– “We want to hear that our prosperity was built on blood”
Several museums are putting Switzerland in the dock for its colonial involvement. Economic historian Tobias Straumann is critical.
Published today at 12:36 p.m.
“Over the centuries, hundreds of thousands of Europeans were also enslaved by Muslim countries. Do their descendants also receive compensation?” asks Tobias Straumann.
Muslims. Do their descendants also receive compensation? asks Tobias Straumann.
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For a long time, it was thought that Switzerland had no colonies and therefore no colonial debt. However, Black Lives Matter and the conjuncture of postcolonialist thinking in our universities have shaken this image. Switzerland is now regularly presented as a racist country that did unscrupulous business with slave traders and colonial masters – and still incurred a historical debt. This vision has already made its way into school textbooks and museums. What is the truth? Tobias Straumann, professor of economic history at the University of Zurich, takes stock of the issue.