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Swiss settlers were slave owners in Bahia, Brazil. A dark part of our country’s history that dates back to the 19th century and is still taboo.
In the forests of Bahia, Brazil, 150-year-old relics bear witness to a dark history. “The farm was down there,” says Obeny dos Santos, a resident of the area. “And down here the slaves were locked up and tortured.” The farm belonged to Swiss settlers who owned slaves. At night they were tied to a metal post with chains; there was no chance of escape.
Swiss authorities deny this
Swiss authorities have always denied involvement in the horrors of slavery. Some financiers and merchants were involved in the forced exploitation, but behind the back of the Confederation.
The historian Hans Fässler contradicts this view. He presents an extraordinary document in the Federal Archives: a report of the Federal Council from 1864 about Swiss slave owners in Brazil.
The first observation: The Federal Council is well informed about the situation. He even knows the price of a slave: between 4,000 and 6,000 Swiss francs.
“This report is really a very important document for the colonial history of Switzerland,” says Hans Fässler. “For the first time the question of slavery has arisen in the Swiss Parliament. In the report, the Federal Council admits that there were Swiss plantation owners, traders and even craftsmen who owned slaves.
Worldwide traces
Traces from this period can also be found in the small village of Helvetia in the south of Bahia. The name is reminiscent of the settlers from Vaud, Neuchâtel and Bern in the 19th century. Coffee and cocoa were grown, a production that would not have been possible without slaves. There were around 2,000 slaves there. For example, the great-great-grandparents of Maria Aparecida Dos Santos, a current resident of Helvetia, were deported from Angola.
They had no privacy, no freedom and no dignity.
“The slaves all lived crammed together in a large stable,” she describes. “They had no privacy, no freedom and no dignity. The colonial masters raped the black women.”
“No crime” that could be reported
The slave owners were never bothered by the Swiss authorities. Worse still, the Federal Council at the time defended the colonial masters.
“The Federal Council says that slavery is beneficial and normal for these Swiss people,” says historian Hans Fässler. This is what it says in the report from 1864. “And it is impossible to deprive these ‘poor’ Swiss people of their property, which they have acquired legally.”
The Federal Council says that slavery is beneficial and normal for these Swiss people.
The view of the then Federal Council was proven that slavery was neither unjust nor immoral because it did not involve a crime. The government was of the opinion that “punishing Swiss people who own slaves would be unjust, immoral and an act of violence”.
“The Federal Council was the last government in the West to trivialize, justify and excuse the crime of slavery,” emphasizes Hans Fässler. By this time, France or the Netherlands had already abolished slavery and the USA followed suit in December 1865.