The deputy president of the Nazi Reichsbank said: "It is of great political significance for Switzerland to allow free foreign exchange transactions. This is a basic principle that we still keep it independent today."

1. Switzerland’s status is a “permanently neutral country”, which was an agreement signed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. As early as the founding of Switzerland in 1291, Switzerland has always played the role of a neutral country in European history. At the same time, Switzerland is small and weak and cannot have an adverse impact on Germany.

2. Switzerland was not completely neutral in World War II and played a disgraceful role

1. It has economic and even military ties with fascist countries

Germany has always been Switzerland's largest trading partner. During World War II, Switzerland maintained economic, trade and financial relations with Germany. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, Switzerland provided a loan of 150 million Swiss francs to Germany, and Germany allowed Swiss goods to be re-exported through Germany. It can be said that without Switzerland's economic support, Germany would not have been able to fight so well. Italy also benefits from economic and trade relations with Switzerland.

Switzerland also sold electricity to Germany, allowing German factories to maintain production until March 1945, when Germany's defeat was certain. Major Swiss watch factories also supply precision parts to Germany. The 40mm anti-aircraft gun provided by the Zurich arsenal is an important defensive weapon for Germany to deal with Allied air attacks.

2. Provide strategic access

During World War II, Switzerland always maintained the strategically important 15-kilometer-long St. Gotthard Tunnel (which is also the longest road tunnel in the world) that runs through the Alps. ) open to Germany and Italy. Trains loaded with strategic supplies constantly pass through Switzerland between the two countries.

3. Refusing to help the persecuted Jews

Before the outbreak of World War II, the Nazi regime generally did not prevent Jews from emigrating abroad. It usually deprived Jews of their property and forced them to move to other countries. Therefore, Switzerland became the first choice for many German Jews to escape. However, the Swiss authorities took countermeasures to block their influx. It clearly stipulated that "Jews should not be regarded as political refugees."

To this end, the authorities have adopted measures of blocking first and rushing out later: implementing pre-visa to prevent refugees from entering; if they are allowed to enter, they will be deported as soon as possible; for refugees who enter illegally, Sweden will He was taken to the border post and handed over to the German side. During the war years, countless Jews were unable to enter and expelled from Switzerland.

In 1938, the Swiss immigration department asked Germany to stamp a large "J" (Jewish mark) on the passports of German Jews. By the time the war officially began, Switzerland had intercepted more than 100,000 Jews at the border. Switzerland sometimes even handed these people directly into the hands of the notorious SS

. For this reason, German newspapers also criticized Switzerland's so-called "neutrality" after the war. The German "Weekly" pointed out that Switzerland's "neutrality" was limited to not officially cooperating with the Third Reich.

4. Swiss banks misappropriated Jewish property and served as Nazi gold safes

There were also many "tricks" in the performance of Swiss banks in World War II. According to reports, during World War II, German Jews who were persecuted to death by the Nazis had more than 50,000 Swiss bank accounts with funds worth US$6 billion. However, so far only US$6 million has been returned to Jewish organizations or organizations by the Swiss government. Gifts to several international humanitarian organizations.

Some Swiss banks even refused compensation on the grounds that death certificates were not issued in Nazi concentration camps. All of these funds were misappropriated by Swiss banks. Switzerland was also the primary location where Nazi Germany traded gold in exchange for the hard currency Swiss francs. Swiss banks did not ask where the gold came from and just made a huge profit from it.

It is said that 90% of the gold transactions of the Reichsbank of Nazi Germany at that time were conducted through Swiss banks. A considerable part of the huge wealth plundered by the Nazis through the war was stored in Swiss banks.

With the "help" of Swiss banks, Hitler received valuable foreign exchange to purchase important supplies on the world market to sustain the war.