Jewish Arrivals In Switzerland, 1938-1945

This database contains records for 21,730 Jews who arrived in Switzerland between 1938 and 1945.

Background

With Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, Anschluss, and the outbreak of World War II, European Jews sought to escape wherever they could, including Switzerland.  The Swiss Government did not welcome these arrivals, but felt pressure at least to admit some of the persons who sought entry.  When a person or family was admitted, extensive files were kept on their residence and activities inside the country.

This collection identifies 21,730 Jews who were admitted between 1938 and the end of WWII in 1945.  The Swiss Government claims that it has no files on the numbers and names of persons who were denied admittance.

Database

This database includes records for 21,730 Jews who arrived in Switzerland between 1938 and 1945.  The fields for this database are as follows:

• Name (Surname + Given name)
• Maiden name
• Gender ("M" or "F")
• Date of birth
• Arrival date
• Nationality I (See Note 1 Below)
• Nationality II (See Note 1 Below)
• Comments

Note 1: Nationalities.
The table below gives the Nationality translations from the original source document.

Acknowledgments

The information contained in this database was indexed from the files of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), RG-58.001M.

In addition, thanks to JewishGen Inc. for providing the website and database expertise to make this database accessible.  Special thanks to Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias for their continued contributions to Jewish genealogy.  Particular thanks to Nolan Altman, coordinator of Holocaust files.

Nolan Altman
Coordinator - Holocaust Database
May 2010

Searching the Database

This database is searchable via JewishGen's Holocaust Database.