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Switzerland The Ugly Reverse Side A critical view of the refugee policy in Switzerland began in 1967 with Alfred A. Häsler's book "The Boat Is Full". The debate launched from the United States in 1996/97 about the dormant accounts and the sale of gold bullion put a question mark behind the integrity of the Swiss banks' business practices and their supposedly serious dealings with the victims of the genocide. Their good reputation was ruined. The Swiss had to face questions about their economic dealings with the German Reich. In the 1980s the pacifist movement had dented the patriotic image of a Switzerland "ready to fight". But the increasingly scientific bent of contemporary historiography also helped to relegate the traditional views to the background. In the meantime these new critical elements have been integrated into the image of history, albeit not without controversy. |
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In 1981 Markus Imhoof directed the refugee film "The Boat Is Full", which received several awards at the Berlinale. The film gives an impressive account of the fate of Jewish refugees who have made their way to Switzerland and are then sent away again. The poster shows the refugees fleeing from the Swiss officials just before they are arrested and expelled. The farmer who saves them and wants to bring them into the interior of the country by night is also arrested. |
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In 1989 the satirical magazine "Der Nebelspalter" (The Fogsplitter) questioned the view of the "merciful Switzerland" by showing how Switzerland had turned away refugees. |
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