More than 50 years after the end of World War II, one of its most clouded mysteries has become the subject of intense, bitter international controversy. At the heart of the mystery is a deceptively simple question: Did Switzerland, as it has claimed for decades, remain humane in its treatment of persecuted Jews and did it remain economically as well as militarily neutral from 1939 to 1945?
High Swiss officials say the country acted appropriately. Recent polls indicate most Swiss citizens still believe their country, on the whole, behaved properly. But those outside and inside Switzerland attacking this thesis argue that the country actually played an important, some say indispensable, role in supporting the German Nazi war economy and its military machine.
This three-part series by RFE/RL senior correspondent Joel Blocker delves into the issues that brought this question to the surface, the positions of Swiss defenders and critics, and whether the country will be able to take a critical look at its past. |
![[ rfe/rl logo ]](/images/new/article-logo.gif){kind=logo}
![[E-mail this page to a friend]](/images/newsline/email-icon.gif){kind=icon}