ZURICH - My introduction to Switzerland, way back in 1949 when I was six, certainly wasn't idyllic. I was deposited for a
year at Ecole Beau Soleil, a grim Swiss boarding school high in the Alps.
I hated the school, and the staff hated me. The head of this Alpine gulag was a gorgon named Mama Bleu. She and her
helpers beat me mercilessly every single day - to instill `discipline.'
But there must be a God. In an incredible coincidence, 30 years later, I was driving through Switzerland on the way to Italy. I
stopped for lunch in Lausanne, bought the local paper, and was flabbergasted to see headlines: `Mama Blue and staff of Ecole
Beau Soleil arrested for sadism.'
This week, Switzerland's secretive bankers also got their long-overdue comeuppance. After an international fire storm over
Switzerland's dealings with Nazi Germany, and retention of dormant numbered accounts of Holocaust victims, the Swiss
glumly agreed to hand over US $70 million - and possibly much more - to Jewish groups. It was Zion 1; Gnomes of Zurich 0.
I don't understand why Jewish organizations didn't go after Swiss banks years ago. But when they did, it was with a
vengeance. World Jewish Congress chief Edgar Bronfman got President Bill Clinton to put the squeeze on Switzerland. The
main pointman for New York's Jewish community, Rent-a- Senator Al d'Amato, threatened to get Swiss banks evicted from
New York City, the world's financial center. Jewish groups everywhere clamored for a boycott of Swiss banks and
commerce. Lawsuits galore were launched.
Jewish groups claimed $1 billion of Holocaust victim's money was still Swiss banks. The Swiss said the real figure was `a few'
million' at most. Various commissions are looking into this nasty business.Meanwhile, Jews everywhere remain understandably
furious at the Swiss, accusing them, among other things, of being pro-Nazi. Some Jewish historians at Harvard even are
claiming Switzerland stayed out of World War II by bribing Germany not to invade.
This is a lie. In 1940, Switzerland - then about 5 million people - had mobilized much of its 500,000-man army and deployed
it to cover the borders with Germany and Italy. I have visited the powerful Alpine forts built by the Swiss in the 1930's and
40's. Switzerland was a nation at arms. Its people were told to expect invasion at any time - and were ready to resist
ferociously to protect their cherished independence. Cash-strapped Hitler was tempted to invade Switzerland and grab its
horde of gold, but he knew the tough Swiss would fight to the death from their mountain redoubts, and wisely backed off..
Revisionist American historians also condemn Switzerland for being neutral in World War II. Back then, tiny Switzerland was
surrounded by three major, hostile powers: Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, and Vichy France. For the Swiss, it was either
neutrality, or disaster. Remember, too, that Sweden, Portugal, Turkey and much of Latin America also stayed neutral.
Switzerland observed its scrupulous neutrality, serving as a financial and espionage center for Axis and Allies. The Swiss
turned away as many Jews as they admitted, it is true, but so did Britain, Canada and the US. The Swiss were no more, or no
less, anti-semitic than the rest of western world in 1940.
No one will ever accuse the Swiss of being warm-hearted. But it's wrong to demonize them for events of 50 years ago. The
Swiss shamefully kept some Jewish funds, but so did banks from Stockholm to Lisbon. The Louvre in Paris is filled with art
looted from Italy by Napoleon. Britain has held Albania's gold since 1937. No compensation was ever paid by Arab states to
Jews whose property they confiscated. Or, for that matter, by Israel for lands confiscated from Palestinians.
Adding fuel to the fire, high Swiss officials foolishly claimed foreign Jewish groups were trying to extort money from
Switzerland. The outgoing Swiss president accused the American Jewish lobby of `ransom and blackmail.' Here in
Switzerland, many people believe their nation is under siege from a world-wide conspiracy. Some Swiss even claim Jewish
financial interests are trying to wreck Swiss banks and grab their business.
This ugliness is causing deep anguish to Swiss Jews, who wish their angry American brethren would stop bashing Switzerland
and turn down the volume. Many worry the main beneficiaries of this sordid affair will be anti-semites.
Swiss tend to be paranoid and xenophobic. This is understandable, if uncharming. They hold untold billions in gold and cash,
surrounded by hungry neighbors. For Swiss, bank secrecy is the state religion and bedrock of national prosperity. Having
foreigners prying into their secrets is frightening. It could also prove enormously damaging.
Interestingly, this week marks the anniversary of the battle of Pavia in 1525. The terror of Europe, the `furia Helvetica,'
invincible Swiss pikemen -patterned on ancient Sparta's phalanx - were decisively beaten by more flexible Spanish infantry
`tercios,' modeled on Roman legions - but armed with cannon. This defeat caused the Swiss to withdraw behind their
mountain borders, stay out of Europe's affairs, and mind their own business.
This gloomy week, the outside world broke in on the unhappy Swiss. Zurich's gnomes are not happy.
copyright eric margolis 1997
Reprinted with Permission
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Eric Margolis
Syndicated Columnist/Foreign Affairs Analyst
The Toronto Sun
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