[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)
