Memorial for victims of Nazis to be built in Switzerland

Anti-Semitic symbols and slogans on the doors of the synagogue in Biel/Bienne are covered with paper in May 2021 Keystone / Anthony Anex

A place of remembrance for the victims of National Socialism is to be built in the centre of the Swiss capital, Bern. The government has allocated CHF2.5 million ($2.8 million) for its construction.

“The Federal Council is committed to ensuring that the victims of National Socialist persecution and the Holocaust are not forgotten,” the government said in a statementExternal link on Wednesday.

“This is particularly important today, as hardly any survivors or contemporary witnesses remain alive, and Holocaust relativisation and anti-Semitism are on the rise again.”

The foreign ministry has been instructed to draw up a corresponding cooperation agreement with the city of Bern by summer. Discussions have already been held with interested groups and institutions.

The demand for a place of remembrance for victims of the Nazi genocide had come from parliament, which adopted two motions in 2021.

“In erecting this memorial, the Confederation, together with the city of Bern, is creating a strong symbol against genocide, anti-Semitism and racism, and for democracy, the rule of law, freedom and basic individual rights,” the government wrote. “The memorial is also intended to promote discussion and debate and to have an impact beyond the country’s borders.”

Swiss first

The statement did not mention whether the memorial would make any direct reference to any Swiss role in the persecution of people during the Nazi regime in Germany.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, an umbrella group, said Switzerland has about 60 small, private sites remembering the Holocaust and other crimes of the Nazis. 

“There is, however, no official or national memorial for the numerous Swiss victims of persecution, for the thousands of refugees repelled at the borders or deported, but also for the many courageous helpers in this country,” it said, noting that the memorial would be created to honour them all.

Tarnished wartime record

Switzerland has a questionable wartime record when it comes to policies towards Jews fleeing Nazi persecution.

After the war, in order to safeguard banking secrecy, Swiss banks refused to release details of dormant accounts held by Holocaust victims. This led to the government setting an independent commission of experts led by historian Jean-François Bergier to investigate specific aspects of Switzerland’s wartime behaviour. The work began in 1996 and took five years to complete.

It concluded that Swiss officials “helped the Nazi regime achieve its goals” by closing the country’s borders to thousands of Jewish refugees, effectively sending them back to near certain death. During the war, a total of some 300,000 people crossed the borders from Nazi-occupied countries. Of the civilian refugees, around 30,000 were Jews. However, an estimated 24,500 civilians, mainly Jews, were turned away.

The authorities also criticised those Swiss who went out of their way to help Jews during the war, such as diplomat Carl Lutz. Lutz saved tens of thousands of Jews from deportation to concentration camps but was reprimanded by Switzerland for overstepping his competencies.