Sir, - As a Swiss reader of The Irish Times I am very unhappy that superficial and unsubstantiated British and American journalism about the role of Switzerland in the second World War is repeatedly echoed in your newspaper. The reproach is that Switzerland profited from the war and collaborated with Nazi Germany. Yet, the Swiss paid heavily for remaining a free and democratic country surrounded by the forces of evil throughout much of the war.
My father's generation spent six years of their lives in the army on the border to prevent the Nazis from conquering our country. Thus Switzerland was able to keep its independence and help to save the lives of tens of thousands of our Jewish compatriots, apart from many refugees.
It is true that more refugees could and should have been let in, but it is easier to say this with hindsight. The per capita income of the Swiss was halved from 1949 to 1944, while that of the Americans more than doubled in the same period. After the war, Switzerland contributed more to the reconstruction of Europe per head than the Americans through the Marshall plan.
With regard to accounts of exterminated Jews, the Swiss banks, together with the Swiss national bank and Swiss industries, have contributed to a large fund in favour of destitute victims of the Holocaust. The Swiss banks are presently making efforts to restitute all the money from accounts from victims of the Holocaust.
Finally, the Swiss banks are not the Swiss, and the very few Swiss collaborators with Nazi Germany were an insignificant minority against a huge majority of supporters of the allied forces. We still feel grateful and indebted to these nations for beating the Nazis.
Winston Churchill stated the following on behalf of the Swiss in 1944: "Of all neutrals, Switzerland has the greatest right to distinction. She has been the sole international force linking the hideously sundered nations and ourselves. What does it matter whether she has been able to give us the commercial advantages we desire or has given too many to the Germans, to keep herself alive? She has been a democratic state, standing for freedom in self-defence among her mountains, and in thought, in spite of race, largely on our side." - Yours, etc.,
Asylstrasse,
Mannedorf,
Switzerland.