Spyke

Syndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.

View original on lemmy.world

21 replies

Yeah, the Swiss were "neutral" in the sense they didn't outright declare their support for Germany.

The American Air force had a whoopsie and bombed a bunch of Swiss factories making weapons for Germany, which probably didn't endear them to the Swiss.

75

Switzerland's reputation as a neutral safe-haven during World War 11

I knew my education was mediocre at best, but damn I missed 9 world wars?!

16

Starting in 1943 Switzerland attempted to shoot down American and British aircraft, mainly bombers, overflying Switzerland. Six aircraft were downed by Swiss Air Force fighters and nine by anti-aircraft cannons; 36 airmen were killed.

26
sh.itjust.works

Starting in 1943 Switzerland attempted to shoot down American and British aircraft, mainly bombers, overflying Switzerland. Six aircraft were downed by Swiss Air Force fighters and nine by anti-aircraft cannons; 36 airmen were killed.

Wait wtf why have I never heard this? Why do they get to claim they were neutral when they literally joined the fighting on the side of the Germans???

Yeah this was kind of a dumb take made with no research at all

26

Additionally, they were still a sovereign country and thus, allowed to defend their airspace.

17

I've hated the 'Geneva is the future capital' trope in science fiction for a long time, even before learning the whole truth.

Fuck fake neutrality.

34
kata1ystreply
sh.itjust.works

They also were a significant weapons manufacturer and supplier of the Germans. They were not really neutral in reality.

58

The Swiss have been war profiteers for most of their history. Yes, they are "neutral", but that doesn't mean they are good.

20

Well, if I look at a map from 1940 to 1944 I can kind of see why.

10

Interesting how this sort of fuckery makes me literally prefer modern Germany over Switzerland.

I guess we're all in fucked up countries to some degree. Maybe we should all band together and get rid of them?

7

A saying from this time: The Swiss work six days a week for Hitler and pray on Sunday for the victory of the Allies.

22
Phoenixzreply
lemmy.ca

Really? You're not doing stuff from a country anymore because 80 years ago it did something remotely evil?

Makes me wonder what you are doing with the USA

6

It was more tongue in cheek. I don't even know if Swiss Miss is a product from Switzerland.

As far as my home area, I do try to avoid U.S. mass products. I visit my local breweries & distilleries. And we have a great farmers market we visit on Fridays.

5

You reached the end

Don't worry, the Swiss labor camp was run by [checks notes] a literal Nazi | Spyke