The Office of War Information today released a report quoting the Swiss newspaper Volksrecht to the effect that Nazi Germany is trying to force its anti-Jewish laws upon Switzerland.
Answering an article in Hitler’s own newspaper, the Voelkischer Beobachter, which attacked Switzerland for giving shelter to refugees escaping from Nazi territories, the Swiss newspaper declares that as long as Switzerland remains independent, the ambitions of the Nazis to see anti-Jewish measures in the country will never materialize.
“Why is the Jewish question suddenly being forced on us?”, the paper asks. “Is it in order to cause us to pass anti-Jewish laws? To standardize persecution? So long as Switzerland is an independent state – and we are determined to maintain our independence with all our means and energy – no other power on earth shall order us or tell us what laws we must make or how we must treat our citizens. It isn’t our fault but our honor that we have become the refuge for some thousands of persecuted. There must be one little spot of ground in ‘new Europe’ where humanity finds a home. We only regret that the force of circumstances makes fulfillment of our task so modest. If ‘new Europe’ finds few supporters in Switzerland, it isn’t the Jews who are responsible therefore, but those Aryans who understand ‘new Europe’ as the suppression of small peoples.”
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.
