[B. Switzerland's
measures against the emigration wave in
early 1938]
[6.5. The first emigration waves from Austria and Italy:
Switzerland
hands many Jews over to the Nazis]
Many Jews did not, or could not, wait for any emigration arrangements
made by IKG [Israelite cultus congregation]. In the first panic
thousands fled Austria, often pushed
across the border by Nazis, mainly by SA and SS units. Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, and Yugoslavia, countries sharing a common border with
Austria, closed their frontiers. Although illegal crossings were
particularly dangerous, a small but unknown number of Jews managed to
get across. On the other hand, it was relatively easy to get into Italy
and Switzerland. Travelers with Austrian passports did not need a visa.
During the first few weeks after the Anschluss, over 3,000 refugees,
mostly Jewish, crossed the Swiss border.
(End note 21: Ludwig, op. cit. [Ludwig, Carl: Die Flüchtlingspolitik
der Schweiz seit 1933
bis zur Gegenwart. Bericht an den Bundesrat [The refugee policy of
Switzerland since 1933 to the present]; Zurich, no date [1957], p.75
[Supplement:
The Jews who were fleeing had to pay much for the people smugglers.
Only rich Jews could afford this arbitrary flight. The smugglers
(Austrian and Swiss people) made a good profit with smuggling these
refugees. These were mainly Jews, but also socialists and others].
[Swiss governments appeals for
visas because of danger of more anti-Semitism]
Swiss reaction to the flow of refugees was swift. On March 26 [1938]
the federal Justice and Police Department asked the government (p.229)
(Bundesrat) to decree that holders of Austrian passports must have
entry visas. "We have to defend ourselves with all our strength, even
with a measure of callousness (Rücksichtslosigkeit) against the influx
of foreign Jews, especially from the east, if we wish to avoid creating
justified ground for an anti-Semitic movement unworthy of our country."
(End note 22: Ibid [Ludwig, Carl: Die Flüchtlingspolitik der Schweiz
seit 1933
bis zur Gegenwart. Bericht an den Bundesrat [The refugee policy of
Switzerland since 1933 to the present]; Zurich, no date [1957], p.76)
Das Argument, dass eine Antisemitismuswelle bevorstehen würde, ist
nicht glaubwürdig, denn
[Supplement:
The argument that there would arrive an anti-semitism wave is not
plausible because it was the upper class itself which was the most
antisemitic class in Switzerland and got a big profit by the
aryanizations, protected by the bank secret which also was installated
by the antisemitic bankers of the upper class. So, the upper class in
Switzerland was forced to keep secret their own antisemitism and that's
why every Jewish refugee was too much in the country...]
[The Swiss visa fight against
Austrian Jews]
The defense "with all our strength" against refugees fleeing for their
lives was eminently successful: on March 28 the Bundesrat decreed that
visas were necessary for holders of Austrian passports. On April 8 a
circular from the federal police administration informed cantonal
police departments that unless there were very weighty reasons for
refugees to stay, they had to be told to leave the country at the
earliest possible moment. However, these stricter regulations were of
no avail,
[Since middle of May 1938: Swiss
and German government move Jews back and forth]
and from about the middle of May 1938 groups of Jews would be brought
to the Swiss border, stripped of all their possessions, kept in Nazi
jails at the border, and then sent across into Swiss territory at
night. A return into Austria meant the immediate threat of
concentration-camp treatment.
The Swiss police chief, Dr. Heinrich Rothmund, earnestly requested the
German government to put an end to these deportations into Switzerland,
"which needs these Jews just as little as Germany does."
(End note 23: Ibid. [Ludwig, Carl: Die Flüchtlingspolitik der Schweiz
seit 1933
bis zur Gegenwart. Bericht an den Bundesrat [The refugee policy of
Switzerland since 1933 to the present]; Zurich, no date [1957], p.82,
footnote 1; Ludwig says (p.83) that there were 3-4,000 Austrian Jewish
immigrants in Switzerland before April 1).
[Since 1 April 1938: 2,000 more
Jewish refugees and illegal refugees come to Switzerland - wealthy
refugees - Swiss consulate]
After April 1 there seems to have been an influx of another 2,000
refugees who came without visas, plus an additional number of illegals.
In addition, there were wealthy refugees, who received official permits
to enter the country. In fact, the Swiss consulate in Vienna seems to
have been more liberal in granting entry permits than was warranted by
the instructions it received from the Swiss government.
[Since 1938: Anti-Semitic
propaganda in Italy provokes some 3,000 Jewish refugees entering into
Switzerland]
A similar influx of Austrian refugees into Western Europe - France,
Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium - created similar reactions there.
From Italy, where racist propaganda began under German influence in
1938, desperate refugees were trying to get into Switzerland;
apparently some 3,000 succeeded in doing so.
(End note 24: Ibid. [Ludwig, Carl: Die Flüchtlingspolitik der Schweiz
seit 1933
bis zur Gegenwart. Bericht an den Bundesrat [The refugee policy of
Switzerland since 1933 to the present]; Zurich, no date [1957], p.84)
[Summer 1938: Swiss government
hands over Jewish refugees to the Nazis]
But as the summer approached all countries in the West began closing
their doors to these refugees, and Switzerland began to return to
Germany the refugees caught crossing her border illegally. (p.230)
