Switzerland builds first national WWII memorial
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In Bern, Switzerland, construction will begin on the country’s first national memorial honoring victims of World War II. The memorial, titled “Unfolded Minute,” will be a 55-meter-long, two-meter-high metal wall representing the Swiss border.
The wall will play a different one-minute melody at irregular intervals, each intended to commemorate an anonymous victim of Nazism, and a pavilion will display questions and biographies of lesser-known victims.
The Auslandschweizer-Organisation (ASO) and the Schweizerisch-Israelitischen Gemeindebund (SIG) initiated the project, securing 2.5 million Swiss francs from the Swiss Federal Council for its realization. Switzerland historically struggled to confront its past during WWII, maintaining a position of neutrality and initially focusing on internal battles and accidents in its commemorative efforts. Historian Jakob Tanner notes that the country lacked official memorials to the war, as such commemorations were typically initiated by clubs and civil society.
This reluctance stemmed from a long-held narrative of self-preservation and a delay in accessing historical records. Beyond the memorial in Bern, a museum dedicated to the same period will open in Diepoldsau, near the Austrian border. This location was chosen because it was a point of entry for Jewish refugees fleeing persecution during the war, though Switzerland turned away at least 24,000 applicants.
The museum will also honor Paul Grüninger, a police commander who defied orders to help refugees, but who faced repercussions for his actions. Records from the Bergier Commission, an independent group that investigated Swiss banking practices during the Holocaust, will become publicly available next year, providing further insight into this period.
