Discarded children

Historians reveal tragedy of Swiss child labour.

Until the 1950s it was a common practice for poor Swiss families to give or sell their children to farmers. Many of these so-called “Verdingkinder” or “discarded children” suffered slave labour, beatings and abuse. A project by the national research foundation has been working against time to record as many of their stories as possible. (SF/swissinfo archive 2006)