Earnestly and with characteristic resoluteness the Swiss Trade Union and Labor Party are retaliating for the Nazi treatment of the proletariat classes in the Third Reich with a boycott of German-made goods and German services. Almost on the heels of Hitler’s accession to power, according to press reports of the International Federation of Trade Unions, these two small but powerful units of the great workmen’s brotherhood recognized the danger, launched a boycott and have been rigorously pursuing it since.
Backed by the cooperation of trade associations, bodies for the organization of exhibitions, private purchasing firms and chain stores, the Social Purchasers’ League and other influential bodies in the republic, the boycott has succeeded to the extent that German goods have been practically banned from the country. Oddly enough, the religious element has not entered at all.
The Joint Committee created by the Swiss Union for the coordination of the boycott plans, appointed a frontier subcommittee to control import and export of German goods. Its chief task, however, was to prepare lists of goods manufactured in Germany and to give information where substitute goods could be purchased.
Included in a few of these lists are newspaper products, newspapers, books, films, chemical and photographic supplies, chemicals for domestic use, alarm clocks, electric apparatus, wireless, tools, toys, etc.
Emphasis on the importance of the cooperation by housewives who are pledged to join in the boycott, has been frequently made by M. Meister, president of the Joint Committee. In a statement he said:
“Our boycott movement has begun very well. There is no danger that it will be exploited for nationalistic purposes. The import from Germany to Switzerland has declined considerably, although of course the crisis has been a contributing cause to the reduction.”
At a recent meeting of the Executive of the International Federation of Employees in Public Services held in Brussels, a boycott resolution was passed against German products.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
