The recent revelations about the role of the Swiss banks in keeping Jewish accounts after World War II has caused a reappraisal of the role of the neutral nations. What exactly did it mean to be "neutral" in World War II? Was neutrality just a cover for collaboration with the Nazis? Did countries who refused to take sides help or hurt the Allied cause? And how did the neutrals treat people who were vulnerable to the Nazis?
In this first study of Nazi Germany's to the five European neutrals: Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden and Turkey, Christian Leitz shines a light on their wartime record. Questioning the true commitment to neutrality of the five states, the he details not simply the development of relations to Germany, but also the contribution they made to Germany's war effort. He shows how the Nazi regime benefitted in large measure from permitting these five countries to remain neutral. We learn how during Germany's military decline in the waning months of the war, it continued to receive vital services from the neutrals. Based on a wide reading of sources in English, German, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese, French and Turkish, and supplemented by documentary evidence from German archives, this book enables readers at all levels to gain insight into a significant aspect not only of the history of Nazi Germany, but also the history of the Second World War in Europe.