大象传媒

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I was 11 years old when the war broke out and I remember my father telling me, 鈥淵ou will be out of school before this war ends.鈥� He was right and although Switzerland was not involved in the war, it was nevertheless very much involved in the consequences of it.

I remember sitting in the cellar of our school during air raids, sipping a bottle of drinking chocolate through a straw and trying to concentrate on some kind of education. I was very much aware that the bombs might fall on our town as indeed they did in various places in Switzerland, mostly through pilot errors. I lived in Berne and fortunately we escaped this terror. But some other places were not so lucky, mainly those on the borders with Germany like Stein am Rhein, which was almost totally wiped out, but also bigger towns like Zurich.

At the time we were very frightened and there were strict rules as to what you could and could not do, i.e. we had to stay indoors during raids and seeking shelter in any house whilst on the way to and from school. Most of us had to walk 30-40 minutes four times a day since there were no school dinners and we had to go home over lunch between 12 noon and 2pm.

Cookery lessons included recipes based on wartime food restrictions, i.e. powdered milk and egg, margarine instead of butter and artificial sweeteners. Lunchtime was a silent meal as parents listened to the news on the radio, and coming home time was severely supervised to make sure we were home within the shortest possible time.

As the awful stories of bombings in England and slaughter in our neighbouring countries emerged, our school of each child 鈥榓dopting鈥� a child in a foreign country as a pen friend and letters and food parcels were sent to them, especially in France and Belgium. Many friendships thus forged, still survive today and as soon as possible visits were arranged.

The population of Switzerland increased by leaps and bounds as foreign nationals arrived, 鈥榙ropping from the skies鈥� via planes, fleeing across borders, climbing over the Alps (like the von Trapps!). All in spite of rigid controls, loosened in many cases, especially when children were involved. Swiss Red Cross boats (the Swiss Navy!) picked up survivors and wounded from the seas and ports, presumably launched from Basel down the Rhine.

As in England, young people went to help in the Land Army. I was sent to a farm with a large family of children. I helped with the chores in the house and looking after the children. Getting up time was around 6am for me, much of the early work like the milking having already been done. Breakfast was a big meal with the whole family and all workers sitting around a big table. It consisted of R么sti (not the kind bought today in the supermarket!) made from previously boiled potatoes, with bits of bacon and cheese mixed in and usually a fried egg on top for each person. Around 11 in the morning I took 鈥榚levenses鈥� to the farm hands working in the field, then lunch and around 4pm something for tea. Land Army work was fitted in a few weeks at a time with schooling and/or work, most of it in the summer when haymaking was due and in the autumn with fruit picking.

For many years after the war, mountain defences could still be seen in the form of barbed wire obstacles and chalets, cowsheds and log cabins disguised as arsenals of weapons. The Swiss may be a neutral nation, but they never forgot Hitler鈥檚 plan to carve a 鈥榮hort-cut鈥� through Switzerland to France, which was abandoned on account of causing to much trouble. Conscription is still in full force in Switzerland and every able-bodied man aged 18 and over has to put in regular stints of service throughout his life.

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Jacci Phillips of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Hereford and Worcester on behalf of Sibylle Muirden and has been added to the site with her permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

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