrle, who was on friendly terms with Albert Speer, the Nazi minister of munitions and war production, and with Councilor Freiherr von Bibra, possibly the most important intermediary between the Nazi bosses and the Swiss industrialists. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1945, Buhrle's armaments firm worked almost exclusively for Hitler; those business transactions proved gratifyingly profitable – Buhrle's annual income rose from 6.8 to 56 million Swiss franks. The company's bestseller was the 2.0 millimeter Oerlikon antiaircraft gun that earned high praise from the Führer for the large numbers of Allied aircraft it shot down.
When, in 1943, the Allied forces began their "saturation" bombing of German cities, Switzerland remained Hitler's single unscathed industrial area, one in which, without prejudice to the Nazi Government, precision equipment, optical instruments, and many other items of military importance continued to be manufactured.
In addition, where the Reich was concerned, Switzerland fulfilled an important function in the gold market. Germany needed foreign currency to purchase strategic raw materials, even from allies like Romania. Most countries, Sweden and Portugal among them, refused to accept German gold, so the Reich's gold and foreign exchange transactions could be conducted with Switzerland alone.
In 1943, gold reserves to the value of 529 million Swiss francs were exchanged for freely disposable foreign currency. Despite the fact that a considerable proportion of the German gold was looted, all this took place under the supervision of the National Bank and with the express consent of the Bundesrat. Although the Swiss bankers knew the gold was stolen, they eagerly agreed to pose as the Führer's "gnomes" (guardians of treasures), as the respectable, reliable, neutral banker Adolf Hitler needed. His invasion of Poland, Norway, and other peaceful, often prosperous, states yielded a sizable quantity of assets. These had to be laundered by an unsuspicious accomplice, and this accomplice, in turn, had to introduce the stolen goods into the world market under a new identity.
Switzerland's financial "sharps" in Bern, Zurich, and Basel fenced and laundered the gold stolen from the central banks of Belgium, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Luxembourg, Norway, Italy, Albania, Lithuania, and elsewhere. The same went for thousands of gold teeth extracted from Nazi murdered victims by SS thugs, for the looted wedding rings and articles of jewelry, and for all the personal fortunes purloined all over Europe by the Nazis' so-called foreign exchange protection teams, whose job was to plunder private assets.
When Hitler first launched his invasion of Poland, argues Ziegler, the Third Reich was practically bankrupt, a financially almost ruined dictatorship that "bluffed" the democratic world with a colossal show of military force. As Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht wrote in his remarkable memorandum to the Führer, economically speaking, Germany was down and out when Hitler had made his bid for world supremacy.
Therefore, but for Switzerland's financial services and the willing "gnomes" of Bern, who supplied him the requisite foreign exchange, the Nazi dictator wouldn't have been able to wage his rapacious war of conquest. Switzerland, the world's only neutral financial center of international standing, readily accepted the Reich's looted gold throughout the war years in payment for industrial goods or as bullion that was fenced and laundered and exchanged for foreign currency or traded off to other financial centers under new, "Swiss" identity. It was Swiss bankers who financed Hitler's aggressive campaign.
No less shocking is Swiss intransigence in the face of redress claims made by Holocaust survivors.
In 1949, by an additional secret agreement to the official compensation treaty between Bern and Warsaw, the Swiss banks set out to liquidate "dormant" Polish, mainly Jewish, accounts and transfer these assets – which consisted of convertible foreign exchange the Polish communists needed – to Poland. The secret protocol prescribed that the Swiss francs, gold bars, and other assets held in Polish accounts be remitted to Warsaw's central bank and passed on to the descendants of the account-holders. Yet, while Switzerland indeed liquidated all "dormant" Jewish accounts and sent the funds to Warsaw, it conveniently omitted to enclose a list of the account-holders' names. This made it quite impossible to pay out the repatriated money to the descendants of the victims of Nazi mass murder.
The Swiss banks also clung to a similar policy in other cases. They adamantly refused to pay out money deposited in their banks by Holocaust victims to those victims' descendants if those descendants could not present the depositor's death certificate. Since it wasn't Heinrich Himmler's custom to issue death certificates, all those Jewish people were permanently deprived of the money that's rightfully theirs.
Why did Switzerland decide to become Hitler's accomplice? The customary excuse is that the Swiss had no alternative, that they had been hemmed in by the Nazi since 1940, and that the Führer's pressure was irresistible.
However, as Ziegler shows, the records tell a different story. Most of the "gnomes" of Zurich were willing accomplices and eager henchmen. Unbridled, self-destroying greed was at work, as well as the (well-founded) hope of reaping exceptional profits in an exceptional situation. According to the author, the current worldwide and impressive financial strength of the big Swiss banks can be confidently attributed to their wartime profiteering. While Europe was subsiding in ashes, the Swiss National Bank's gold and foreign exchange were mounting in a highly satisfying manner.
THE SWISS, THE GOLD, AND THE DEAD covers an appalling but, sadly, little-known subject in a concise, well-researched way. Drawing upon his thirty-year experience in domestic policy and international affairs, Jean Ziegler informatively and clearly demonstrates the terrible cost of Switzerland's well-being during the Second World War.
Switzerland escaped World War II by shrewd, active, organized complicity with the Third Reich.
Az Ziegler asserts, from 1940 to 1945 the Swiss economy was largely integrated into the Great German economic area. It is estimated that in the years 1941-1942, sixty percent of the Swiss munition industry, half of its optical industry, and forty percent of its engineering industry worked for the Reich. The largest private arms manufacturing company in the country – and one of the largest in the world – was owned by Emil Buhrle, who was on friendly terms with Albert Speer, the Nazi minister of munitions and war production, and with Councilor Freiherr von Bibra, possibly the most important intermediary between the Nazi bosses and the Swiss industrialists. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1945, Buhrle's armaments firm worked almost exclusively for Hitler; those business transactions proved gratifyingly profitable – Buhrle's annual income rose from 6.8 to 56 million Swiss franks. The company's bestseller was the 2.0 millimeter Oerlikon antiaircraft gun that earned high praise from the Führer for the large numbers of Allied aircraft it shot down.
When, in 1943, the Allied forces began their "saturation" bombing of German cities, Switzerland remained Hitler's single unscathed industrial area, one in which, without prejudice to the Nazi Government, precision equipment, optical instruments, and many other items of military importance continued to be manufactured.
In addition, where the Reich was concerned, Switzerland fulfilled an important function in the gold market. Germany needed foreign currency to purchase strategic raw materials, even from allies like Romania. Most countries, Sweden and Portugal among them, refused to accept German gold, so the Reich's gold and foreign exchange transactions could be conducted with Switzerland alone.
In 1943, gold reserves to the value of 529 million Swiss francs were exchanged for freely disposable foreign currency. Despite the fact that a considerable proportion of the German gold was looted, all this took place under the supervision of the National Bank and with the express consent of the Bundesrat. Although the Swiss bankers knew the gold was stolen, they eagerly agreed to pose as the Führer's "gnomes" (guardians of treasures), as the respectable, reliable, neutral banker Adolf Hitler needed. His invasion of Poland, Norway, and other peaceful, often prosperous, states yielded a sizable quantity of assets. These had to be laundered by an unsuspicious accomplice, and this accomplice, in turn, had to introduce the stolen goods into the world market under a new identity.
Switzerland's financial "sharps" in Bern, Zurich, and Basel fenced and laundered the gold stolen from the central banks of Belgium, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Luxembourg, Norway, Italy, Albania, Lithuania, and elsewhere. The same went for thousands of gold teeth extracted from Nazi murdered victims by SS thugs, for the looted wedding rings and articles of jewelry, and for all the personal fortunes purloined all over Europe by the Nazis' so-called foreign exchange protection teams, whose job was to plunder private assets.
When Hitler first launched his invasion of Poland, argues Ziegler, the Third Reich was practically bankrupt, a financially almost ruined dictatorship that "bluffed" the democratic world with a colossal show of military force. As Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht wrote in his remarkable memorandum to the Führer, economically speaking, Germany was down and out when Hitler had made his bid for world supremacy.
Therefore, but for Switzerland's financial services and the willing "gnomes" of Bern, who supplied him the requisite foreign exchange, the Nazi dictator wouldn't have been able to wage his rapacious war of conquest. Switzerland, the world's only neutral financial center of international standing, readily accepted the Reich's looted gold throughout the war years in payment for industrial goods or as bullion that was fenced and laundered and exchanged for foreign currency or traded off to other financial centers under new, "Swiss" identity. It was Swiss bankers who financed Hitler's aggressive campaign.
No less shocking is Swiss intransigence in the face of redress claims made by Holocaust survivors.
In 1949, by an additional secret agreement to the official compensation treaty between Bern and Warsaw, the Swiss banks set out to liquidate "dormant" Polish, mainly Jewish, accounts and transfer these assets – which consisted of convertible foreign exchange the Polish communists needed – to Poland. The secret protocol prescribed that the Swiss francs, gold bars, and other assets held in Polish accounts be remitted to Warsaw's central bank and passed on to the descendants of the account-holders. Yet, while Switzerland indeed liquidated all "dormant" Jewish accounts and sent the funds to Warsaw, it conveniently omitted to enclose a list of the account-holders' names. This made it quite impossible to pay out the repatriated money to the descendants of the victims of Nazi mass murder.
The Swiss banks also clung to a similar policy in other cases. They adamantly refused to pay out money deposited in their banks by Holocaust victims to those victims' descendants if those descendants could not present the depositor's death certificate. Since it wasn't Heinrich Himmler's custom to issue death certificates, all those Jewish people were permanently deprived of the money that's rightfully theirs.
Why did Switzerland decide to become Hitler's accomplice? The customary excuse is that the Swiss had no alternative, that they had been hemmed in by the Nazi since 1940, and that the Führer's pressure was irresistible.
However, as Ziegler shows, the records tell a different story. Most of the "gnomes" of Zurich were willing accomplices and eager henchmen. Unbridled, self-destroying greed was at work, as well as the (well-founded) hope of reaping exceptional profits in an exceptional situation. According to the author, the current worldwide and impressive financial strength of the big Swiss banks can be confidently attributed to their wartime profiteering. While Europe was subsiding in ashes, the Swiss National Bank's gold and foreign exchange were mounting in a highly satisfying manner.
THE SWISS, THE GOLD, AND THE DEAD covers an appalling but, sadly, little-known subject in a concise, well-researched way. Drawing upon his thirty-year experience in domestic policy and international affairs, Jean Ziegler informatively and clearly demonstrates the terrible cost of Switzerland's well-being during the Second World War.
February 1, 2017
It took me a while to read this book, because I was in the midst of it when the election happened and, as a dual citizen of Switzerland and the United States, I didn't feel up to being overwhelmed with shame for two nationalities at the same time, so I had to set this aside for a while. But it is a passionate, well researched, solid piece of scholarship which makes it absolutely clear that the Swiss government violated international law to prop up the Nazi regime, extending the war and causing millions more to die than would have died otherwise. The fact that, compared to Germany and other Axis powers' culpability, their participation was so indirect makes it all the more appalling how the Swiss populace and government have fought so bitterly to suppress and deny these facts. Every Swiss should read this book.
March 3, 2010
The subject matter is interesting, if very depressing and infuriating. My only really complaint is a structural one. Being a polemic, it can be a bit repetitive. Sometimes the author will mention something and not explain it, only to explain it later...
September 22, 2014
For those people who think the Swiss are above reproach and a noble people they should read this book. It is a little dated published in the late 90's but still provides great insight into how they conducted themselves during WWII.
May 12, 2012
Switzerland, despite being neutral, played an important role in the Second World War. A very profitable role. Through both its national and private banks it helped finance the Nazi war machine by laundering German and looted gold and allowing them to purchase much needed raw materials from other countries. Manganese, tungsten, chromium, iron ore and diamonds, all essential for armament manufacture, and oil vital for logistics, all had to be bought on the world market and imported, in a market that shunned the Reichsmark but welcomed the Swiss Franc. The Swiss also allowed the Germans to re-arm and transfer troops in Italy using the Swiss rail network, and they actively refused entry to refugees fleeing from all over Europe for sanctuary, handing them back into the hands of the Gestapo. After the war, Swiss banks made it all but impossible for the relatives of those whose assets were stolen and lodged in the country to be retrieved, holding onto them for their own gain.
Ziegler’s book documents these issues and sets them in the context of Swiss history more broadly and the period of the war. It is somewhat odd book in terms of its structuring and tone. The book seems to jump around an awful lot and it could have done with some restructuring and consolidation. The first chapter labours the point about the Swiss facing up to the decisions and actions of the previous generation, forwarding a moral line. This is revisited throughout the text and really seems to be overdone. And yet, the reason for such caution and explanation is revealed in the afterword. On September 20th 1998, Ziegler – a Professor of Sociology and five time elected official of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation (and subsequently appointed to the UN Human Rights Council) - received a communication from the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office informing him that he was being charged with ‘treason’ infringing the ‘independence of Switzerland, and promoting foreign undertakings directed against the security of Switzerland’. Writing and talking about the history of Switzerland can clearly be a fraught undertaking, especially when many – including very large and powerful banks who fear having to return gold reserves – want that history suppressed and forgotten. In that sense, Ziegler’s book is an important one. Given the relatively limited sources he had access to, and the moral and ethical landscape he was trying to operate in, it would be good to read another, more up to date account. This is an interesting starting point, though not always for the right reasons.
Ziegler’s book documents these issues and sets them in the context of Swiss history more broadly and the period of the war. It is somewhat odd book in terms of its structuring and tone. The book seems to jump around an awful lot and it could have done with some restructuring and consolidation. The first chapter labours the point about the Swiss facing up to the decisions and actions of the previous generation, forwarding a moral line. This is revisited throughout the text and really seems to be overdone. And yet, the reason for such caution and explanation is revealed in the afterword. On September 20th 1998, Ziegler – a Professor of Sociology and five time elected official of the National Council of the Swiss Confederation (and subsequently appointed to the UN Human Rights Council) - received a communication from the Swiss Federal Prosecutor’s Office informing him that he was being charged with ‘treason’ infringing the ‘independence of Switzerland, and promoting foreign undertakings directed against the security of Switzerland’. Writing and talking about the history of Switzerland can clearly be a fraught undertaking, especially when many – including very large and powerful banks who fear having to return gold reserves – want that history suppressed and forgotten. In that sense, Ziegler’s book is an important one. Given the relatively limited sources he had access to, and the moral and ethical landscape he was trying to operate in, it would be good to read another, more up to date account. This is an interesting starting point, though not always for the right reasons.
January 1, 2013
I find it incredible that I knew about this book only this year; I had a reasonable idea of the history it recounts, but this book was a revelation.
The original edition is in German, but I read French more easily (there is an English edition, but available only in the US.
The original edition is in German, but I read French more easily (there is an English edition, but available only in the US.
July 27, 2024
It’s hard to believe this was published in1998 and translated from German.
I would have expected a dense, difficult and highly technical history that skated all around the central issue of Swiss duplicity and cooperation with the Nazi war effort. The lake of clarity is not an issue, however.
Ziegler is a fine writer and clear writer.
“Switzerland escaped World War II by virtue of shrewd, active and organized complicity with the Third Reich,” he writes. “The gnomes of Zurich, Basel and Bern were Hitlers’s fences and creditors.”
While the Swiss defense was that the little country was surrounded by Axis powers, and would be squashed if it didn’t make pals with Hitler.
Ok, that’s a start but the truth goes much deeper. In nearly every aspect, Swiss banks and bureaucrats played toddy to their German neighbors.
And got rich, thanks to its active cooperation.
Germany, which dealt with other countries such as Portugal who didn’t want German money but would take Swiss money, gave or sold its gold to Switzerland banks in return for clean Swiss money. The Swiss banking houses also accepted looted gold from Germany - looted from conquered countries, looted from Jews heading to death and looted from Jews after death. Well, you get the picture.
It’s how a country with few natural resources became the second wealthiest country in the world.
This is a strong book that dispels the notion that little Switzerland survived the war by neutrality. It was anything but neutral. And even to the current day, it camouflaged, confused and confounded any investigation into looted gold, cash and treasures.
All the while, as gold bars piled up in Swiss banks, the border was closed to Jews on orders of Berlin and, as many a Jew found out, the first step on the road to the gas chamber began in Switzerland.
This book rings a bell that is strong and clear. Highly recommended as history, and if nothing else, to dispel Switzerland’s promotion of itself as above politics, as neutral and an honest broker.
January 23, 2016
When the Nazis came to power many Jews looked for ways to protect their financial assets. The Swiss banks opened accounts for many. This work is a study of the practice and the difficulty that survivors of the holocaust faced trying to reclaim money from Swiss banks. This is an informative historical read similar to the story of IBM.
April 29, 2022
Amazing book about Swiss complicity in Nazi Germany and its unlawful seizure of country assets. Everything is well explained, and makes no illusions about the role the Swiss played and how easily it has covered it up over the years claiming "neutrality."
April 23, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. I read it years ago in order to have some historical context prior to moving to Switzerland. A quick and informative read.
August 29, 2022
Switzerland maintained that they were a neutral country during World War II. I would imagine that even back then, people knew they were not. They did not technically engage in the war as a combatant, but they certainly helped it along. The Swiss acquired 79% of all German gold delivered to foreign countries, with 90% of that ending up in the Swiss National Bank and the remainder in commercial banks. Royalties from Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler's memoir, were deposited in Swiss banks, as well as personal funds from Nazis. Stolen artwork and stolen money from Jewish (and other) victims were deposited in these banks, mostly never to be returned to their owners or next of kin. They exchanged money into currency that was useable by Axis powers, especially Germany. They also facilitated anti-Semitism and blocking Jewish immigration into their country, especially during the war years.
Since the end of World War II, next of kin have been trying to retrieve monies that were transferred into accounts before the onset of war. Swiss banks didn't like Jewish people, but had no problem accepting Jewish money. Swiss banks refuse to come off it, demanding a death certificate. Unfortunately, many people were murdered fighting in the resistance, starving in ghettos, or murdered in concentration camps. More often than not, death certificates were not provided. They also deny having any stolen artwork, antiques, or other items in their vaults, which has almost been determined with certainty to be lies.
I watched a documentary about this on Hulu (I think) a while back, and it was mentioned that they still continue to do these types of things. They were benefitting from events in the Congo (genocide) and other shady money practices. Of course, we have all heard that criminals and rich people have offshore accounts in Swiss banks to prevent their money from being taxed or seized. Switzerland is a beautiful country that I would love to visit, and the people in general seem like nice people. Banks and governments often get up to shady doings that the common folks do not always know about, so you cannot look down on an entire group for the actions of some. All countries have poor marks on their records, but acknowledging the wrongdoings and attempting to right them as much as possible goes a long way in redemption and boosting public opinion. This book was very informative about the shenanagins that Swiss banks got up to during the war years, and I would highly suggest reading this. This is an important part of World War II and it's legacy.
Since the end of World War II, next of kin have been trying to retrieve monies that were transferred into accounts before the onset of war. Swiss banks didn't like Jewish people, but had no problem accepting Jewish money. Swiss banks refuse to come off it, demanding a death certificate. Unfortunately, many people were murdered fighting in the resistance, starving in ghettos, or murdered in concentration camps. More often than not, death certificates were not provided. They also deny having any stolen artwork, antiques, or other items in their vaults, which has almost been determined with certainty to be lies.
I watched a documentary about this on Hulu (I think) a while back, and it was mentioned that they still continue to do these types of things. They were benefitting from events in the Congo (genocide) and other shady money practices. Of course, we have all heard that criminals and rich people have offshore accounts in Swiss banks to prevent their money from being taxed or seized. Switzerland is a beautiful country that I would love to visit, and the people in general seem like nice people. Banks and governments often get up to shady doings that the common folks do not always know about, so you cannot look down on an entire group for the actions of some. All countries have poor marks on their records, but acknowledging the wrongdoings and attempting to right them as much as possible goes a long way in redemption and boosting public opinion. This book was very informative about the shenanagins that Swiss banks got up to during the war years, and I would highly suggest reading this. This is an important part of World War II and it's legacy.
December 15, 2023
Mi si è rivoltato lo stomaco e in alcuni passaggi mi sono scese lacrime.
Faccio fatica a credere che sia potuta accadere una simile tragedia in circostanze pregne di cinismo senza scrupoli.
Faccio fatica a credere che sia potuta accadere una simile tragedia in circostanze pregne di cinismo senza scrupoli.
July 28, 2025
Interesting read about Switzerland’s role in WW2, and how its complicity with the Third Reich extended the war. A great reminder that “neutral” never helps the victims - only the oppressors.
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November 14, 2012jjjj
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