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A Masterable Past? Swiss Historical Memory Of World War Ii, Sara Ormes

Senior Honors Theses

After World War II, every country that had been touched by or involved in the war had to come to terms with its past. In the case of Switzerland, the Swiss government, the army and some of the country’s leadership established a strong official historical memory of the war, portraying Switzerland as a neutral, benevolent and well-fortified country that remained innocent and untouched by the war.

From the 1960s onwards, Swiss artists and intellectuals challenged these myths by presenting alternative views of the Swiss past in their work. Beginning in the 1970s, Swiss historians published an increasing amount of scholarly …