January 2014

The Epiphany is a religious holiday which traditionally falls between 6th and 9th January in Switzerland. It is a Christian Feast that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a Human Being (Jesus Christ). In the Germanic part of Switzerland, it is most often called “Drei Königs Tag” (Three Kings day) as it was to three kings (Magi) to whom Christ was first revealed. The observation had its origins in the Eastern Christian Churches and was a general observation of the manifestation of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It included the commemoration of his birth, the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem and all of Jesus’ childhood events including his baptism.

Alice, Danielle and Maud were not aware that today was the Epiphany. It was a normal Sunday morning. The three ladies first met one another through their membership of the Vevey Dog Club and became close friends. Alice had only one dog, Sunny, a “Berger des Pyrenées”. He was over 16 years old and was going deaf. Maud had a 14 year old Border Collie, Scotty, who was of very calm disposition and an Australian Sheppard, Miro, who was a great friend of TS’s and the youngest of the lot. Danielle also had two dogs, an odd pair; Bruno, a Bruno du Jura and TS, a Briard, the leader of the pack. Bruno loved running with Miro in the open fields.

They planned to meet by the “big tree” in la “Pleine de Rhône” which was convenient and usually had space where they could park to unload the dogs. Most walks they undertook were of a duration of about an hour through open fields and along foot paths overlooking the river. “La Rhône” river started up above Brig in the Valais, and after passing through the Lake of Geneva, took a sharp turn southwards through France to exit at Marseille into the Mediterranean Sea.

They took their time, the sun was out and they wanted to take advantage of the lovely warm weather. Therefore, when they saw Brönimann’s Garden Center coming up on the right side of the road, they decided to make a stop to get some “poinsettias” in various colors. Maud always had red ones, Alice liked the white ones and Danielle insisted upon the pink ones as they matched her living-room furniture. However, after approximately 10 minutes underway, a deer suddenly crossed their path and disappeared into the forest. The whole pack of dogs, except Sunny who couldn’t run anymore, were off on the chase. Some frantic whistling and calling on the part of the ladies brought TS and Scotty back. These two were the best trained. They were shortly followed by Miro and even Bruno, the Hunter.

Getting closer to home, they stopped at a café to take a break and were shown to a table with a view of the lake. The café was known for its baked goods and pastries as well. All were made in house and served with “Café Renversé” (Café au Lait). The waitress pointed out that today, being the Epiphany, there would be no charge to the food, only the coffee. It was common in Switzerland, that for the Epiphany, such cafés would place at random a small plastic crown into the bread items, representing the Magi and permitting the lucky finder to rule as king or queen of the day. This ritual was very popular, but not known to the general public and could become dangerous. Before anyone could say anything, Maud was slouched over the table and was choking. The owner came running over and applied the Heimlich Method, expediting the foreign body. As soon as Maud was able to leave, the ladies left.

January 2013

The newspaper to which he had a subscription, “Le Temp”, was delivered late once again this morning. He very much enjoyed reading it along with his breakfast, which usually consists of a small glass of juice to wash down his medication, a croissant and a cup of Irish Cream breakfast tea. In recent months, newspapers published in Switzerland have lost approximately 20% of their readership. In turn, print advertising has decreased and thus the serious press continues to find itself in a precarious situation. Most experts blame internet. Nonetheless the scandal sheets were still holding their own. No matter which newspaper you read, they are all full of gloom and doom, mostly related to the financial crisis. Nonetheless Switzerland was still one of the most stable countries in Europe: average income was increasing at about 2% per annum and the unemployment rate at 4% was the lowest in the industrial nations. Inflation was practically non-existent this time around.

Jean-Jacques is convinced that if Switzerland was forced to become a full-fledged member of the European Union, it would place its political system of direct democracy in jeopardy. Switzerland is a very small country that looks after its citizens better than most. Hence, where financial matters are concerned, there is a certain amount of jealousy on the part of the European Union in general and of the United States in particular. Jean-Jacques agrees that the major Swiss Banks have become very greedy indeed. On the other hand, Switzerland’s immediate neighbors (France, Germany, Italy and Austria) and friends (UK and US) manifest critical judgment of Switzerland at every opportunity they get. Most of the time it is just a case of “one-upmanship” on the part of some nasty official either at home or abroad, doing their best to point fingers and find blame. Solutions are rarely suggested.

Today, a Friday, meant that the newspaper would list job offers. He very much enjoyed perusing that section as he had recently taken early retirement and was not required to work at a steady job anymore. This was just the way he liked it. Occasionally he would be contacted by one of the regional tourist offices in Switzerland to mystery shop (see last month’s blog). Otherwise, he would teach a term at one of the Swiss hotel management colleges or business schools as a guest lecturer. This he enjoyed very much, especially the contact with students from all over the world was very enlightening. In the fifteen years since his return to Switzerland, he must have taught at five of them, at least. The subjects he has been responsible for preparing and teaching encompass a large array of topics. At the last count they total over forty different courses, e.g. at present he is teaching two days per week; Marketing, Political Science, Business Ethics and Human Resource Management at a small Business School on the shores of the Lake of Geneva (Lac Léman). Most of these private schools (numbering about 20, at the moment) did not have accreditation from the local, cantonal nor federal educational boards and were most importantly business enterprises seeking a profit. Basically there are only four (4) recognized hotel management colleges in Switzerland and they are at: Lausanne, Zürich, Genève and Luzern. Jean-Jacques was a graduate of the “Belvoir Park” in Zürich.

He was very surprised to see an announcement in today’s “Le Temps” from one of the four accredited hotel management schools, calling for applicants to fill a position as “teaching advisor” for the faculty! In reading further details, it seems they were seeking a”jack-of-all trades” but a “master of none”! The list of requirements required by potential applicants was mind-boggling. Just out of curiosity’s sake, he rang the school’s Human Resource Manager to enquire about the salary that was being considered. It was meager to say the least!

December 2012

After checking-in, the first thing he always did upon reaching the room, was to look under the bed. Often there were a lot of hidden treasures or sometimes surprises to be found there. There was some daylight coming in to his guestroom from a small window but not enough to make out if something was on the floor besides lots of dust balls. He pulled the bedside table lamp down to the floor and could just make out two small gift wrapped boxes. The problem was to reach them. He got up on his feet, went to the closet and took out a removable hanger. That did the trick. Both boxes had a Gucci label on them and were covered with dust. Obviously the chamber maid did not vacuum frequently under the beds. One box contained a Gucci silk tie and the other a Gucci leather wallet. He tossed both boxes into his bag to take home with him.

 Jean-Jacques was in his mystery shopper’s mode on this trip and would remain so for the next three weeks; inspecting, incognito, nine first-class hotels in total, three per week. This time he was under contract to the Tourist Office of Zürich and would report his findings to them directly. This week he would stay one night at the Central Plaza, the St. Gotthard and the ‘Schweizerhof’. Next week it would be the Savoy Baur en Ville, the Dolder Grand and the Baur au Lac. The third week, he would visit the Storchen, the Eden au Lac and the Bellerive. These nine hotels were considered as some of the best in Switzerland and were highly competitive in the City of Zürich. All of the nine hotels were targeting the same specific markets; the business executive, the high-end tourist and corporate groups. The local tourist office would be contacted by the traveler to obtain information before booking his/her room. Rates started at Fr.300.- and went as high as Fr.600.- for a single room per night. Hence it was very important that the hotel lived up to its promises and met the consumers’ needs by exceeding the expected standards of service. This depended on how much the owners were prepared to re-invest in the upkeep of the hotel and not let it run down.

It was not bad work if you could get it. Jean-Jacques had the advantage of being a retired international hotel manager who knew the ropes. He and his wife, Heidi just moved back to Switzerland from the States and had bought a flat in Murten/Morat on the lake of the same name. They were having difficulties living on such limited pensions in very expensive Switzerland. The extra money came in very handy when he and his wife went to visit their grandchildren living in Galway, Ireland and Copenhagen, Denmark.

In the case of the hotel he was presently inspecting, it evidently had a problem with housekeeping and maintenance. The guest room he was assigned was too small, poorly furnished and had no view except of the exterior wall of the wing across the way. He went down to dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and had lobster as his main course, which was excellent. The service was impeccable and the staff was both friendly and welcoming. On the way back to his room he took the opportunity to have a good look at the hotel’s public space along with the hotel’s function rooms of which none were in use. The corridor of the floor on which his room was located was very dark. Before getting into bed he would spend an hour or so writing up his report. He would just have to add his comments tomorrow about breakfast, which he would order from room service. Anyhow he would not be able to award more than 7 points out of 10 to this hotel. The guest was not getting his money’s worth. As to the two Gucci boxes, he decided to leave them on the desk in the room when he checked-out with a note as to where he had found them. It was the honest thing to do!

August 2012

Reto thanked the Abbot for his unusual gift. Reto had been expecting a gift when he heard last week that Abbot Camenzind wanted to see him in his office today. He did get top honours in his graduating class at the Benedictine Cloister School (Gymnasium) in Disentis and was applying for a position as a Swiss Guard with the Vatican in Rome. Graduation was tomorrow in the Abbey’s Church and he still had to prepare his speech in Rumantsch, his native tongue and translate it into German and Italian, the other two Swiss languages spoken in the Canton of the Grisons in Southeastern Switzerland.

Reto, a Swiss Roman Catholic, would first have to complete basic military training over the next six months with the Swiss Army before being posted to the Vatican. He had arranged to join a unit in the Canton of Fribourg so he could improve his French at the same time. The Swiss Guards are in reality mercenaries paid to defend the Pope and the Vatican. Recruits to the Guards must be Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have obtained certificates of good conduct. They must have a professional degree or at least a diploma from a highly respected secondary institution such as the Cloister School in Disentis. They must be between the age of 19 and 30 years and be at least 174 cm (5 ft, 8.5 in) tall. Guards are sworn in on 6th May every year and must commit themselves for a minimum of 2 years of service. Besides the Swiss Guard, there is a domestic (Italian) police force, the Vigelanza, and at the other end of the security spectrum, hovers a shadowy secret service equivalent to the CIA or the KGB.

Flash forward; it is now 3 months since Redo has been sworn in during which time he was in training conducted by the Guard’s Commander. He had to wear his decorative gala uniform with breastplate and helmet. A sword hung on his left side and he carried a halberd blade attached to a four-sided wood pole on his right side. No wonder that at the best of times young guardsmen easily became homesick. This was due to the unbearable heat, dirt and stink of Rome during the long summer months. They very much missed the fresh air, mountain streams and forests at home. Nonetheless, even a short undistinguished spell of service in the Swiss Guard has traditionally opened doors for a subsequent career back home. Most young Swiss men wanted an exciting tour of duty during their stay in Rome and resented being tied down to their Vatican quarters with a lot of restrictions. Social activities came down to a bottle of cheep “Vino” and a few rounds of the Swiss card game, “Jass”. As a new boy, Reto usually had too much of the former and lost too much of his measly wages on the later. Well, Reto had enough of this; he wanted to go home and he was going to do something about it!

He rushed out of the common room back to his sleeping cubicle and wildly began pulling out all his belonging from the rusted old clothes locker which stood next to his camp bed. He found what he was seeking back in a corner below the “family” bible which his mother insisted he take along to the Vatican. It was the unusual graduation gift from his school back home which he had not even taken out of the box yet. On the outside of the box, above an accurate picture in colour of the contents was written: Cobra Double Barrel 38 Special Derringer Pistol with Mother-of-Pearl Handle. He quickly breezed through the instructions, unwrapped the box of bullets which were included, took out two, inserted one in each barrel, pulled down his jeans and shot himself, once in each thigh just above his boxer shorts line! He would be back home in Disentis in 10 days!

June 2012

Maya was bored! It was mid-summer and she was tiered already of hanging out with her group of friends, sleeping till 12 noon every day and partying till God only knows what hour every evening. They all had off until September when most would pick up their studies once again at one of Switzerland’s eight Universities. Maya would be returning to her second year at the Université de Neuchâtel where she was majoring in Ethnology and Biology. No one had summer employment since most part-time jobs were available only to graduate degree holders. She and her friends were not there yet, so why make the effort. In the past she did summer work at a stable; mucking out the horses’ stalls, as a gardener; planting Irises along the town’s lakeside promenade, as a ‘bargirl’; washing glasses at a bar in a mountain resort till 3 am, as a monitor of handicapped children when taking local excursions, etc. etc. etc. The pay was minimum wages, if any.

She suggested to her friends to undertake something constructive that would take them out into nature and permit them to see other parts of the country they were not familiar with. Most of all it should not cost them that much as they were living on very tight budgets. Limited amounts of cash were doled out by their parents each month.

The Via Alpina is a challenging European hiking trail which crosses eight alpine countries from Trieste, Italy to Monte Carlo, Monaco. In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, there are 370 km with 19 stops from Vaduz to Montreux. She suggested to her friends that three or four of them take the train to Liechtenstein and spend a month returning to Montreux following the Via Alpina. They would attempt each evening to find a refuge where they could sleep dormitory style and cook a cervelat over an open fire for supper. She knew that this would not always be possible and sometimes they would have to find a farmer who was willing to put them up in the barn of their farm. Her friends didn’t buy it. Ultimately they preferred to stay home and party then making a physical effort for such a long period of time. Would she take the challenge and go it alone?

Set against a backdrop of the majestic Wetterhorn and the spectacular north face of the Eiger, Grindelwald was both a winter and summer resort. The town was very popular with international tourists all year around. For many the highlight of every Swiss tour was the trip to the Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station in Europe. For Maya, Grindelwald and the Bernese Oberland was a shock! After travelling for over two weeks now by foot through the remotes reaches of Western and Central Switzerland it was as though she was returning to ‘reality’ after a very long absence.

She stopped at a shop and bought herself a sandwich and took it to a bench to devourer. She was not use to eating premade food anymore and found her ham and cheese role very odd to eat. In fact she was having difficulties deciding what she should do next. In a way she felt that her adventure had come to an end. She was very grateful to have made it this far. She had gained a lot of confidence in her own ability to face diverse practical situations. Hiking over unknown terrain for six or seven hours each day calls for stamina and permits one to get into good physical condition quickly.

She decided that she would make her way down to Interlaken this afternoon, stay the night in a hotel and train home to Montreux the next day. The remaining section of the Via Alpina in Switzerland went through territory that she knew well from growing up in the area. Nonetheless, she would never forget the summer of 2011.

March 2012

The train from Bellinzona, the capital of the Italian speaking Canton of the Ticino, departed on time. This was not usually the case. Most trains traveling North on the Gottardo line, originated in the busy financial centre of Milano, Italy and thus were always late.

The three members of the family Semmaruga took seats in an unoccupied compartment in a second class carriage. They would be traveling to Zürich to see a definitive exhibition of the works of Alberto Giacometti at Zürich's famous 'Kunst Haus' (Art Museum). They would be returning home the same evening as the express train only took two hours and fifteen minutes one way. Franca was like a live wire anticipating this excursion that her parents, Giacomo and Paula had promised her for her fourteenth Birthday. Today was the 'big' day! When she woke up this morning she found a bouquet of yellow roses on her night table. The Birthday card attached, contained a 100 franc note to cover the costs in Zürich and was most appropriate as it pictured Giacometti on the front side and some of his sculptures on the reverse side.

The Giacometti Collection in Zürich was the most comprehensive one of a Swiss artist in existence. Even though he lived and worked in Paris and Geneva, for many years, Alberto, himself donated most of his later works to the Zürich Art Museum before his death. Franca's parents preferred the paintings, drawings and objects d'art, Giacometti produced during his cubist and surrealist movement periods in his Montparnasse studio. Franca's favourite piece was Le Chien (the Dog) completed in 1951. It very well represents his later sculpture oeuvre consisting mainly of thin human figures in bronze. The exhibit was very well presented and took up a considerable amount of space on two levels in one of the newer wings of the museum. Since they had planned to stay in Zürich the entire afternoon the Semmarugas decided to explore the paintings of Giovanni Giacometti as well before leaving the Kunst Haus. Giovanni was Alberto's Father and was known for his portraits of his family and panoramas of mountainous regions in his native Canton of Grigione. They were very impressed with the pastel colours, featured in Giovanni's work.

As they came out of the museum the sun was brightly shinning and one could see the majestic mountains in the background as they strolled by the lake. When they reached the Bahnhofstrasse, they turned right towards the main train station. About half way up the street, they came upon the Café Sprüngli. This was the flagship shop of the Sprüngli confectionary chain and had a magnificent turn of the century style wood paneled café upstairs that is extremely popular for breakfast, light luncheons and afternoon tea. They were able to find a table by the window overlooking Parade Platz below. Once seated they ordered their tea (Earl Grey) and proceeded to the display case in the centre of the room to select amongst the cakes, tarts and patisseries. Franca had the first choice; Schwarzwälder Torte was always her favourite. Paula chose Quarkkuchen and Giacomo took a Kirsch Torte. Just before leaving the café to catch the next train back to the Ticino, Franca signaled the maître d'hôtel to pay the bill, it would be her treat. To her astonishment she could not find the birthday card with the FR.100.- note in her small hand bag. Had she forgotten it in all the excitement? Had she lost it or worst yet had someone stolen it? Even though her parents offered to pay the bill, she explained the situation to the headwaiter. He suggested that she make a bank transfer once she got home and gave her the café's bank number. She handled the mishap in a very grown-up manner and her parents were very proud of her.

February 2012

In winter the roads to and from the small remote village of Niederwald in the Canton of Wallis/Valais are deep with snow.

Jacob Ritz had to take his dog, Bruno, out for a short walk before crossing the High Street (Hauptstrasse) to his one-man Tourist Office, filled with racks of local tourism brochures. He always took his dog to his small storefront office, because he felt 'safe' with him there. Bruno was a pure race Jura Hunter and had an excellent sense of smell which would help him in stalking and ultimately devouring any prey he would come across, mostly rodents. Jacob was very proud of his dog who always greeted tourists and local residents alike with great enthusiasm. 

 

Jacob was bored with his work. It's not that many tourists found their way to Niederwald in winter; there was no downhill ski-ing available or other outdoor sports such as ice-skating, curling, or tobogganing. There were, however, a few cross-country ski-ing trails in the higher reaches used mostly by the villagers during the long winter weekends. Summer was the “High Season” if it could be called that! Niederwald's main claim to fame was that it was the birthplace of the famous international hotelier, César Ritz, born there in 1850. He didn't live in Niederwald for very long however. He completed his schooling in Sion, the capital of the Canton and thereafter did an apprenticeship as a waiter at the Hôtel des Trois Couronnes et Poste in Brig before taking off for Paris in 1867. There he opened his famous Hôtel Ritz on Place Vendôme in 1898 and not much later the Ritz in London on Green Park in 1905. Of course many other fine hotels all over the world carry his name and today are operated by the Ritz-Carlton Group as part of the Marriott Hotel chain. César Ritz died in 1918 just at the end of the 'Great War' and is buried in Niederwald. Much later the house in which he was born, had been turned into a museum. It has become, during the summer months, a pilgrimage site for would-be hoteliers who attend Switzerland's many Hotel Management Colleges. Jacob being a distant relative of César and head of the Tourist Office, runs it.

Jacob had a much more important concern for the next summer season: In recent years packs of alpine wolves had returned to the Canton from Val d'Aosta, Italy and the Savoy in France and roamed freely, attacking herds of sheep grazing on the surrounding mountainsides. Wolves had been driven to extinction in Switzerland over a century ago! Even though none of the villagers (mostly farmers) had been harmed as of yet, they were nevertheless in an uproar. The cantonal government did not compensate the farmers for destroyed sheep which meant lost revenue for the farmers. It was forbidden to shoot the wolves unless it could be proven that an individual wolf had killed at least 35 sheep. Jacob was particularly worried about the negative publicity that would inevitably keep tourists away from Niederwald.

This afternoon Jacob would be training down to Brig to attend a meeting at the Hôtel des Trois Couronnes et Poste being held under the direction of the Federal Bureau of the Environment. Ecologist groups such as the Swiss World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace would be in attendance as well. Sheep farmers, who fear that their looses could rise exponentially if wolves start breeding in Switzerland as expected, will also have the chance to argue their case. The aim is to come up with a revised concept before the sheep get put out to pasture in the summer.

May 2010

All morning she kept reminding herself that, today her plan was to go fishing with her father. She was home for a few days from her busy life in France. She needed his advise on an important matter. When she and her four-year younger sister were growing up in the Vevey area of Switzerland and they were confronted with a dilemma, their Dad would always take them fishing at the "Lac de Brey" in the back country of the Canton of Vaud. Whilst they would fish from the shore of this well stocked artificial lake they could examine the problem from different angels with their father. They never would catch many fish as the conversation became very heated at times. Nonetheless their Mother was always grateful for whatever they would bring home for dinner.

Today she had a bomb to drop or so she thought! She and her "boyfriend" were considering getting married. Marriage was a big move in the life of any young person in today`s complex society. The divorce rate was very high in both Switzerland and France not to mention Sweden from where her friend came. They had been living together for over five years now and were very happy with the status quo. Why change things? Well, first and foremost there was the bureaucratic nightmare of living in France. Friends say it is much easier to complete the constant paperwork if married. She was Swiss and her friend was Swedish. His country was a member of the European Union, hers was not and she always risked being asked to leave. She was concerned that she would loose her surname, but if they were married in Switzerland both parties had the option of keeping their own, taking the others or taking both by adding a hyphen.

However, what concerned her and her partner the most was the eventuality of having children and this is where her Papa's advice would play a significant role. During the early stages of her parents' marriage they both had a successful career but were very much involved with their respective jobs. It was only when her parents reached their mid-30's did they decide to have their first child. She was the results of that decision! It changed their lives significantly. In no time work became merely a means of survival, no longer a lifestyle. Her parents kept asking themselves, especially after her sister was born, why they waited so long to have children. The family and their children's upbringing became her mother's and father's passion.

Her partner was adopted himself and therefore had a completely different outlook about having children. Her major concern was related to the responsibility of putting children into the world today. Was not a major financial crisis brewing that might even surpass the Great Depression in its impact? Is the crime rate not increasing? And what about terrorist attacks taking place more frequently in the industrialized nations? Will her children not blame her one day for being egotistical in having children?

Why did she worry so much? Momentarily she would be leaving to go out to the Lake with her Father. The weather was lovely, perfect for fishing. She was very much enjoying her visit to Switzerland.

She thought she knew what her father would say anyhow, what he always did: "Things are not for ever, take advantage of a situation when it presents itself, work hard to achieve your goal and remain flexible".                                                                                     

March 2010

She received the call on her mobile when she was sitting on a park bench down by the lake eating her packed lunch. It was from a doctor at the American Hospital in Neuilly. He insisted that she come straight away to Paris. "Your Uncle, Anton Bittmann was admitted to the hospital a week ago with pneumonia. His condition is very fragile and I don't think he will last the night. He has been asking for you these last few days and only just this morning we found your business card in his wallet, He persists that he wants to tell you a GREAT SECRET."

She rushed back to the office, got on her computer and pulled up Easy Jet. They had a flight to Orly at 14:45 and seats were available. She would have to catch the next train leaving for the airport in seven minutes! She ran into her boss on the way out and informed him she would be back tomorrow.

She arrived at the airport a couple of minutes late due to the fact that the train was delayed. She went directly to the gate as the flight was boarding already, she was given a boarding pass at the desk in return for her printed confirmation.

The plane was half full; she had her choice of seats and took one next to the window in a empty row. So, Uncle Anton was dying. Actually, Great Uncle Anton, and he wanted to see her? What did she know of Uncle Anton? He was her maternal Grandfather's younger brother, born in the small border town of Schaffhausen in the Germanic part of Switzerland, he left in search of fame and fortune at an early age. He was always considered the Black Sheep of the family. When his name infrequently came up, the older members of the family always talked in hushed whispers. Rumour had it that he worked for the Nazis as a translator in Paris during the Occupation, and was interned in a prisoner-of-war camp in England after the Liberation. Apparently her Grandfather had to go over in 1945 to pay his release, which was arranged by the Swiss Embassy in London. He has been living in Paris ever since. He must be close to 90 years of age!

Upon arrival at Orly she took a taxi to the hospital in Neuilly. Her first impression was that it appeared to be a plush hotel. The receptionist was awaiting her and telephoned through to the doctor she had previously talked to. A nurse was at his bedside as they entered his room. She was surprised to see how small Great Uncle Anton had become. It must be at least fifty years since she saw him last at a family re-union in Schaffhausen. She was a little girl at that time. The nurse was very relieved to see that she had arrived and said: " Your Uncle keeps repeating numbers, here I've written them down for you – men 3'118, women 5'919, children 4'115. There are dates too – 16/17 July 1942." The doctor mentioned that they looked the dates up on Internet and that it must have had something to do with Le Vél d'Hiv (Vélodrome d'Hiver) where the Vichy government rounded up over 13'000 people for deportation to Auschwitz. When Uncle Anton heard that name, he opened his eyes wide and looked directly at his niece and said in the Swiss German dialect from his native Schaffhausen that the Nazis wanted to kill him too, he had to record their names and addresses because they said everything must be in order. Even though they were all Parisiens, each had the Star-of-David attached to their outer garment. His last words before Uncle Anton expired were: "I didn't want them to hurt the children, I didn't want them to hurt anyone."

January 2010

It had been snowing all night and Achmed didn't want to get out of bed this morning. His job as a postman would be especially difficult today. Everyone would be in a nasty mood due to the snow.

He loved the snow, and appreciated the pristine silent atmosphere that encouraged him to reflect on the contradictions between his native Morocco and his country of adoption; Switzerland.

Not France, not Britain and certainly not the United States, but minute “isolated” Switzerland was truly the country par excellence of individual freedoms. He thanked his lucky stars every day that he was able recently to become a citizen; first of the city of Lausanne where he had been residing for the past twelve years, then of the Canton of Vaud and thus of Switzerland.

Achmed was not a religious person even though he had been brought up a Muslim by his parents back in Casablanca. When in doubt he turned to the teachings of Mohamed and took comfort in the Koran. However he did not recite his daily prayers nor had he ever been to Mecca and he had no intention of ever doing so.

For him, showing respect for his fellow man was the key to a successful life. No matter what your background was, expressing integrity in your daily routine dealings should always take priority. He was therefore, very dismayed to learn a fortnight ago that he, as a Swiss citizen, would be called to the polls in November to vote on a most unusual matter. Apparently, an initiative had been proposed to forbid the construction of minarets (towers) on future mosques to be built in Switzerland! At present there were only four in the country. The Federal Council, the executive branch of the Swiss Government and both houses of Parliament rejected the initiative. Nonetheless since it was a 'people's' initiative, according to the Swiss Constitution, it had to be voted upon. The Government felt that it would menace religious freedom in the country and discriminate against the 350'000 Muslims, mostly from the Balkans, living peacefully in Switzerland. Achmed believed the same.

Obviously, it was a ploy by the Nationalistic far-right leaning “Volks” (People's) Party to stir up another of their “hate” campaigns, this time against an 'unofficial' religion. No one took it very seriously. The three other coalition parties; the Social Democrats together with the Greens, the Christian Democrats (Center Left) and the Radicals (Center Right) didn't even bother to raise their voices in opposition as they deemed the whole farce as being beyond the ridiculous. Surveys taken up to a week before the vote showed a major defeat for the Volks Party. The resident Muslims in Switzerland did, however, organize a rally in Bern in front of the Federal Parliament building for the weekend before the vote. Not many showed up, not enough to even get mentioned in the media. Achmed didn't go to the rally. Hence he would not waste his time in voting at all. Instead he went to Geneva to attend the Conference on Peace in the Middle East at the International Red Cross HQ's, which was open to the public. This was a mistake. The initiative passed with a very slight margin BUT nevertheless passed. Achmed realized that he should have gone to the protest rally instead of the peace meeting!