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o Use for UNO missions (this has been specifically rejected in
a vote in 1995)
o Professionalization of the military (i.e. no more compulsory service)
Some French-speaking Cantons (mainly Geneva) are critical of
the military; most others (including Tessin, most French-speaking and
all Swiss-German) are not against it but would like to see it
reformed. The way it should evolve is not quite clear. The
French-speaking Swiss would like the military to help the UNO and be
humanitarian. On the whole, the (majority of) Swiss-Germans dislike
the UNO but are not against the other proposition. The (majority of)
French-speaking Swiss are in support of a professional military; the
Swiss-Germans usually think that this would cost too much and that the
integrative role the military service plays would disappear.
The military tax (depending on your income) is to be paid for every
year that you are prevented from attending a course. It is refunded as
soon as you keep up with the number of courses you have to do,
PROVIDED YOU ASK FOR IT, of course :-)
You keep your weapons till your military service is _OVER_ which means
not only your annual/bisannual courses are over, but also you are
freed from military service (around 42 nowadays I think).
You can keep it further provided:
- you did all the annual shootings even the non-compulsory ones
- you did at least one two-days gun course in the last year.
Ammution HAS to be returned when military service is over. The
equipment (also the weapon) can be deposited free of charge in the
Zeughaus/arsenal as long as you do not have any more compulsory
courses OR if you live in a foreign country.
People leaving in foreign countries must deposit their material
at an Arsenal (Zeughaus) and must still pay the tax. They are
dispendedd after 3 years.
Military post is free up to 2 kilograms during service, and outside
service for official requests. Most courses are during the week
and week-end is free (except if something must be guarded).
3.2.2 Regulations on guns (most of this contributed by Emmanuel BAECHLER)
NOTE: A new law has been adopted by the Parliament in June 1997.
This new law should enter into effect by the end of the first
semester of 1998. Some points of application (Ordonnance) are
not yet clear. The English translation of that law is
available at:
http://www-internal.alphanet.ch/~schaefer/scs/gun_law_1998
It has been translated by Emmanuel BAECHLER. Please pay attention
to the disclaimer and copyright on that document.
The following information is still accurate until 1998.
First of all, firearms are regulated by a Federal law, but it has to
be applied by Cantons, thus there are 26 practices. Happily most of
them agree, in a sensible way, on how to apply that law.
Note that a new federal law is being prepared. Its content is not yet
known.
In order to buy a handgun, you must get a purchase license from the
police. To get it, you must be over 18, you must be member of a
shooting society (at least for the first ones) and, if you live with
other people, they must somewhat agree with that (I really don't know
what can happen if they don't). You must also produce a good-morality
certificate.
The first license takes a little bit of time, around one month. all
the other ones come in a few days (between a week and two weeks and a
half in my experience).
On each license, you must mention your motivation. The most current
one is ``shooting and collection''. In fact it is so frequent that it
has been proposed to directly print it on the sheets. Unhappily the
police did not like the idea.
As long as your motivation is ``shooting and collection'', the policy
is that a .22 is *STRONGLY* recommended as a first handgun. However
you will be able to buy a 9mm, a .357 or a .45.
The handguns that you won't be able to get for the first licenses are
pocket handguns (snubs) and monsters (>= .44 Magnum). Pocket handguns
remain difficult to get, unless you are a collector, or if you ask for
a purchase license, with ``defense'' as a motivation.
The practice about ``defense'' licenses varies over time. A few years
ago, the police was rather restrictive and you really needed ``good
reason'' to get them. They are more liberal, now. This makes more
sense as concealed carry is permitted in many cantons (for example Vaud).
Full auto rifles are submitted to licenses. In order to get one, you
must be considered as a collector. In some cantons, this is automatic
after the fifth firearm. People in that situation can get almost
whatever they want. However, people cannot use full auto rifles. There
are some exceptions, but they are quite rare and require quite a lot
of effort to get them. The only real one is that you can use your
privately owned full auto Stgw90/Fass90 in the OFFICIAL ranges under
the same conditions as military ordonnance Stgw90/Fass90,
or the old model 57. Note that the weapon kept at home by
soldiers is a fully working Stgw90/Fass90 (or 57), or a handgun for
officers.
Repeating and single action rifles are free of license.
Repeating and self loading shotguns require a purchase license, unless
you block their capacity at three shots and have a hunting permit. In
this case, they are considered as hunting firearms and do not require
any license.
In many German speaking Cantons, both self loading rifles, repeating
and self loading shotguns can be owned freely.
Finally, carrying is not regulated in some Cantons. So, when you get a
handgun license, you are totally free to carry it, if you want: this
is your responsibility. The practice is such that unless you are a
money carrier or something like that, you should carry your(s) weapon
concealed. Carrying a weapon openly cannot cause you real problems,
but you risk much more controls from the police (ID checks, ALWAYS
carry an ID in Switzerland -- and five francs, but that's another
story).
The exceptions:
- Geneva and Basel forbid full auto rifles.
- Geneva almost forbid semi-autos rifles (they make *very* difficult
to get them).
- Basel authorizes the purchase of at most 4 self loading rifles per year.
- Geneva and Zurich require a concealed carry permit which is very
difficult to get.
- Basel requires a concealed carry permit, which can be obtained without
motivation.
In many cantons silencers are forbidden.
About ammunition: There is no restriction, in the sense that you can
buy whatever you find on the market without any quantity
limitation. If you buy ten tons of 9mm Para, I am however sure that
the police will become highly interested by your activities.
Private companies can import ammunition freely, but they must have a
pretty serious material and financial base.
Note that individuals can import privately batches of 500 rounds of
ammo.
In Vaud, there is no limitation about the quantity of firearms that
you can own. However, if you buy 4 AK-74's a week, the police might
ask you some questions.
Finally, established foreigners have the same rights that Swiss
citizens about firearms, but I don't know the situation for people
with 1 year-renewable working permits.
3.2.3 Guns popularity
Guns are very popular in Switzerland: there are a lot of Shooting
Clubs and shootings are organized almost every week (not counting the
compulsory shooting for each citizen-soldier every year, and some
week-ends). Moreover, there are Shooting Festivals organized usually
once a year (e.g. in Neuchatel the ``Tir Cantonal''). There is also
the Federal Shooting.
A lot of young people (teenagers usually) are training voluntarily in
Shooting Clubs.
The fact that most weapon users are experienced may explain the
relatively low injury rate due to weapons in Switzerland.
3.2.4 Guns abuse
Compared to the amount of weapons kept at home because of the Military,
and because a lot of people like weapons in Switzerland (and the laws
are somewhat permissive), people wonder why there is so little
gun abuse in Switzerland.
It is very difficult to answer this question. Some readers suggested
the following reasons:
- every male who has an army gun at home is trained to use it. He
knows the effect an automatic rifle can have and therefore will
hesitate to use it in private matters. Moreover, spontaneous use
of guns in personal fights related to jealousy are less probable
because Swiss people don't usually blow their top or fly off the
handle :-)
- Swiss people learn to hate their gun so much during the army service,
that they're very happy to store it in the closet and never touch
it again until the next service. In fact, the gun is a pain: It's
heavy, you have to carry it everywhere, you have to clean it thousands
of times, there are frequent quality controls, etc. So you're nothing
but happy to leave it alone as long as possible. This does not apply
to the ones active in any shooting association, of course, who are
many. On the contrary, a gun you buy is usually kept near you, ready
to shoot, and this may lead to accidents or crimes. Military weapons
are kept unloaded, and most of the times ammunition is kept separately.
- Swiss people are used to living close each other, with no shortage
of police on the beat. Well, if you travel to other countries you
may not quite agree.
- Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living worldwide.
Violence and crime arevery low in general. So is gun related crime.
One way to put it is: "The swiss are rich enough - so there's no
need to steal anything from somebody else.". But, then how did we
get rich in the first place ? :-)
3.3 Swiss navy
Switzerland is land-locked. However, following the experiences in the
last World Wars, Switzerland has a merchant navy in order to
facilitate transportation in times of crisis. Sea port is Genova in
Italy and the navy counts some 18-odd ocean-going ships (1994,
``tendenz sinkend'' :-)). Not counting the many ships on the lakes and
on the rivers :-)
3.4 5th Switzerland
There are 4 cultures in Switzerland. However, there is a fifth: the
Swiss who have left the country. They keep their voting right (at the
federal level only) and they can keep contact with Switzerland. Every
year, a delegation of young foreign Swiss is received in Berne. It is
certain that a lot (if not most) of the readers of soc.culture.swiss
are indeed foreign Swiss.
The Swiss Abroad have a ``Secretariat'' in Berne:
Secretariat for the Swiss Abroad
Alpenstrasse 26
3000 Berne 16
SWITZERLAND
3.5 Swiss-German vs German
You have to know that Swiss-German is very different from German.
Also, there is not one Swiss-German, but on the contrary a lot of
dialects: The dialects spoken in Bern (one of the easiest to learn,
though native German may prefer anything closer to Germany (SH/TG/SG
or even ZH)) is different from the one which is spoken in Graubuenden
or Zuerich. Also, there is no real written form (they tend to also be
written nowadays, e.g. on advertising). Virtually all Swiss-Germans
know German from the compulsory school, with a strong ``Swiss''
accent. In the technical world, however, English is becoming very
popular.
It is better to know (or at least understand) Swiss-German if one
wants to be integrated: besides, a lot of Swiss-Germans know English
and French as well.
In almost all German speaking countries, such regional dialects are
used (Germany, Austria) and in the Romandie (French speaking part of
Switzerland), the regional dialects (patois) have disappeared only in the
last two centuries, leaving very small regions where only a few people
still know their patois. Ticinesi used to speak the Lombardic dialect
of Italian, very different from the Tuscan standard.
Tom BUTZ says about spoken Swiss German: If translated literally,
colloquial language may come across as a bit rude, so be careful when
attempting translations for the squeamish/politically correct.
For example:
`Da isch an Huraseich' -- that's a load of bull dust - literally
translates to: that's a prostitute's urine.
`Am Sunntig goent mr i'd Beiz go fraesse' -- on Sunday we'll go to the
pub and eat there.
`Fraesse' normally is what
animals do (humans `aesse').
And there are a few pitfalls, even if you thought you were fluent in
(ordinary) German: slippery roads are not `glatt' but `iisig'. If they
are `glatt' they are fun.
`Riechen' (to smell) is `schmoecke' (to taste): so `do you smell
something ?' becomes: `schmoecksch oeppis ?'.
Another reason a foreigner would want to understand/read/speak Swiss
German ? Apart from fitting in, this would be planning to go to the
Basel Carnival (Morgestraich) and being able to find out what it's all
about. All printed matter will be in Swiss German, just like
everything else on parade. If that one's a bit hard on you, try
Neuchatel's carnival: there it's `only' (ordinary) French.
3.6 Universities in Ticino
At the moment there is one Italian speaking University in Switzerland,
founded by Mario BOTTA (http://www.rtsi.ch/rete2 (RealAudio format)).
This university has three departments: Economics, Communications (both
in Lugano) and Architecture (in Mendrisio).
Italian-speaking people may go to Italy if they want to be taught in
Italian for all the matters which are not present in the Ticino
University. However, most of the time they go to Zuerich or other
Swiss-german towns, or in the Suisse romande (french-speaking,
e.g. EPFL, UNIGE, UNIL, ...), thus they usually learn German and
French.
However, the time is currently a ``shrinking budgets'' one, thus the
creation of a bigger university or of a university in Svizra
Rumantscha is not to be expected in the near future.
3.7 Miscellaneous legal questions
3.7.1 Introduction
Swiss laws may vary from Canton to Canton. However, some matters are
handled by federal laws. For example, the legal age for marriage (male
and female) is 18 (before that you need authorization from parents).
3.7.2 Rape or sexual prosecution or discrimination
There are laws, even against rape in marriage (e.g. a husband may not
force his wife to have sexual contacts with him). Also with the new
laws (since 1992 or 1993), the abuse of relation of dependency for
sexual purposes is punishable too: for example, an employee in a
company is protected against her boss or if a drug addicted person
needs money and the only way to get it is prostitution, a suitor could
be prosecuted for abusing the misery of the addicted person.
3.8 Swiss tax system
Switzerland due to its federal nature has a complex tax system, at the
three federal, cantonal and communal levels.
1. Federal income tax, also called ``Direct federal tax'', the same
everywhere.
2. Cantonal income tax (usually lower in industrial/non-rural Cantons)
8-20% of the income.
3. Communal income tax
There is also a value added tax (TVA) at 6.5% (before 1996 it was
called Wust/ICHA at 6.2%, with a different scheme).
Generally, residents of Switzerland have an unlimited tax liability,
viz. they are taxed on worldwide income and wealth. Excluded from
Swiss taxation is immobile property located abroad as long as it is
taxed in the foreign country. Some very wealthy people may ask to be
taxed on spendings rather than fortune or income, but this is rare.
The federal tax authority issues (every year?) a publication outlining
all the different taxes with detailed schedules of rates of the
federation and the cantons.
More information can be obtained at http://www.admin.ch
3.9 Rumantsch
The fourth language of Switzerland, also called ``Rhaeto-Romanisch''
in German, and ``Romanche' ' in French is spoken by less than 50'000
people, in the Graubuenden Kanton. Efforts are being made to revive
it: it is being tought in schools in those areas now. It is rooted in
the ancient roman language.
Rumantsch consists of five different dialects (Sursilvan, Surmiran,
Sutsilvan, Vallader, and Putèr), and there's also a constructed
standard language, Rumantsch Grischun, which was created in 1982 to
serve as an ``Einheitssprache'' or common language, which can be
understood by the speakers of the five dialects quite well, with a
little effort.
If you would like to read some Rumantsch, please check
http://www.luna.nl/~benne/rumantsch.html, where you can find links to
some Rumantsch Web resources, like the on-line magazine PUNTS
(http://www.grnet.ch/punts/), which is entirely written in Rumantsch
(as well as in Rumantsch Grischun as in the various local dialects).
3.10 Abortion (most of it from Yvan BOTTERON)
Abortion is defined in a federal law and is allowed only if the
mother's health is jeopardized. Some of the Cantons interpret that law
differently. Some, for example the most liberal ones, consider the
psychological health of the mother while the other ones don't give
that point much importance.
The Cantons which are in majority Catholic (Valais, Fribourg) and
some of the Founding (French: primitifs (non péjoratif); German: Ur-)
Cantons (OW, NW, UR, SZ) have a more restrictive interpretation of
the law whereas the Reformed (Protestant) Cantons are the more
tolerant ones (with Glarus having a very permissive tradition: it is
reported that any gynecologist who wants employment here has to
state that he/she is able and willing to perform abortions). Of
course, as we are in Switzerland, there are probably exceptions to
that schematic explanation.
3.11 World War II (ambitious, please submit)
3.11.1 Introduction
There have been recently a lot of questions about the comportment of
Swiss people and Swiss government during WWII. There is also, in the
``real world'', a lot of discussions, attacks, and misinformation
about what really happened, especially towards the Nazi and Jewish
gold. This FAQ, and especially this section, will try to give you an
impartial view on the facts, and a Swiss (partial) viewpoint of their
meaning. Feel free to submit new material for inclusion here.
We try to separate the FACTS from the INTERPRETATION in all of the
subsequent subsection, in order to diminish the polemics around
this extremely sensitive subject.
3.11.2 Switzerland's general situation in WWII
FACTS: Switzerland, at least from 1941 onward, is completely encircled
by the ``Power of the Axis'', namely Germany (Hitler), Italy
(Mussolini), and France (Petain). Switzerland has no direct lead
to the sea, and is not self-sufficient for food, nor goods. Also,
in WWI, Switzerland had suffered from the lack of gold (there was
still parity for the Swiss frank). There are right-extremist and
left-extremist very active movements in Switzerland, especially
among the Italian working in Switzerland. Also, there are some
people at the head of the government sympathizing with Hitler's
ideas.
INTERPRETATION:
The swiss government must find a way to maintain its ability to
do commerce and to avoid invasion. Also, it fears an invasion
from Germany and thus tries to accommodate with both the Allies
and the Axis, e.g. producing goods for Great Britain at the
same time as for Germany. At that time, there is no strong
information regarding massive Jewish extermination. The
Swiss government also fears massive immigration and anything
that could destabilize Switzerland. Also, there was a fear,
at the beginning of the war, more from the ``Red Danger''
(some communist parties had been previously outlawed,
e.g. La Chaux-de-Fonds 1938), than from the right
extremists.
ABOUTS:
About Switzerland's neutrality during World War II:
http://193.5.216.35/newpd/F/News/INDEX14.HTM
( ^ yes, these are not typos ^).
3.11.3 Attitude towards Jews
FACTS: Switzerland did ask the German to put the 'J' on German Jews'
Passports. Switzerland did not accept many Jews and only when
they had someone to pay for their stay in Switzerland. Thus
the already-existing Jewish community had to pay for any new
arriving Jew, with absolutely no support from the government.
The head of the Foreigner Office (Police des Etrangers) was
anti-jew. Switzerland officials made official apologies for the
comportment of Swiss officials during the war in 1995
(Kaspar VILLIGER, President 1995).
INTERPRETATION:
Switzerland did not collaborate with the Nazis on that specific
point. Switzerland only made more difficult for Jews (and
others) to seek refuge in Switzerland. Nevertheless, most of
the Swiss *population* did support the refugees. It is
damageable to Swiss's reputation that these apologies were
made 50 years later; however the cold war is one of the
reasons. The Eizenstat report evaluates the number of Jews
having found refuge in Switzerland as 50'000 (of which
20'000 left Switzerland during the war) plus 100'000 other
refugees (this figure only counting after 1940).
3.11.4 The stolen gold / dormant accounts.
In summary, the following actions have already been taken by the
Swiss government, individuals and private banking institutes:
- Money deposited by Jews and non Jews before and during the War,
which was not reclaimed, or was reclaimed but without sufficient
proof will be refunded. Meanwhile, a special 300 MSFr fund has
been created (mainly privately funded) because it is expected
enquiries will take a long time.
- Two separate commissions have been launched, whose goals is to
create a clear viewpoint on this part of History.
- The Foundation for Solidarity, a project of the Swiss government
whose goal is, from a National Bank-funded capital of 7 GSFr, to
distributed 300 MSFr per year to persecuted and suffering
population in the world (no direct link to the Jewish gold affair).
There is a WWW server which contains the dormant account list and
also instructions how to file a query:
http://www.dormantaccounts.ch
The current list includes all foreign owners, whether they were
victims of the German Holocaust or not, of Swiss bank accounts which
have remained dormant since May 9, 1945.
A separate list of Swiss owners of Swiss bank accounts which have
remained dormant since May 9, 1945, will be published later this year.
As you will see, it is essential to distinguish between the gold bought by
the National bank, and the money deposited freely by afterwards-dead
people with private Swiss banks.
FACTS: Switzerland (the National bank) did buy a lot of gold from
the Axis and from the Allies during the war.
The Eizenstat report says that ``It [Switzerland] conducted
trade with the Allied countries as well as with the Axis
powers. The Swiss National Bank kept gold accounts for and
received gold not only from Nazi Germany, but from the
United States, Canada, and Great Britain as well.
Switzerland served as a key base for U.S. intelligence-
gathering.''
INTERPRETATION:
Due to the fear of not having enough gold to maintain the Swiss
Franc, and to prevent any invasion from both the Axis and the
Allies, Switzerland did buy a lot of gold from both
belligerents. It is known that a lot of the gold sold to
Switzerland by the USA was indeed still on USA's territory and
thus much less valuable for Switzerland than gold from
Germany. However, some people pretend that without this
commerce of gold, WWII would have been shortened, at least in
Europe, by two years (new book from Jean ZIEGLER). One thing
can be said: as the gold was PAID by Switzerland, this
money will never be refunded completely, especially since there
is no proof that the Swiss government or the SNB governing board
were aware of the fact that the gold was not from Germany but
stolen from other countries (which anyway is ``authorized'' by
common war practices) nor that some of it came from the KZ
(Jewish gold from victim's teeth, etc.). Switzerland has paid to the
Allies for Europe reconstruction in the amount of 28 million SFr in
1952 (whether the settlement was ``right'' and definitive is a very
good question, but it has not been asked yet. Moreoever most of what
is known today was known at that time).
FACTS: A lot of people (not only Jews) had money in Swiss private bank
accounts. When they died during the War, often in Germany's KZ,
the proofs disappeared and the money was left dormant for
many, many years. In the late 60's, when Swiss private banks
started to computerize their accounts, a lot of those dormant
accounts (sometimes confidential numbered ones, known only by
a few persons at the bank, maybe dead at that time) were
probably discovered. It would have been nice to do something then.
A few years ago, some Jewish associations contacted the Swiss banks
and there have been, since then, very slow progress being made.
Recently, a few civil actions (usually wrongly targeted) have
been taken from the USA and publicized: this seems to at least
have triggered a little action from the Swiss private banks, but
also brought much confusion to the debate.
NB: The most vocal spokesman in the United States is Senator
Alphonse D'Amato who is Catholic of Italian descent, not Jewish.
INTERPRETATION:
There have been for many years a tendency to minimize the
amount of those dormant accounts; however, even if this is
probably true (less than 100 M SFr are the current
evaluation by the Swiss banks; approximatively 30 M SFr
found currently; at UBS 3.5 M out of 10 M have already been
given back), we could have avoided the current mixup
stolen gold / dormant accounts if steps had been taken
before. On the contrary, we waited too long and now false
or incomplete information is being propagated by the
mass-media (e.g. documents are now publicly available in
ex-URSS and GB, after the 50 years period, but those
documents are quoted incorrectly, mixing currencies, sometimes
by a factor of 4-5; mixing facts). Probably the only way to
get out is twofold: first, make the entire truth known, and secondly,
all the unknown money should be put into a fund, kept there
for some time (like the East Trust (die Treuhand) in Germany),
and then given to a charitable organization like ICRC or
the UNICEF.
FACTS: Switzerland has was very reluctant to give German gold to the
Allies at the end of the War. Switzerland (private banking
institutes) was very reluctant to give any information
or list of bank accounts.
INTERPRETATION:
One of the reasons is that: [Eizenstat report] ``Clearly,
Switzerland's delay was intended to keep German assets
under its control as a guarantee for settlement of
Swiss claims against the Nazi regime.''. The private
banking institutes still charge SFR 500 _each_
for an account research. Maybe this amount corresponds to
the actual costs, but this is not really a very good
public relation policy. Note that since July with the
publishing of the account list (a violation to the
Swiss banking secrecy habits), this is no longer true.
The Eizenstat Report says that ``Among the neutral countries,
Switzerland has taken the lead.'' [in, at last, resolving this
issue]. We can only regret that this issue has not been resolved
earlier and with a broader audience (not just a few officials): maybe we
could have prevented what happens recently, for the benefit of the
Nazis's victims and ours.
3.11.5 Chronology
1995 Kaspar VILLIGER apologizes for the 'J'.
1994(?) First contacts from Jewish organizations to the Swiss banks,
Ombudsman (mediator) is created.
June 1996 Start of the USA media-blitz and civil actions.
January 1997 Creation of a 300 M SFr private fund. Beneficiaries not yet
known. Banks and private people are funding it.
March 1997 The Swiss Confederation announces the creation of
a generic 7 billion SFr with an estimated 500 M
yearly revenue whose beneficiaries will be
any persecuted or otherwise minorized group, half
of which going to Swiss people. The fund will be
created mainly by the revaluation of gold from
the Swiss National Bank gold reserves.
May 1997 Publication of the Eizenstat Report on gold transactions
between Nazi Germany and other states (with a stress
on Switzerland).
http://www.ita.doc.gov/media/
July 1997 Publication of the first part of the dormant account
list by the Swiss private banking institutes.
begin 1998 First payments to Jews in the Baltic Countries from the
300 M SFr private fund. It has taken so long because of
difficulties in finding the recipients (with little
cooperation from the Jewish Congress). Payments to
road people too (Bohemians).
August 1998 Swiss Banks agree to pay 1.9 G SFr to the Jewish Congress's
Representatives. What will happen to this money is
unclear. This only solves the dormant account issue with
US Jews. This does not solve the ``stolen gold'',
stolen insurance policies, nor issues with non-US Jews and
non-Jews.
3.11.6 More information
An extensive collection of case studies, official documents and
assorted commentary concerning German gold transfers to the SNB and
abandoned bank accounts of victims of WWII can be found on
the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington D.C. site at
http://www.swissemb.org/
and on the Embassy of Switzerland in London site at
http://www.swissembassy.org.uk/
3.11.7 Money
This is an approximate cost of the ``dormant account'' crisis.
300 MSFr as a goodwill for holocaust survivors in financial difficulties,
money giving has started this week (it took more than expected
because the non-Swiss Jewish organizations did not give the names
before). Chairman is Mr. BLOCH, from Zuerich, head of the
Swiss jewish association. Around 70 people have already been
given money, Baltic countries have been choosen first because the
Jews living there have not benefited from the help of the
Russians nor the Germans for political reasons.
70 MSFr found as dormant accounts, will be refunded. Note that there are
also ``non-Jews'' holding those accounts: for example Nazis
or ``simple'' (ie non nazi and non jew) German people or
from other countries who died during the war. And Swiss people
too.
2 GSFr paid to the World Jewish Congress by Swiss Banks.
NB: this is independant from the ``recycling'' gold affair, which is
purely a national bank topic and has been settled after the war
(at least up to now there have not been any official claim to
rework this settlement in particular).
and, as a general humanitarian cost
7 GSFr as the capital of the Swiss Foundation for Solidarity, a
non-profit charity organization.
3.12 Health system
To draw a few sketches (more answers might come from soc.culture.swiss,
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