Military personnel

Under the terms of the Hague Convention, soldiers of either of the warring sides who - for whatever reason - took refuge in Switzerland, were interned and their movements strictly controlled to prevent them escaping. They were generally set to work either on farms, where they replaced the Swiss men who had been mobilised, or on building projects.

In all, Switzerland accepted more than 100,000 military personnel during the war period. The first major group were French and Polish troops who fled across the border when France fell in June 1940; others were escaped POWs, deserters, or hospitalised army personnel.

Civilian refugees

Switzerland took in a total of 55,000 civilians plus 67,000 frontier refugees. These included about 21,000 Jews. In addition, about 60,000 children spent some time in Switzerland for recuperation.

In August 1942, the Swiss government announced that it was closing the borders. This was at a time when Germany had just started deportations from France. The decision provoked a wave of protest and was modified.