Nazi images in troop chats Several racist incidents shake the Swiss army
Several racist incidents have occurred in the Swiss army. Chats with Nazi symbols and insults are keeping the military justice system busy. The inhibition thresholds have apparently fallen.
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- In the Payerne barracks, a conflict between recruits from German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland escalated into racist insults and Nazi symbols in a WhatsApp chat.
- Although the military justice system convicted one of the recruits involved for racist content, it classified the acts as minor offenses and handed down a conditional sentence.
- Experts see no evidence that the army is more racist than civil society, but have observed a falling inhibition threshold for openly racist comments.
Several racist incidents have become known in the Swiss Armed Forces. One case was particularly serious in the Payerne barracks (VD), where tensions arose between recruits from German-speaking and western Switzerland, as reported by Blick.
It was triggered by a dispute over uniform regulations after recruits from German-speaking Switzerland corrected their comrades from French-speaking Switzerland. This initially led to verbal arguments and later to systematic harassment.
Finally, racist comments were made in a WhatsApp group chat under the name "Zug Dütschschwitzer". A dark-skinned recruit was insulted with the N-word and called a "son of a bitch".
Acts "just barely minor" - conditional sentence
Further problematic content subsequently appeared in the chat, including pictures of swastikas and Adolf Hitler. One recruit involved was sentenced by the military justice system to a fine of 360 francs for spreading "violent, racist, National Socialist and discriminatory ideologies" and must pay the legal costs of 450 francs. A penalty of 15 daily rates of 120 francs each was imposed conditionally, as the offenses were classified as "just light".
The incident is not isolated. The military judiciary had previously assessed a case at the recruitment center in Rüti (ZH), reports "Blick". There, a recruit sent several messages with Hitler images, swastikas and sexualized depictions with Hitler salutes within eleven minutes. Among them was a board with the inscription "Jews are not served here".
The military justice system considered the messages to be a single incident, as they were sent in quick succession. According to his own statements, the recruit had consumed alcohol and wanted to "be funny". He was sentenced to a fine of 200 francs and 450 francs in legal costs, as well as a conditional sentence of ten daily rates of 100 francs each.
"Donald Trump has opened a floodgate"
According to experts, it is not possible to prove whether the army is more affected by racism than civil society. Military sociologist Szvircsev Tresch from the ETH Zurich Military Academy told Blick: "Recruits with a migration background stated that skin color plays a greater role in civilian life." According to Tresch, groupings along linguistic or regional lines - for example between German-speaking Swiss, French-speaking Swiss or Ticinese - are nothing unusual in the military.
However, he has observed a change in social sentiment. The inhibition threshold for making racist remarks openly has fallen. "Since Donald Trump has been in power, a floodgate has been opened," he says. In certain circles, white identity is being emphasized more demonstratively again.
