Why no one invades Switzerland

[PALADIN85020]

Even Hitler didn't want to invade this relatively small nation. Here's why:

Why no one invades Switzerland

[Double-O-Dave]

I recall a story from a few years ago about how some foreigners decided to commit a strong-arm robbery of a small, remote town in Switzerland. They thought they could get away with it partly due to a fairly inconsequential police presence. As I recall, the local militia members took the miscreants in without any problems whatsoever.

Regards,

Dave

[Glock 'em down]

That's it! I'm moving to Switzerland!

Who's with me?!

[ingmansinc]

Sounds like they are very wise people and their political machine isn't scared of the residents.

[Ed4032]

Now you can understand why the murder rate is so high in Switerland, just like in Chicago.

[dennis40x]

[QUOTE=PALADIN85020;135380555]Even Hitler didn't want to invade this relatively small nation. Here's why:

Hitler didn’t want to invade Switzerland because the Swiss were the keepers of the “Piggy Bank”. The Nazi ill gotten treasure taken from occupied countries and the peoples exterminated were deposited in Swiss Banks. The Swiss Bankers have nothing to be proud of.

[jimmyj]

Hi:
History tells us that the first step in occupying a country and enslaving the people is to dis-arm the people.
This is something that the "Anti-Gun People" doesn't understand and refuse to accept.
A Armed Society is a Free Society.
Jimmy

[P&R Fan]

A few years ago Massad Ayoob had an edition of "The Ayoob Files" in American Handgunner magazine about the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the end of it he told a story about a meeting between American military officers and high ranking Japanese officers in 1960. One of the Americans asked the Japanese officers why they didn't invade our west coast after the attack. He replied they considered it, but they knew we were "a nation of riflemen", and knew citizens would fight back. I believe one of the Americans quoted in the story was named Menard. I have the magazine somewhere. Maybe a reader with more organization than me can find it and get exact quotes. Do you suppose a country wanting to invade us now would be deterred in this manner? Makes ya think. With current laws, either coast might not be too full of gun owners.

[The Last Standing Knight]

...but no invading General wants confront mountain ranges full of snipers with topp of the line equipment.

[neiljrosen]

In my opinion that's what the Second Amendment defines. A Militia supplied with weapons and ammunition by the Government to be used in defense of the Country against all foreign and domestic enemies.
To me "well regulated" means insuring access to Firearms, Ammunition and practice in their use.

[sipowicz]

I'd be even more scared of them cutting me up with a 64 function multi-tool..

[Out West]

It's not the threat of another nation usurping my freedom that scares me.

Out West

[haggis]

About 1912, the Germans and Swiss were having joint military maneuvers near their common border. The Kaiser asked the top Swiss general what the 20,000 man Swiss army would do if Germany's 100,000 man army invaded Switzerland. The general calmly replied that he would have each of his men fire five shots and go home.

Germany didn't invade in WWI, either.

Buck

[Smith357]

Originally Posted by dennis40x

Hitler didn’t want to invade Switzerland because the Swiss were the keepers of the “Piggy Bank”. The Nazi ill gotten treasure taken from occupied countries and the peoples exterminated were deposited in Swiss Banks. The Swiss Bankers have nothing to be proud of.

That's pretty much my understanding of why the Nazi's did not invade Switzerland.

The Nazis had large amounts of gold, currency, gems, and art stored away in Swiss safety deposit boxes. Cooperation of the Swiss with Allied efforts in recovering gold was nearly nonexistent.

Nazi Gold: Switzerland

[Aussie44]

Originally Posted by Smith357

That's pretty much my understanding of why the Nazi's did not invade Switzerland.

The Nazis had large amounts of gold, currency, gems, and art stored away in Swiss safety deposit boxes. Cooperation of the Swiss with Allied efforts in recovering gold was nearly nonexistent.

Nazi Gold: Switzerland

That pretty much says it all.Not that anyone is scared of them or their military.


Ken

[Rule3]

The Swiss or us for that matter can have all the semi auto Sigs or any other weapons. I really do not think it matters how many or what kind.

The regular population does not have missiles, aircraft, war ships, "smart" bombs or armored vehicles. If you rule the Air you win. So IMHO any Nation with those weapons could invade anywhere, anytime.

Having our weapons might help us defend ourselves from robbery or theft but that's about it.

[sipowicz]

I agree with OCD1...and it looks like all their cheese has already been attacked...

[DeathGrip]

I agree with OCD1 as well,But you gotta ask yourself why it aint working in Afganistan.The Blinking people there don't have an A.F. or Navy.
I know the answer and it's because we're to danged worrried about how the rest of the world looks at us.To PC for my opinion,The enemy knows we won't do the deeds that they are willing to do.AND the locals look the other way.

Kill 'em all and let God sort it out.
D.G.

The Swiss are good people,I have some fine 'Swiss friends.

D.G.

[handejector]

Originally Posted by OCD1

The Swiss or us for that matter can have all the semi auto Sigs or any other weapons. I really do not think it matters how many or what kind.

The regular population does not have missiles, aircraft, war ships, "smart" bombs or armored vehicles. If you rule the Air you win. So IMHO any Nation with those weapons could invade anywhere, anytime.

Having our weapons might help us defend ourselves from robbery or theft but that's about it.

I have to agree.
Have I also heard that the Swiss had some major restrictions placed on private firearms ownership a few years back? Swissman talks about limits on how many, if you recall. I am not sure this vid is still the current state of affairs, either.
Yeras ago, The Rifleman did an article on the Swiss militia weapons held by citizens. The issued ammo was in sealed packs. Break the seal, and it was a MAJOR problem for you. I think the weapons also had a seal on them. It could easily be removed when the militia was called up, but again, you had a MAJOR problem if they inspected your weapon and the seal was broken.

All this "stuff" you guys post links to is not necessarily The Gospel. Anybody can put anything on the net at anytime. That don't make it so!

Swiss Banks-
Yep, I think they banked for the Nazis to some degree.
What does "neutral" mean? I thought it meant, well, NEUTRAL. If you cut somebody out, you are not neutral, are you? It was very advantageous to US for Switz. to remain neutral. It gave a kind of base of op for spying. If the Swiss had refused Nazi business, they would have simply been absorbed.
A lot of other people did business with the Nazis, including Americans. Also- check out how Germany maintained a supply of all the industrial diamonds needed for the manufacturing in that huge war machine. There were NO diamonds available in any quantity or quality in Nazi territory.......

Japan invading us-
C'mon and think a minute.
Recall that it took us 2-1/2 yrs to prepare for that LONG 35 mi trip across the channel???
How could Japan even GET an invasion force across 3000 mi of Pacific, much less sustain any kind of logistical supply? If they put everything that would float in the water, and got it even close, there would not have been enough left for a weekend fishing trip.
Remember that Pearl Harbor thing? Hadn't that just proved ships without air support were just ideal targets?

Beat on your shields if it makes you feel good. I just don't think it scares Gargantua......

We lost a great deal of the control of our destiny when the Federalist ideal became supreme.

So,
Support, campaign, and vote for those few who still have some concept of liberty.

Again-
Support, campaign, and vote for those few who still have some concept of liberty.

"So,
Support, campaign, and vote for those few who still have some concept of liberty.

Again-
Support, campaign, and vote for those few who still have some concept of liberty."

And when the nanny-state clients (now clearly in the majority) vote to deprive you of the last vestiges of your Liberty, do you accept the result or resist that tyranny with what Jefferson called 'manly firmness'?

For myself, the answer is simple; life is not worth living without Liberty. I will not have my grandson asking why I did nothing while his birthright of Liberty was being destroyed. The Declaration of Independence reminds us that we have a DUTY to put Liberty and our natural rights ahead of obedience to unjust 'laws'.

[Barnacle Bill]

I have always understood that the first 10 amendments were written to protect us "FROM" the government...

[Bat Guano]

As I recall, we "ruled the air" in Vietnam.

The track record of first world militaries against determined third world guerilla and insurgent activities, where they have the support of the population--or just ambivalence--is NOT good.

Martin Van Creveld's "Transformation of War" documents it rather painfully.

[n4zov]

The Nazis actually had a plan for the invasion of Switzerland called Operation Tannenbaum. There were several reasons they decided not to invade, and Swiss military prowess was only one of the reasons. The fact that Hitler had bigger fish to fry, such as invading Russia and England, and was already getting most of what he wanted from the Swiss were the leading reasons he left Switzerland alone. You can find an overview of those reasons here:


Operation Tannenbaum at AllExperts

[gaucho1]

Originally Posted by sipowicz

I agree with OCD1...and it looks like all their cheese has already been attacked...

Ok..the multi tool was a good set-up

As much as I resist,this Swiss Cheese one took me over the
edge............................

[Andy Griffith]

I thought it was because they all look like Al Bundy.

[Swissman]

Originally Posted by Andy Griffith

I thought it was because they all look like Al Bundy.

Andy Grifftih,
That's not whole the truth! True is: Because they all looks like Al Bundy.....with a gun!!


And now to all this "bank-theory-historians".....the Nazis took Austria with a snap, they took Poland in a view days.
So what was such a big problem to take over the Swiss Banks? There was no computer-password,
no hightech-security, just plain account-books and safes. Would it be not much smarter to take all this
under their own posession? But maybe was the price for this plan much to high???

Pissed

Swissman

[Swissman]

Your qoute: "I have to agree.
Have I also heard that the Swiss had some major restrictions placed on private firearms ownership a few years back? Swissman talks about limits on how many, if you recall. I am not sure this vid is still the current state of affairs, either.
Yeras ago, The Rifleman did an article on the Swiss militia weapons held by citizens. The issued ammo was in sealed packs. Break the seal, and it was a MAJOR problem for you. I think the weapons also had a seal on them. It could easily be removed when the militia was called up, but again, you had a MAJOR problem if they inspected your weapon and the seal was broken."


Handejector you're wrong. We have no seal at the gun. And we can buy ammo for the STGW 57 and STGW 90 at the range
or in the gunshop. We need the sealed pocket-ammo only in the case of war. We use our Army-Rifle in our civil life as a
target-rifle for civil-shooting contests and our annual army-shooting. So a seal don't makes any sense.

Respectfully

Swissman

[dennis40x]

The Swiss banks provided a money laundering venues for Nazi Germany to transfer wealth taken from Jews, political prisoners and enemies of the Third Reich. The Swiss banks have a substantial amount of wealth in dormant accounts. These accounts can’t be conveniently explained away.

Searching for Records Relating to Nazi Gold: Part I

“When the war ended the Allies determined that the Nazis had begun the war with a gold reserve of about $120 million and had seized well more than $600 million in gold from occupied countries, especially Belgium and the Netherlands. The Department of State estimated that the Germans had sold roughly $300 million to Swiss Banks and had laundered about $140 million through Swiss banks for payment of goods from Portugal and Spain. Using gold in payment, the Nazis also directly purchased goods from other countries, primarily Sweden and Roumania, in the amount of $61 million. And it was determined that the U.S. Army had located a total of some $293 million worth of gold.”

[sonny]

Originally Posted by Ed4032

Now you can understand why the murder rate is so high in Switerland, just like in Chicago.

I don't know Chicago's murder rate, but I suspect the South Side could be kind of rough. Yes, Switzerland has a high murder rate, but the U.S. murder rate is at least 4 to 6 times higher, according to the references I Googled. And of course, you could look at Columbia or South Africa, whose rates are 10 times that of the U.S. and 50 times that of Switzerland.
Figures lie...and liars figure. So I suppose we can make the statistics say whatever we want. Just look at D.C.; there's proof.
Sonny

[handejector]

Originally Posted by Swissman

Handejector you're wrong. We have no seal at the gun. And we can buy ammo for the STGW 57 and STGW 90 at the range
or in the gunshop. We need the sealed pocket-ammo only in the case of war. We use our Army-Rifle in our civil life as a
target-rifle for civil-shooting contests and our annual army-shooting. So a seal don't makes any sense.

Respectfully

Swissman

Hi Swissman,
Thanks for clarifying. Have your gun laws become more restrictive in recent years, or stayed the same for a long time?

[Swissman]

Handejector,

Our gunlaws are in a constant "fight". The membership from Switzerland to "Shengen" includes an internationl co-working with the police of all Europeean states.
But it includes also a adaption of the gun laws. This is now made. But Switzerland accept only, that selling
a gun from private to private needs now a official buying-permission. The rest is since 1995 the same.
- Full autos needs a very special storage and permission
- Lever-action and pump-action needs a standard buying-permission
- Standard-, hunting-, and shot-rifles can be buyed with some without a official permission.

And here is something about the criminal-statistics



Swissman

[bk43]

The Swiss banks provided a money laundering venues for Nazi Germany to transfer wealth taken from Jews, political prisoners and enemies of the Third Reich.

This exists if the Germans take Switzerland or not so it can't be the reason the Germans didn't invade. I think it was several good reasons taken together that kept the Germans out(terrain, armed citizens, decentralized canton government, other priorities, etc.). At the time I believe the Swiss could have blown up a couple tunnels and paralized the Nazi ground forces.

I believe it was Mencken who said "There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausable and wrong."

Bob

[dennis40x]

Originally Posted by bk43

This exists if the Germans take Switzerland or not so it can't be the reason the Germans didn't invade. I think it was several good reasons taken together that kept the Germans out(terrain, armed citizens, decentralized canton government, other priorities, etc.). At the time I believe the Swiss could have blown up a couple tunnels and paralized the Nazi ground forces.
Bob

Why invade when you’re getting complete compliance?

[Swissman]

Originally Posted by dennis40x

Why invade when you’re getting complete compliance?

Are you employed in the bureau of Mr. Fagan? We took as much
Jews and other refugees as possible to Switzerland in this dark days. And we do this in front of the face of the Nazis.

And if you talk about the accounts of the unknown people. How much of this money have the jews now gave to the owner?
Not that much because they got big problems to find the owners. Even with all this hightech, computers, etc.

I really don't care if handejector kicks me out. But your comment about the "complete compliance" identify you in my eyes as THE BIGGEST CIRCULAR MUSCLE IN THIS FORUM. PERIOD.

I guess for the last time

Swissman

[Aussie44]

Originally Posted by Swissman

And if you talk about the accounts of the unknown people. How much of this money have the jews now gave to the owner?
Not that much because they got big problems to find the owners. Even with all this hightech, computers, etc.

The reason might be that none of them or their relatives are alive.


Ken

[MrJT]

Why would anyone invade? Invading a neutral country would likely be a big mistake. Retaliation from all over would be met. Not to mention the Swiss military numbers 200,000 counting active and reserve, plus a small air force (armed with f-18s and f-5s) so it's not like you could just walk in.

[Aussie44]

Originally Posted by MrJT

Why would anyone invade? Invading a neutral country would likely be a big mistake. Retaliation from all over would be met. Not to mention the Swiss military numbers 200,000 counting active and reserve, plus a small air force (armed with f-18s and f-5s) so it's not like you could just walk in.

F-18s and F-5s..????Not in WW-2.


Ken

[Swissman]

Originally Posted by Aussie44

The reason might be that none of them or their relatives are alive.
Ken

Thank you Ken. This is a reasonable word. But back after the great war in all this chaos of a destroyed Europe, without internet etc.,
how could the Swiss Banks be able to find this people? The same reason that you wrote, was not acceptable for the Jews
in the "big Swiss-Bank scandal" back in the late 1990ies. If all this would be not so sad, I would say:
"Funny, how the history repeats itself with other actors. And funny how different the "audience" reacts now."

Swissman

[n4zov]

Before judging the Swiss too harshly, it should also be noted that the Swiss government held about 1500 U.S. airmen who were unable to make it back to their bases and diverted to Switzerland. These men were quite properly interned for the duration of the war. Internee is just another way of saying POW except the prisoner is held by a neutral country. These men in most cases well treated unless they attempted to escape. The Swiss internee website describes the Swiss attitude toward these airmen here:

"The Swiss were determined to adhere strictly to the rules governing internees, largely because they were under constant threat of invasion by the German Army. Any hint of impartiality toward the Allies could have incurred dire consequences for a state that professed neutrality, particularly one surrounded completely by the Axis. USAAF personnel caught attempting escape were punished severely, sometimes well beyond the limits stipulated in the laws of war."

Swiss Internees Association Inc.

The situation the Swiss found themselves in during WW2 was unique and they basically did what they need to do to survive.

[DeathGrip]

Swissman,You're a credit to your country and a patriot.your tenacity on this thread if proof enough.I don't think I'd want to mess with the Swiss.....Then or now.
Don't let them get to you.

D.G.

[oldRoger]

I think that given the population difference it would have been possible for Hitler and Company to eventually overwhelm the Swiss. The key words are possible and eventually. It would have taken a full effort when the Germans had their hands full, and to echo those above not worth the tremendous losses.
The strategy of a small country cannot be to prevent invasion, only to make sure that the invader pays very dearly for his effort.
Consider Israel, they live in a very bad neighborhood, have a relatively small population and survive by making certain that any invader suffers unacceptable losses. Their history shows that invaders usually give up rather than continue the losses.

Many of the people from all sides who sent (and still do send) money to Switzerland and other neutral countries do so to hide it. The key is the “hide” part; they do not want to be associated with the account until they need the money. After many years it becomes very difficult to figure out who deposited the money. It is a safe bet that the Castro Brothers have lots of money salted away somewhere, when they eventually are brought to some type of justice, there will be a big scramble for the money.

[Denver Dick]

As with most things in history, there are many factors and events that resulted in Hitler not invading Switzerland. It's not that he didn't seriously consider it; in fact, he had actual plans drawn up to do it. In drawing up those plans, the German high command recognized that the tiny country had the ability to field a large well armed citizen army fairly quickly. It also was acutely aware of the terrain in Switzerland. Because of these factors, as well as others, the high command figured it would take between 10 to 21 German divisions supported by 15 Italian divisions to invade Switzerland. The Germans also figured that because of the mountains and the expected intense resistance of the Swiss people, German victory would take a long time.

The Germans simply never wanted to commit the number of divisions necessary, especially for the length of time required to take Switzerland. Once France and the other Western European countries fell in 1940, Hitler began amassing a large army ready to invade England. However, the English in their Spitfires and Lancasters had different ideas. Hitler then turned his attention to the Soviet Union. He began planning his invasion of Russia in late 1940 and got really serious in early spring of 1941. He invaded the Soviet Union in June of 1941. In 1942 he was busy in North Africa, in 1943 they were very busy in Italy and in 1944 . . . well, you get the ideal. All the while numerous German division were being chewed up and spit out by the Russians and their winters on the Eastern Front. Invading those tough well armed and well trained mountain folk would have to wait.

As an interesting side note, prior to the war, the Germans sold the Swiss 50 Messerschmitt ME 109 fighters (they later regretted that move). The Swiss apparently made pretty good fighter pilots because the ME 109s were used to down several German bombers and fighters which flew over Swiss territory, especially during the German invasion of France. I believe the Swiss kill ratio against the Germans was somewhere around 10 or 11 to 1.

I highly recommend the book, Target Switzerland by Stephen P. Halbrook which goes into a great deal of detail about the Switzerland’s “armed neutrality.”





Let's add a little sound here: http://www.aviationtrivia.info/documents/me109.wav







And the Germans were very much aware of the citizen marksman . . . and markswoman





Nice K11 there lady

[Chromedhearts]

I love this forum. Where else could we have a discussion like this.
With regards to Swiss neutrality in WWII, I believe I remember from my high school history that the good 'ole USA maintained official neutrality right up till Dec. 7th 1941, over two years into the war.
I know all about the Lend Lease program that was helping the Allies, but there was a lot of buisness that went on between the Axis and U.S. companies, ie. Ford Motors.
That is one point of contention with some of the Allied countries, that the U.S. set on the side lines making money until we were overtly attacked by Japan.
Who could say what would have happened if the Axis countries had been more deliberate about not attacking the U.S.A.
In hind sight two of the biggest blonders of history are Germany attacking Russia and Japan attacking the U.S.
I'm not saying we were right or wrong for staying neutral as long as we did.
Just that "Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone."
Let us remember that some FACTS of history are lost in the fog of war.
Oh, by the way I love that video on the op. It will be required viewing for my children.

[sipowicz]

The Swiss still make the best damn stewardesses in the world! Oh wait, that's Sweden...carry on...

[DeathGrip]

Right the first time Sip,I've flown SwissAir.

I won't say any thing about the food on the flight.But I'm a pickey eater.

D.G.

[dennis40x]

Swissman if you want to resort to name calling then that’s your option.

What can not be denied is the complicity of the Swiss Banking Institutions and Nazi Germany. During WW2 Swiss Bankers purchasing of gold from Nazi Germany allowed the purchase of war materials by Germany with Swiss currency. That’s only one aspect of compliance that occurred.

The Banking scandals of the late nineteen nineties that you obliquely refer to are of profound and epic consequence.

[handejector]

I'm busy now, but I'll get back to this later- promise.

[handejector]

Dennis,
I'll explain what's going on here for the benefit of the membership. You make a lot of good posts in the data forums, and I don't want to hear your buddies crying tomorrow cause poor old Dennis got hammered.

I don't like you, and I have long known you don't like me.
I never thought that a good reason for kicking someone off the board, though. Doing so for that reason only just violates my sense of fair play and objectivity. You are a knowledgeable shooter and reloader, and share a lot of data with others in your somewhat stiff posting form. So, for 14 mos since I took over, you survived here.

You and I have conversed before about your surly interjections into otherwise pleasant threads, and I advised you long ago that it might be best for you to stick to 'gun' threads.

I have no idea why you shoulder an overwhelming burden in trying to set right every atrocity, persecution, and wrong done throughout history, but it won't work, and it gets rather tiring.
I've observed that you're an avid reader, and you seem to absorb an author's viewpoint, accept it as gospel, and then proceed to browbeat the board, as if we all must agree with you, or you'll keep pushing till we all do.

I realized tonite that, intentional or not, you are just a very subtle sort of troll. You enter pleasant threads and destroy the whole tone with data that just does not always pertain directly to the subject at hand. It can be related to the subject, and I have often let it stand for that reason.

In this thread, you start it with post 6-

Originally Posted by dennis40x

Hitler didn’t want to invade Switzerland because the Swiss were the keepers of the “Piggy Bank”. The Nazi ill gotten treasure taken from occupied countries and the peoples exterminated were deposited in Swiss Banks. The Swiss Bankers have nothing to be proud of.

I let that go. After the backup singers came in, I made a quick attempt to get people to understand neutrality and how a neutral Switzerland benefitted us.




After Swissman commented, you replied again, like he should roll over and agree with you-

Originally Posted by dennis40x

The Swiss banks provided a money laundering venues for Nazi Germany to transfer wealth taken from Jews, political prisoners and enemies of the Third Reich. The Swiss banks have a substantial amount of wealth in dormant accounts. These accounts can’t be conveniently explained away.

Searching for Records Relating to Nazi Gold: Part I[/URL]

“When the war ended the Allies determined that the Nazis had begun the war with a gold reserve of about $120 million and had seized well more than $600 million in gold from occupied countries, especially Belgium and the Netherlands. The Department of State estimated that the Germans had sold roughly $300 million to Swiss Banks and had laundered about $140 million through Swiss banks for payment of goods from Portugal and Spain. Using gold in payment, the Nazis also directly purchased goods from other countries, primarily Sweden and Roumania, in the amount of $61 million. And it was determined that the U.S. Army had located a total of some $293 million worth of gold.”

Swissman seems to be a nice guy, is not old enough to have even been alive during WW II, and is truly interested in shooting. I like his contributions here.
He did not roll over, so we got this-

Originally Posted by dennis40x

Why invade when you’re getting complete compliance?

I was still OK with it, though not really happy, till the fourth verse. Now you play the victim, and we get the hammer again-

Originally Posted by dennis40x

Swissman if you want to resort to name calling then that’s your option.

What can not be denied is the complicity of the Swiss Banking Institutions and Nazi Germany. During WW2 Swiss Bankers purchasing of gold from Nazi Germany allowed the purchase of war materials by Germany with Swiss currency. That’s only one aspect of compliance that occurred.

The Banking scandals of the late nineteen nineties that you obliquely refer to are of profound and epic consequence.

The fact is, I've actually dreaded your appearance in non-gun threads for the last year, figuring we would eventually see your obsessive compulsion to set history right, or at least force everyone to admit how evil all our forbears truly were. It gets old. I know history is full of bad deeds, but I choose to only carry the guilt for my own actions.
It finally dawned on me that I'm an idiot to pay the bills here and sit around waiting for you to wreck a good time for happier members trying to enjoy themselves.

Time to take your misery somewhere else.


Since you readily absorb the views of the last author you read, take this with you-

[M29since14]

Bob, I can assure you, Swissman is indeed one of the good guys, and is a genuine S&W man like most of us here. It is really a shame this incident developed. I just wrote him a note encouraging him not to let the matter keep him from contributing. I, for one, would miss his posts.

Without going into the so-called Swiss banking "scandal," the matter of Swiss nuetrality and the government's actions during WWII are by now so well known to anyone even remotely interested in the history of the ETO that it is amazing to me that any author seriously puts forth a complete compliance story, and that anyone would find it believable. One has only to remember that, at that time, the main function of the Swiss government was to insure the survival of the people and nation. Addressing and resolving any secondary issue, whether unpleasant or not, was something that HAD to be deferred until the situation permitted. I have never seen a convincing argument that the basic task somehow could have been handled much better, but it is always possible to be doctrinaire about something that happened nearly 70-years ago, and upon which your own survival did not depend.

This post does not intend to add fuel to any fire, and I suppose if I had read and taken to heart Mr. Carnegie's book, I might not have written it at all!

[sipowicz]

"Somebody tell a joke"

Moonstuck, 1989