Switzerland and the Second World War - Press Release

The editor and staff of Zeit-Fragen/Current Concerns/Horizons et Débats say NO to the new edition of Swiss history that was com-missioned by the Swiss government and financed with SFr. 23m of taxpayers’ money. In the name of the state a committee, directed by Jean-François Bergier, has written an opus on the role of Switzerland during the Second World War, but which in reality pays homage to economic forces of the present. Using vulgarized psychological interpretations, that have no place in history anyway, Bergier creates an aura of negativism that intends to distract from his lack of factual material. By doing so he fulfils the same function as the discussions that took place in the early sixties when similar and just as erroneous collective accusations were levied using elements from the psychology of C. G. Jung and Le Bon and which aimed solely at diverting attention from the real reasons for the Second World War: These were the economic and political forces promoted and built up by Hitler in the 1930s as a bulwark against communism and who also continued to supply him during the war (cf. Charles Higham, Trading with the Enemy, The Nazi-American Money Plot 1933–1949).

In 1995 the various state historical archives should have been opened up after the 50-year restricted notice period. The country that failed to do so was the USA. It continues to keep 70% of its World War II documents under lock and key, without explanation. These documents also include all documents from Europe which were locked away by the allies, under the leadership of the USA, in the mid-sixties.

The Way the Bergier Report Was Put Together

The following needs to be said about the way in which the Bergier Report was put together: The GDR State Security Service, which boasted a fully functioning psychogical department, issued Guideline No. 1/76 on Measures of Disintegration. Under the title ‘Effective Types of Disintegration’ it is written: ‘Methodically discrediting the public reputation, esteem and prestige on the basis of combining true, verifiable and discredit-ing facts with false but plausible, non-refutable and thus also discrediting facts.’ (Cf. Appendix for a more detailed excerpt from the guidelines). All the following elements are contained in the Bergier Report:

1. small facts and true facts

2. false facts

3. association with derogatory statements, defamation etc.

4. omissions

Such a ‘report’ has nothing to do with historiography, but is disintegration which has been carried out using professional guidelines. The fact that the know-how of the Stasi is today in the service of the ‘world’s only superpower’ should come as no surprise: In the course of the nineties, America ‘bought over’ thousands of former Stasi members. It is well-known that these include a large number of specially trained journalists. This host of journalistic agents of influence are now making every effort to spread the paid commissioned work of the Bergier commission. Their obvious objective is the independence and economic strength of present-day Switzerland, among other things the Swiss confidentiality in banking, too.

On Tuesday 9 April, during his address delivered at the University of Zurich, Jean-François Bergier was criticised by the American historian Herbert R. Reginbogin (specialist for World War II history) for making statements about Swiss refugee policy which were not unprejudiced. He replied that a balanced portrayal would not be possible until ‘the persons who had experienced this age’ had all died. This statement exposes Bergier’s incompetence as a contemporary historian. The product of his commission is mere waste-paper.

The editors and staff of Zeit-Fragen/Current Concerns/Horizons et Débats demand that a stop be put to this nonsense that is being carried out at the expense of Switzerland. Furthermore, they are convinced that the expenditure of SFr. 23m would have been better spent helping the Red Cross cope with the refugee problems of the present.

Zurich, 10 April 2002