The country of proverbial cleanliness never seems to get to the end of washing out the stains of its past. Only several years ago, a majority of Swiss thought that their country had escaped from the Second World War by virtue of the determination of its soldiers, that it had as much as possible given refuge to those being tracked down, that it had in no way profited from the situation... Then the scandal of the affair of the Jewish money in Swiss banks came along.

One might as well put it bluntly, if only to put into perspective the annoyance that the attacks from foeigners have caused: light should be shed on the whole matter, the last penny illicitly acquired should be given back. The reply -- in reality a veiled threat accorrding to which Jewish complaints will only fuel anti-Semitism -- is cowardly, for it leads to an inversion of justice: injustice becomes justice, and the innocent become responsible for their own persecution.

Let Switzerland shed full light on its past, yes. Let it makes amends for its errors, yes. Let the world make of Switzerland an expiatory victim, a scape goat for all the crimes committed against the Jews, no! For one cannot but notice that the demands of ligitimate victims have given rise to other agendas: electoral barnstorming for tipsy senators or measures that have more to do with the current trade war than with the last world war. Moreover, these attacks emanate from a country which would do well to take a close look at its own past. In point of fact, more than any other country, the United States -- for it is of the United States that we are speaking -- remained blind to the masacre of the Jews of Europe. More than any other country, it had the means to react.

As shown in the articles published on pages 8 and 9, the borders of the United States remained desperately closed for the persecuted. Only those persons considered "economically worthwhile" were admitted. Among top government officials, efforts were made to silence the sources of information about the massacres of Jews, in order to avoid pressure on public opinion. All the rescue plans were sabotaged, in order not allow "the burden Hitler had taken on" to be eased. Every military engagement which might have checked the systemic extermination was neatly avoided. And last but not least, when the war was over, the victims were left to languish in the camps, often bound to forced labor for the reconstruction of Germany.

When the United States finally decided to act, it did so to put pressure on the United Nations and on the British to create a Jewish state, thus provoking the catastrophe of another people, with its long flow of exiles, of discriminations and of massacres.

Guilty by its inaction as much as by its action, the United States would do well to be inspired by this affair to shed light on its own past and make amends for its own errors.