Friday, January 16, 1998
Swiss neutrality during war in question
FILM Festival presents Switzerland’s position as far from middle
of road
By Lonnie Harris
Daily Bruin Contributor
Despite the prevailing attitude of scholarly thought – which
describes Swiss policies during World War II as neutral – the UCLA
Film and Television Archive is conducting a film series that takes
a deeper look at the nation’s position during the 1940’s this week
at the James Bridges Theater.
The program, part of a traveling exhibit about Switzerland and
the war, features films and guest speakers who analyze and explain
the precarious situation that the Swiss government and people faced
during times of upheaval in Western Europe.
Conventional wisdom teaches that Switzerland was neutral during
the war, siding with neither the Nazi Party nor the Allied Effort.
However, recent investigations paint an image of the nation as
central to the Axis effort to wipe out the Allies and control
Western Europe.
The controversy centers around both the famed Swiss banking
industry (known to have culled money from Nazi investors), and the
foreign policy of the Swiss government during that time (which
placed heavy restrictions on immigration to keep out Jewish
refugees).
"Of course, we thought about the timeliness of the subject
matter," says Program Coordinator David Pendleton. "(But) the
neutrality of Switzerland is something that the country’s own
people have wondered about for a long time."
To further an understanding of this issue and its present
effects on the Swiss, the week-long exhibit screens films made by
Swiss directors. These films include "Embers," "The Last Chance,"
"Rivesaltes’ Journal" and "The Boat is Full."
Each film presents a different and often controversial
perspective about what exactly was the role of Switzerland in the
Nazi conflict.
The sponsor of the symposium is UCLA’s Center for European and
Russian Studies, which worked with Ralph McKay of the Film
Department of Brooklyn College and the Swiss organization Pro
Helvetia.
The coordinators are hoping the program will appeal to some
students though heavy attendance is doubtful.
"I don’t know if this program will automatically attract UCLA
students," Pendleton says. "Probably most of the interest will come
from the history department."
Due to this anticipated lack of student interest, Pendleton is
aiming much of his advertising, in papers such as the L.A. and O.C.
Weekly, at an outside audience not affiliated with UCLA.
"We rely heavily on off-campus interest, mainly because this is
such a commuter campus," Pendleton says.
Of special note during the program will be a discussion by Villi
Hermann, whose 1980 film "It’s Cold in Brandenburg (Kill Hitler)"
will be featured on Sunday at 2 p.m.
Hermann’s film focuses on a Swiss citizen who is persuaded by
his government’s propaganda to assassinate Hitler, only to discover
that his government is publicly condemning this action.
Hermann attempts to express the general malaise of Switzerland
in this medium. Though they felt hatred and resentment toward
Germany, they were helpless to stop the Nazis and forced into
submission.
In many ways the theme of forced submission to the Nazis ties
together the exhibit as a whole. This oppression of the Swiss makes
any complete understanding of their position in the war
impossible.
However, with the exhibition the Center for European and Russian
Studies hopes to at least shed some light on the ambiguous
situation of the people of Switzerland during the war.
FILM: The "Switzerland and World War II" film festival continues
through this weekend. For more information call 206-FILM.