"Halbrook succeeds not only in achieving a thorough analysis of
Switzerland's armed neutrality, but also in revealing through their own
voices the willingness of ordinary citizens to accept total war in order
to preserve their freedom."--Swiss American Historical Society Review
This book tells the long misunderstood story of Switzerland in World War
II with emphasis on two voices rarely heard. One is that of scores of
Swiss who lived in those dark years, as they repeatedly mobilized to
defend the country and helped refugees. The other voice is that of Nazi
Intelligence, which spied on the Swiss and planned subversion and
invasion. Exhaustive documents from the German military archives reveal
a chilling rendition of attack plans.
When Switzerland became surrounded by the Axis Powers, it first
mobilized a "spiritual defense," using the press, cabarets, and
newsreels as weapons against totalitarianism, even at the risk of
provoking the Nazis. Swiss soldiers recall an epoch when every day could
have been "the day" when all hell would break loose and they would meet
the enemy. Blitzkrieg plans against Switzerland devised by the Wehrmacht
in 1940 are described, as is how Switzerland became an armed camp with
countless fortifications, against which the Axis could have attempted
access only with extreme costs in blood.
The book goes on to describe Swiss life during the war with its
shortages, alarms, and rumors. A chapter investigates whether Swiss
officials played a role in Germany's adoption of the "J" stamp on Jewish
passports, and how Switzerland became a lifeboat for refugees. Another
chapter focuses on Davos, where the Swiss struggled against a Fifth
Column, and which became a safe haven for American airmen whose crippled
bombers made it to Swiss territory. The last chapter profiles
Switzerland as America's window on the Reich--how Allen Dulles and his
OSS spied on the Nazis, at times with help from Swiss Intelligence.
