Philip Rubenstein
Switzerland: Handmaiden to Hitler? Part 2: The Reckoning
Summary
For 50 years after WW2, Switzerland perpetuated the myth of its neutrality during the war. But what began in the mid-1990s as a renewed effort by Holocaust survivors to recover their money from stonewalling Swiss bankers soon turned into a no-holds-barred investigation of Switzerland’s role as chief financiers of the Third Reich.
Philip Rubenstein
Philip Rubenstein was director of the Parliamentary War Crimes Group, which, in the mid-to-late 1980s, campaigned to bring Nazi war criminals living in the UK to justice. Philip was also the founder-director of the Holocaust Educational Trust and played a role in getting the study of the Shoah onto the national school’s curriculum in the UK. These days, he works with family businesses, advising on governance and continuity from one generation to the next.
Well, I mean, as far as the government was concerned, I mean, you know, it was a very muted affair. The Swiss started behaving much better towards the Allies from about 1944 onwards. And they actually started to let a lot more Jews over the border. So, the Swiss borders became a lot more porous from about 1944 onwards. But that was only because they could see the way the war was going and that they would have to deal with the Allies afterwards. But, you know, they profited greatly , and they’d had a good war.
Well, you know, it’s a good question. If you were around in ‘95, I mean, you would’ve seen that the Swiss had nowhere to go with any of this. I mean, it was newspapers, TV programmes, and it was all over the press. But we forget, don’t we? And memories are short. And one of the reasons I was very keen to do these two lectures is because I think that most of us aren’t aware still of Switzerland’s role, and one of the reasons for lockdown university and one of the reasons for many of our lectures is the preservation of memory.
I mean, the book I found most useful was Adam LeBor’s book, which was “Hitler’s Secret Bankers”. I mean, and it’s been updated since he wrote it in 1997. There was an update from a couple of years ago, but there may well be other things out there. So, it’s just worth doing research.