Switzerland Vis-a-Vis the Fall of the Polish State in September 1939. Status and Prospects for Research

Abstract

The outbreak of World War Two posed fundamental questions before Switzerland about the political future in the context of Germany’s aggressive policy. Territorial claims laid by the Third Reich’s elites towards the neighboring countries in the name of the unification of all Germans in one state were also dangerous to Switzerland, whose Alemannic citizens were perceived by Berlin as a part of the great German nation. The Swiss political class as well as the public opinion of the country closely observed Germany’s actions, and in this context the Third Reich’s aggression against Poland was one of the more essential points of Swiss collective memory about World War Two. This memory is very strongly marked, however, by local determinants and the specific geopolitical situation of Switzerland. That had a very distinct impact on the subjects of interest by Swiss historiography dealing with the WW2 years. The most important elements of the Swiss collective memory were: the threat from the Axis’ powers and the need to mobilize society to defend the country, the problem of maintaining neutrality and the consequent matter of interning foreign military units crossing Switzerland’s borders, the issue of potential war refugees, the problem of deposits in Swiss banks left by Holocaust victims, recognition of states that de facto ceased to exist as a result Germany’s invasion, and the problem of mutual relations with the Allied powers both during the war and after it ended. The perception of the Polish question by Swiss historiography becomes part of the aforementioned planes, which explains a rather selective character of the Polish-Swiss subjects in Switzerland’s historiography. They are confined mainly to the history of the internment of the Polish 2nd Rifle Division, problems concerning the recognition of the Polish government in London and emphasizing the pro-Polish sympathies of Swiss society.