Switzerland-Russia society

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Switzerland-Russia Society
Общество Швейцария-Россия
logo
legal form society
founding 1925
Seat Andelfingen ZH , Switzerland
main emphasis Friendship between Switzerland and Russia
method Cultural exchange
Action space Switzerland, Russia and CIS countries
people Felix Werner (Riehen)
Members 250 (2019)
Website schweiz-russland.ch

The club company Switzerland-Russia ( Russian Общество Швейцария-Россия ) aims to promote and maintain the mutual contacts of friendly cooperation and cultural exchange between Switzerland , the Russian Federation and other Russian-speaking countries of the CIS countries .

aims

  • The GSR promotes encounters between citizens of Switzerland and the Russian Federation as well as the other CIS states for international understanding.
  • The GSR maintains and promotes the Russian language and culture in the Swiss diaspora, but also social integration.

activity

The Society Switzerland-Russia achieves these goals through its own events and information on events of friendly organizations as well as by informing the public about relevant activities.

organization

The association is politically and denominationally neutral and has around 400 members.

Board

  • Felix Werner, President
  • Tatjana Schmidlin, Vice President; Cultural officer
  • Martin Diggelmann, finance
  • Edwin Kaufmann, contacts

Honorary members

Honorary members include the art historian, essayist and socialist intellectual Konrad Farner , who had a lasting impact on society between Switzerland and the Soviet Union in the 1940s . On April 17, 2010, the internationally known Swiss painter and graphic artist Hans Erni was made an honorary member for his services to international understanding. In 1945 Erni designed a poster for the resumption of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, for which he was declared a traitor and ostracized for decades.

President

Period president job
1925-
1944-1946 Paul Vosseler, Basel geographer
1946- Hans Mühlestein , Celerina History and art historian, translator, poet and playwright.
1946- WA Liebeskind, Geneva professor
1950- Fritz Lieb , Basel Professor of theology, specialist in the Orthodox Church and Russian intellectual history and collector of avant-garde art.
1952- Paul Camenisch , Chur Architect, draftsman and painter. Co-founder of the expressionist artist groups Rot-Blau and Gruppe 33 .
-1968 Marc Oltramare , Geneva Doctor and founder of the Centrale Sanitaire Suisse (CSS)
1988-2010 Samuel Eichenberger, Reinach Post clerk
2010-2011 Marianna Polischuk, Hausen am Albis Language Teacher (Co-President)
2010–2012 Jürg Vollmer , Chur / Arosa Journalist, Editor-in-Chief (Co-President, on strike since August 2011)
2011–2012 Anna Bereiter-Bychkova, Rorschach Lawyer and Violinist (Co-President)
2012-2019 Manfred Spalinger, Andelfingen President; actuary
2019- Felix Werner, Riehen president

history

Name story

The association for the promotion of friendly cooperation between Switzerland and the Russian Federation has an eventful history, which is reflected in an eventful name.

Period Club name abbreviation
1925-1944 Society Switzerland – Soviet Union GSS
1944-1950 Society for the promotion and maintenance of normal relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union GSS
1950-1993 Society Switzerland – Soviet Union GSS
Since 1993 Society Switzerland – Russia GSR

1925: foundation

The association was founded in 1925 as the Switzerland – Soviet Union (GSS).

1944/1945: success and persecution

On February 6, 1944, the GSS was "re-established" by 18 people in Basel and renamed the Society for the Promotion and Maintenance of Normal Relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union for political reasons , but kept its short name Society Switzerland – Soviet Union . The draft statutes were written by the first central secretary of the GSS, Fritz Heeb , who later became internationally known as Alexander Solzhenitsyn's lawyer . In 1946 Heeb also wrote a position paper on "The Tasks of Society". The "new" society between Switzerland and the Soviet Union grew surprisingly quickly, although or precisely because the Cold War was just beginning at that time .

On April 8, 1945, 240 delegates from the Switzerland – Soviet Union Society , who already represented over 2,700 members, met for the first time in the Zurich Congress Center . GSS President Paul Vosseler then proudly wrote that the assembly of delegates “consisted of workers, business people, industrialists, small businesses, writers, engineers, employees, politicians, university professors, artists, technicians, lawyers, teachers, craftsmen and there was no lack of rural elements ".

Regional groups

After just a few months, the Switzerland – Soviet Union Society had a number of regional groups that successfully acquired members and held several monthly events in each region, each with 500 to 700 visitors:

  • Arbon, June 1945.
  • Basel, November 1944.
  • Bern, August 1944.
  • Locarno (Ticino)
  • Lucerne, September 1944.
  • Geneva (French-speaking Switzerland), November 1944, President: WA Liebeskind
  • Olten, July 1945.
  • Solothurn, June 1945.
  • St. Gallen, November 1944.
  • Winterthur
  • Zurich, November 1944, President: Fritz Heeb

Petition to resume diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union

The "new" GSS organized a petition in 1944 to have the Swiss government resume diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. However, the Federal Council and the Federal Prosecutor's Office "put every possible difficulty in our way," reported GSS board members. They had to fight for months for approval to publish their own magazine, for the number of pages and the sales opportunities for this magazine.

At the same time, the Swiss Armed Forces Press and Radiotelephony Department initially forbade the GSS to print an advertisement, after which Der Bund , Neue Zürcher Zeitung and all newspapers in French-speaking Switzerland refused to print the advertisement.

Despite these official obstacles to the GSS, around 120,000 signatures were collected in 20 days for the petition, which on March 18, 1946, moved the Swiss government to “maintain friendly relations with the government of the Soviet Union”. The negotiating partner on the Swiss side was the Extraordinary Envoy Eduard Zellweger , who in turn was a long-term member of the GSS, while on the Russian side, the Extraordinary Envoy Nikolai Alexandrovich Koschewnikow negotiated .

Scandal surrounding a poster by Hans Erni

The high point of the harassment by the Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Council was the ban on a poster for the petition to resume diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union. The internationally known Swiss painter Hans Erni designed the memorable poster with the new GSS logo in 1944 to support the signature collection:

In the upper half the GSS logo with Switzerland and the Soviet Union on a stylized map of Europe, with four circles of small Switzerland enclosing the Soviet Union like radio waves. In the lower half, a thick and a thin rope connect to form a photo-realistic boatman's knot . The art historian and essayist Konrad Farner wrote that on the poster “the proportions are clearly shown, and again, as the two ropes unite equally, the possibilities and necessities are made clear. In the knot, the two different qualities of both countries are combined in a new, uniform quality. "

This representation and the harmless poster text “We are striving for friendly and trusting relations between our country and the Soviet Union” were nevertheless too much for the Swiss Federal Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Council. On February 27, 1945, the Federal Council decided, based on Art. 102, Numbers 8 and 9 of the Federal Constitution, to ban the posting of the poster throughout Switzerland. The "propaganda for a belligerent power" contained therein was "inadmissible for reasons of neutrality".

Hans Erni was branded a traitor and observed by the authorities. A series of Swiss banknotes designed by him and already printed was withdrawn.

With these measures at the latest, however, the federal authorities had overstrained the general public: “What is there to complain about about this prohibited poster - besides the ban?” Asked the Basler National-Zeitung , for example, and spoke of a “petty, bordering on harassment Police measure that is not justified by anything ". The Berner Tagwacht described the decision as "completely absurd and untenable, devised by an impossible brain". Even high officials of the "Department for Foreign Affairs" (Foreign Ministry) criticized the decision from the Federal Palace.

On April 6, 1945, the Federal Council had to give in, albeit with one condition on the Switzerland – Soviet Union and the artist Hans Erni : “The Federal Council is of the opinion that the poster could be permitted if Switzerland and the Soviet Union were placed on it in full different colors. ”When this decision of the government was read out to the delegates' assembly on April 8, 1945 in the Kongresshaus Zurich, the minutes recorded“ resounding amusement ”. On March 18, 1946, the federal authorities also had to give in to the petition to re-establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union , which permanently caused a bad mood towards the GSS.

Help for the 10,000 Soviet internees in Switzerland

As during the Second World War, the GSS continued to provide material and personal assistance long after the end of the war in looking after the 10,000 Soviet internees in Switzerland. These came to Switzerland in the last months of the war as refugees from German prisoner-of-war and labor camps, mostly in very poor health and practically without clothes. The Swiss federal authorities distributed the Soviet refugees to internment camps throughout Switzerland, although the very cautious nature of official humanitarian aid led to criticism from the Soviet Union.

On May 8, 1945, the Society applied to the Federal Council to appoint a committee composed of equal shares to investigate the justification of the allegations about the treatment of Soviet internees in Switzerland. The GSS wanted to delegate three of its presidium members to this commission, namely the national councilors Francesco Borella , Carl Miville and Jaques Schmid . At the same time, the GSS collected funds and clothes, but also Russian-language books and records, for the Soviet internees. In the internment camps, the GSS showed old and new films from the Soviet Union, while it organized a Soviet film week in the studio cinema “North-South” in Zurich , the net proceeds of which were used to help the Soviet internees.

On June 16, 1945, Radio Moscow announced the Kremlin's decision to suspend the repatriation of the Swiss from the Soviet-occupied territories until Moscow had received precise information from Switzerland about the internment conditions and measures for the return of the Soviet internees to Switzerland. As early as June 20, 1945, Federal Councilor Max Petitpierre invited a Soviet military delegation to clarify the matter. Negotiations began on June 27th in Bern and ended with an agreement on September 10th. On October 6, 1945, Moscow lifted the ban on Swiss citizens from leaving the country, at which time the last Soviet refugees could also leave the internment camps in Switzerland and return to the Soviet Union.

1945–1989: During the Cold War

Before and during the Cold War from 1945 to 1989, the GSS promoted cultural exchange, understanding between peoples and human relations between the two states under not always easy circumstances.

Against one of the courageous founding members of the "new" GSS, the Lucerne painter Max von Moos , a lawsuit was even initiated in 1947 for allegedly misusing the teaching post at the Lucerne School of Applied Arts for propaganda purposes.

1990 to 2010: Quiet phase

It was not until 14 months after the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 21, 1991 that the Switzerland – Soviet Union was dissolved in February 1993 and the Switzerland – Russia (GSR) company was founded. After the bitter experiences of the first few decades, it deliberately stays out of politics and emphasizes humanitarian aid and cultural exchange between Switzerland, the Russian Federation and, now, the entire Russian-speaking area.

From 2010: big ambitions, sobering reality, new start

On April 17, 2010, the board was practically completely renewed and a Swiss-Russian co-presidium was introduced. Co-President Jürg Vollmer wanted to position the GSR as the umbrella organization for all Swiss-Russian groups.

After he retired from the board of directors for personal reasons in August 2011, the club's intentions had to be reduced to what was feasible. In the course of 2011, the board of directors handled the projects that were listed or still ongoing. This included the dissolution of the magazine “Echo / 3xo”, which Jürg Vollmer had brought into being in cooperation with the Swiss-CIS Youth Exchange Foundation.

As a result, the association's board dealt with the question of whether and how the association should be continued. For the upcoming general assembly in 2012 the board advocated the dissolution of the association for several reasons. But this did not happen; the club members present expressed their commitment to the continued existence. The partially confirmed, partially newly elected board of directors has since tried to offer members of the association with limited resources an attractive offer. A representative survey of members (participation over 12%) showed in 2012 that the members of the association are primarily interested in an authentic encounter with Russian-speaking people, their everyday culture (including cooking, television, trivial literature), but also for life in the Russian provinces outside of the interest in tourist centers. This is why the association has been offering thematic small group adventure trips to remote regions of Russia since 2013.

The political events from 2011 to 2013 were not without consequences for the club's management. The association is committed to the formation of a democratic civil society in the Russian Federation, but is making some effort to perceive positive developments here. He also has no contacts with the state of Russia. Nevertheless, the Switzerland-Russia Society tries to find a partnership path between Russians and Swiss in Switzerland on the one hand, and Swiss and Russians in Russia on the other.

Swiss Center in St. Petersburg

From 1993 the GSR got involved in St. Petersburg. From the initially purely humanitarian aid, a Swiss Center is being created in St. Petersburg, which will become the official representation of the association in the Russian Federation.

In 1995 the GSR and its Swiss Center in St. Petersburg organize the first cultural and language trips to Russia. From 1998 to June 2006 the head of the Swiss Center , Madeleine Lüthi , was Honorary Consul General of Switzerland in St. Petersburg.

Magazine and book publisher

The Switzerland-Soviet Union society ran its own publishing house from 1945, but the Swiss -Soviet Union magazine was put under massive pressure by the Swiss authorities.

The first issue of the magazine appeared in January 1945 with 16 pages of text - a larger volume was expressly forbidden by the Federal Council , which had previously also published the cumbersome magazine title “Messages for the members of the society for the promotion and maintenance of normal relations between Switzerland and the Soviet Union “As well as the maximum circulation of 2000 copies. The GSS was not even allowed to supply all of its 2,700 members with the magazine. Immediately after the publication of the first edition with the title “Switzerland-Soviet Union” and 16 pages plus cover, the Federal Prosecutor intervened, which began a long battle between the publisher and the federal authorities. So only the following years of the magazine "Switzerland-Soviet Union" appeared :

  • 1944, pilot number
  • 1945, issue 1 to 10
  • 1946, issue 11 (July)
  • 1949, issue 12 (May)
  • 1952, issue 13 (September / October)
  • 1983, issues 1 to 3 (February to December)
  • 1987, issues 1 and 2 (August and November)
  • 1988, issue 3 (February)

The publisher also published books and brochures:

Known members

International friendship societies

The association is one of 62 national friendship societies, including:

  • Austro-Russian Friendship Society (ORFG)
  • Union Nationale des Associations d'Amitié avec la Russie, la CEI et les États Baltes
  • Associazione Italia-Russia

literature

  • Konrad Farner : Moscow in the middle of the century. Diary of a Swiss . Publishing house of the Society Switzerland-Soviet Union, Zurich 1952, OCLC 559582201 .

Web links

Commons : Society Switzerland-Russia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Library Lieb ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ub.unibas.ch
  2. ↑ Basel-Stadt State Archives, Paul Camenisch's estate
  3. ^ Pierre Jeanneret: Marc Oltramare. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . June 18, 2015 , accessed June 8, 2019 .
  4. ^ GSR: "New co-president of the GSR: The lawyer and violinist Anna Bereiter" . Society Switzerland-Russia GSR. April 10, 2011. Accessed on April 12, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / schweiz-russland.ch  
  5. ↑ Website ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , the Switzerland-Russia GSR company @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.schweiz-russland.ch
  6. ↑ Swiss Social Archives  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Fritz Heb, Political Activities Ar 132.40.1@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sozialarchiv.ch  
  7. ↑ a b “Schweiz-Russland” magazine, issue 4, May 1945, the first Swiss delegates' congress of the GSS
  8. ↑ “Switzerland-Soviet Union 1946–1986”, brochure of the Switzerland-Russia Society
  9. ↑ Swissinfo , "Hans Erni 100 Years"
  10. ↑ National-Zeitung, Basel, No. 106 of March 5, 1945.
  11. ^ Max von Moos Foundation , website
  12. ↑ Website ( Memento of the original dated February 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Swiss Center in St. Petersburg @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.swisscenter.ru
  13. ↑ Felix Wiedler book (design) story # 7