Volksbund (Switzerland)

The Volksbund - from the National Socialist Swiss Workers' Party (NSSAP) - was a right-wing Swiss party that existed from 1933 to 1938 . She belonged to the front movement .

history

On October 5, 1933, parts of the local sections of Basel and Solothurn broke away from the National Front and founded the Volksbund. They were joined by groups from the cantons of Bern , Aargau and Lucerne . Major Ernst Leonhardt was appointed Gau leader of Basel and Solothurn . Other leaders were Colonel Emil Sonderegger and Hans Bosshard.

On March 11, 1934, the Volksbund split up. Sonderegger and Bosshard joined the Popular Front . In August 1934, members of the National Socialist Federal Combat League joined the Volksbund. In February 1935, all members of the National Socialist Federal Workers' Party (NSEAP) / Bund National Socialist Confederations (BNSE) joined the Volksbund. The Volksbund was renamed and then called the National Socialist Swiss Workers' Party (NSSAP).

From November 15, 1935, the authorities of the cantons of Basel, Zurich and St. Gallen banned the public sale of the party newspaper; the sheet was only sent by post. In October 1938 the Federal Council banned the NSSAP rallies. On November 10, 1938, the NSSAP party newspaper was banned. On December 10, 1938, Leonhardt dissolved the NSSAP. In March 1939 Leonhardt fled to the German Reich . In November 1939 there was a trial in federal court against former members of the NSSAP, which ended with prison terms of six months to one year.

Political orientation

The Volksbund represented a policy that was particularly friendly to Germany and was strongly anti-Semitic .

literature

• Beat Glaus: The National Front. A Swiss fascist movement 1930–1940 . Benziger, Zurich / Einsiedeln / Cologne 1969 (also dissertation at the University of Basel ).
• Walter Wolf: Fascism in Switzerland. The history of the front movements in German-speaking Switzerland 1930–1945 . Flamberg / Zurich 1969 (also dissertation at the University of Zurich ).