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For institutions
In addition to the federal government, cantons and municipalities, many institutions, associations and authorities have begun reassessing their role in compulsory social measures and placements through scientific research. By doing so, they are making a valuable contribution to the historical reappraisal of these issues and the injustices suffered by the victims.
Do you work at a current or former children’s and juveniles’ home, psychiatric clinic, labour institution, guardianship authority, prison, or a professional association in the social sector? Compulsory social measures and placements may have played a role in your intirurion’s history.
Examples:
- Workhouses and prisons: administrative detention and forced labour for inmates
- Homes and public authorities: Removal of children for placement in homes or with foster families, and forced adoption
- Hospitals and psychiatric clinics: Forced medication, drug trials, forced psychiatric treatment, enforced sterilisation and castration
In many cases, concerns are raised about reappraising the institution’s history in a transparent and critical manner. After all, today’s institutions have little in common with those of yesteryear. However, it is well worth the effort. The reappraisal process allows previously unspoken issues to be openly discussed and provides an additional ethical foundation for the institution’s current work.
How to start the reappraisal process
The Switzerland’s numerous archives are potential partners for reappraising your institution’s history. Contact the cantonal or municipal archive responsible for your region, or a specialist archive such as the Swiss Social Archives. They can assist with research in their own records and answer questions about assessment and archive eligibility, should you wish to add your own records to the archive.
The website of the Verein schweizerischer Archivarinnen und Archivare offers a helpful overview of the Swiss archive landscape.
Over the decades, private and civil society organisations have also worked to promote improvements in the area of compulsory social measures. Do you have any documents from this period? They may be of interest to the archives.
Making history visible online
We are happy to accept information, additions and other material about your institution, which we can then add to our database or map.
You can also publish links to the contents of this website.
Would you like to work with data from the database? Maps, as well as the lists of media productions and research projects, are available to you an open sources.
We are happy to assist you!
Are you interested in re-evaluating the past, but don’t know where to begin?
Contact us at: erinnernfuermorgen@bj.admin.ch