Swiss immigration policies 1933-1939

Swiss immigration policy in the pre-war years paralelled those of many other neutral countries. While they were largely driven by fear of foreigners coming into the country, the underlying sentiments were increasingly antisemitic. The Evian Conference was held in France in 1938. The Swiss government had declined to host the conference out of fear of being pressured into changing its policies. Switzerland accepted the proposal to mark all Jewish passports with the "J" stamp, and considered itself to be merely a country of transit. However by September 1939 an estimated 10,000-12,000 mostly Jewish refugees had entered Switzerland