INDEPENDENT COMMISSION OF EXPERTS
SWITZERLAND - WORLD WAR II
Bern, 30 January 1997
Press
Release
Nomination
of the Commission Secretary
The Chairman of the Independent Commission
of Experts appointed by the Federal Council on December 19, 1996, to research
the history of Switzerland during World War II, Prof. Jean-François
Bergier, has nominated Dr. Linus von Castelmur as Secretary of the Commission.
This nomination must be confirmed by the Commission during its first meeting
at the beginning of March 1997.
The Secretariat of the Independent Commission
of Experts is a permanent staff and coordinating organ that supports the
Commission in carrying out historical and legal research. It attends to
secretarial work, organizes Commission meetings, and carries out Commission
decisions. Moreover, it leads and monitors the scientific research of
historians under the authority of the Commission. The Secretariat is also
contact office for the responsible agencies of the federal administration
as well as with archives and research centers in Switzerland and abroad.
The Secretary and Head of the Secretariat is directly responsible to the
Chairman of the Independent Commission of Experts.
Dr. von Castelmur, a graduate historian,
is author of a study on financial relations between Switzerland, the Western
allies, and Germany during the 1945-1952 period. Beside his scientific
research work, he was active in education and worked from 1990 to 1997
in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA), finally as Deputy
Head of its OSCE Section. He was temporarily engaged with the Task Force
from October 1996 to January 1997. Dr. von Castelmur will be released
from his EDA duties so that he can assume his new task as Secretary and
Head of the Independent Commission of Experts Secretariat.
Jean-François Bergier
Chairman
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