For a foreign Jew living in Switzerland in the spring of 1941, the arrival of a small, unassuming piece of green paper in the mail was not a routine administrative notice. It was a sentence. Known as the grüne Zettel, or “green slip,” these summonses served as the bureaucratic trigger for a systematic campaign of arrest and internment that stripped thousands of refugees of their remaining shreds of security.
The “Raid of the Green Slips” represents a chilling intersection of police efficiency and state-sponsored exclusion. While Switzerland is often remembered as a neutral sanctuary during World War II, the events of May 1941 reveal a darker machinery of control. By utilizing a simple registration process as a trap, the Swiss authorities effectively rounded up foreign Jews, transitioning them from the precarious status of refugees to the controlled environment of internment camps.
This was not a chaotic surge of violence, but a calibrated legal operation. The Swiss Federal Police used these slips to identify, locate, and concentrate a population they viewed as both a security risk and a social burden. For the victims, the green slip was the moment the facade of Swiss hospitality vanished, replaced by the cold reality of state detention.
The Bureaucracy of Internment
The legal architecture for these arrests was established through a federal decree that authorized the detention of “enemy aliens” and foreign nationals deemed undesirable or a threat to national security. By May 1941, this mandate was weaponized specifically against foreign Jews who had fled Nazi-occupied Europe.
The process followed a precise, deceptive sequence. Refugees were sent green slips instructing them to report to local police stations for registration or “identity verification.” Trusting in the rule of law—a cornerstone of the Swiss identity they had sought for protection—many complied. Upon arrival at the police station, however, they were not merely registered. they were arrested.
This method allowed the state to conduct a mass “razzia” (raid) without the optics of street-level violence or forced home entries. The refugees essentially walked themselves into captivity, simplifying the logistics for the Swiss police and ensuring a high capture rate among the targeted population.
The Path from Summons to Camp
Once detained, the individuals were processed through a system designed to isolate them from the general population. The transition from a residential address to an internment camp happened with startling speed. The following table outlines the typical trajectory of a victim of the green slip campaign:
| Stage | Action | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Notification | Receipt of the grüne Zettel via mail. | Summons to report to local police. |
| Registration | Appearance at the police station. | Immediate arrest and identity seizure. |
| Transit | Transfer to temporary holding centers. | Loss of personal belongings, and freedom. |
| Internment | Placement in camps (e.g., Wauwilermoos). | Forced labor and restricted movement. |
The Human Cost and the “Boat is Full” Mentality
The internment of foreign Jews was not an isolated police action but a reflection of a broader Swiss policy of deterrence. During this period, the Swiss government frequently employed the rhetoric that “the boat is full” (Das Boot ist voll), arguing that the country lacked the resources to support more refugees. Internment served as a tool to make the stay of foreign Jews as unpleasant and unstable as possible, discouraging others from attempting to cross the border.
The conditions in the resulting camps varied, but some became notorious for their brutality. The Wauwilermoos camp, in particular, is remembered for its harsh treatment of prisoners, poor sanitation, and the cruelty of its commandants. For those caught in the green slip raids, the camp was not just a place of detention, but a psychological extension of the persecution they had fled in Germany, Austria, or Poland.
The stakeholders in this operation were not limited to the police. The Swiss Federal Council provided the political cover, and local administrations facilitated the logistics. By framing the arrests as a matter of “national security” and “administrative order,” the state sanitized the act of imprisoning desperate people who had nowhere else to go.
Why the Memory of the Green Slips Persists
Organizations such as tachles.ch work to preserve the memory of the grüne Zettel because it challenges the sanitized narrative of Swiss neutrality. The “Raid of the Green Slips” demonstrates that persecution does not always require uniforms and gunfire; it can be carried out through postal services, registration forms, and legal decrees.
The impact of these raids extended beyond the duration of the war. For survivors, the betrayal by a state they viewed as a savior left deep scars. It highlighted the fragility of refugee status and the ease with which a bureaucracy can pivot from providing asylum to enacting incarceration.
Today, the study of these events serves as a critical reminder of the dangers of “administrative persecution.” When the state uses registration as a means of surveillance and subsequent targeting, the law ceases to be a shield and becomes a weapon.
Note: This article discusses historical events involving state-sponsored detention and persecution. For those affected by historical trauma or seeking support, resources are available through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and various Holocaust remembrance organizations.
The legacy of the green slips continues to be examined through the archives of the Swiss Federal Archives and the testimonies preserved by Jewish community organizations. The next phase of this historical reckoning involves the ongoing digitization of police records from the 1940s, which researchers hope will provide a more complete list of those summoned and interned during the May 1941 operations.
We invite readers to share their thoughts or family histories related to this period in the comments below.
