Homecomers were quarantined for medical checkups. A camp in Neuchâtel, 1945.
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A labour camp for young Swiss expatriates in Zernez, Engadine Valley, 1943.
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Another camp for young Swiss expats, this one in the Turtmann Valley, 1944.
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Children of Swiss expats arrive in the German border town of Constance, 1945.
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The young Swiss expats were put to work building hiking trails in the Alps. Turtmann Valley camp, 1944.
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A quarantine camp. Location unknown, 1945.
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On arrival at the railway station, 1939.
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Swiss Abroad Congress, 1957. Celebrations on the Rütli Meadow with alphorn players.
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Returning from Canada, arrival at Zurich airport, 1964.
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Swiss Abroad Congress in Bern, 1966.
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Coming home - children of Swiss emigrants arrive from Congo, 1961.
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Homecomers to Switzerland were not always given a warm welcome, as a small selection of historic pictures from the Ringier archives show.
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During the Second World War camps were set up for young and destitute Swiss coming home in an effort to occupy them, but also to keep them away from the strained labour market.
As part of a medical check-up at the border they were put in quarantine for up to three weeks. Those without relatives or jobs were housed in special accommodation.
The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) was founded in 1916 and represents the political interests of the increasing expat community of more than 700,000 people.
The historical pictures are kept by the Aargau Cantonal Archive.
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A systematic approach would paint a fuller picture of Swiss émigrés, including the multitude of reasons for going abroad over the past century and the influences on them of their chosen states. While today about 700,000 Swiss live abroad, no reliable figures existed before the second half of the 20th century. For Leo Schelbert, a…
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Stored in the attic of the OSA headquarters in Bern, historian Florian Baccaunaud is examining the final bunch of records, dating from the period between 1994 and 2000, so that 100 years of documents may be ready in their entirety in time for the organisation’s centenary in 2016. Baccaunaud, a dual Swiss/French national with a…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.