Switzerland and the Looted Art Trade Linked to WWII

With Hitler's accession to power, numerous German artists and collectioners of art found a refuge in Switzerland. The small State was at an advantage given its neutrality and the excellent international connections which it enjoyed. Encircled by the 3rd Reich, by Fascist Italy and by France, it thus played a central role in the movement of and transactions in objects of art. Its activities were manifested in two fundamentally different ways: on the one hand, Switzerland became a secure deposit spot, either temporary or permanent, for endangered works of art; and on the other hand, a country where the sale of works of art of a value more or less considerable, could be negotiated.