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