The complicity of the Swiss banks and government in funding the Nazi regime was known at the end

of World War II. However, the degree of deceit has only recently become clear. The Swiss provision of refuge to the Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany, who until 1938 were arriving "in extraordinary proportions,"7 was never extended to Romanies.8 Instead, and despite the general understanding to the contrary, the Swiss government was handing its Romani citizens over to the Nazis and certain death.9 It has also been revealed that during the Nazi period, a "high number" of forced sterilizations were carried out upon Romanies in Switzerland. When the news broke in 1977, "a health ministry spokesman declined to comment, saying the issue was a thing of the past. During the World War II era: Before they were captured by the Nazi regime, an unknown number of Jewish and other Holocaust victims had opened Swiss bank accounts and safety deposit boxes, in order to prevent at least some of their assets from following into Nazi hands. German Banker Emil Puhl coordinated a Nazi program during the 1930's and 1940's to launder "monetary gold" stolen from the central banks of Europe. It was often smelted in Germany together with "non-monetary gold" -- a term used to describe the tooth fillings and gold rings removed from the corpses of Holocaust victims. The Swiss banks accepted the gold and provided loans to Germany. This significantly extended the duration of World War II, and assured the survival of Switzerland as a neutral country. Paul Grueninger, police chief in St. Gallen Canton violated regulations and helped thousands of Austrian Jews to escape to Switzerland. He was dismissed from the police force and convicted of fraud. 55 years later, the Swiss government exonerated him, posthumously. 7 1946: During this year: After the war, the Swiss and American governments reached an accord in which Switzerland was to return US$ 58 million to Europe's central banks. This was about 25% of the country's estimated windfall. The Swiss government also promised to liquidate about US$ 500 million in German assets in their country, and contribute half to help resettle refugees. They never fulfilled this commitment. Holocaust survivors and families of holocaust victims attempted to reclaim their assets deposited in Swiss banks. Some later testified to a U.S. Senate committee investigation that some of the banks required that the families provide death certificates -- an impossible task for victims of the Nazi killing machine. Other banks allegedly made only a cursory search, if the relatives could not provide an exact account number. 4 An American intelligence report, dated 1946-JAN-12, and released by Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) and the World Jewish Congress in 1997, stated that 280 truckloads of German gold bars were sent from Switzerland to Spain and Portugal between 1943-MAY and 1944-FEB. Swiss officials said that the report was in error; only about 70 truckloads were sent. They commented that it was German gold and that Switzerland only acted as an intermediary. 1962: Swiss bankers said that they had released the last of their unclaimed wartime bank deposits. 1995: During this year: Swiss bankers announce that they found an additional 775 inactive wartime accounts containing

about US$ 32 million. 4 Federal President Kaspar Villiger admitted that "we bear a considerable burden of guilt for the treatment of Jews by our country". This was the first admission by a Swiss government leader of any Swiss culpability for the fate of European Jewry; it took them 50 years to finally admit wrongdoing. 7 1996: During this year: Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, the president of Switzerland, said that American efforts to create a "compensation fund" for Holocaust survivors was "nothing less than extortion and blackmail...This fund would make it much more difficult to establish the truth. Such a fund would be considered an admission of guilt." 5 Christopher Meili, a 28 year old security guard at the Union Bank of Switzerland halted the destruction of bank documents from the World War II era. He took some of the material that was about to be shredded and gave it to a Jewish agency; it allegedly contained information about specific bank clients. Reuters quoted a bank spokesperson as saying: "In principle the documents and the Holocaust debate have nothing to do with each other." 5 1997: The Volcker Commission, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, was set up by the Swiss banks, in cooperation with theWorld Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Restitution Organization. They started to examine Swiss accounts opened by foreigners between 1933 and 1945. Hundreds of additional accounts totaling about US$ 8 million were found. Bankers also revealed that there are up to 20,000 dormant accounts opened by Swiss citizens during the war, some of which may have been set up to hold assets of Holocaust victims. The U.S. government issued a report outlining the financial dealings between Swiss bankers and the Nazi regime. 2000: In mid year, the two largest banks in Switzerland, UBS and Credit Suisse, approved a "1.25 billiondollar global settlement aimed at ending the long-running dispute over Holocaust assets."