Estate of Hans Pfeiffer

Collection

Holding institution:: Archives of Contemporary History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich

Holding institution (official language):: Archiv für Zeitgeschichte der ETH Zürich

Scope and content:: At the heart of the collection are documents relating to Hans Pfeiffer's activities for the Federal Central Administration of Homes and Camps between 1942 and 1949. The fully preserved weekly and activity reports from his time as regional inspector of homes and labour camps for emigrants in Ticino and Central Switzerland from July 1944 to August 1947, together with the minutes of the inspectors' reports, provide a detailed insight into the activities of the individual homes and control bodies. For the ‘Tatgemeinschaft der Schweizer Jugend’ see also the individual collection of Markus Redli.

Archival history:: The collection was transferred to the AfZ (Archiv für Zeitgeschichte) in several deliveries between 1993 and 2005.

Administrative/biographical history:: Hans Pfeiffer, an insurance salesman and inspector of the Federal Central Administration of Homes and Camps, was born in Zurich on 20 July 1910 and died in Zurich on 11 December 1998. Pfeiffer was politically trade unionistic and culturally active. He was the cofounder of a youth organisations to defend Switzerland against Frontist and Nazi infiltration and founded the ‘Tatgemeinschaft der Schweizer Jugend’ in 1938/1939. From 1942, he was the deputy head of the labour camp for emigrants in Thalheim (AG), head of the camp in Gordola, in Les Ponts-de-Martel and in Andelfingen. Beginning in August 1944, Pfeiffer was regional inspector for Tessin/Ticino and Central Switzerland with approximately 250 staff and supervision of around 25 camps with 2,500 internees. After May 1945, he supervised Swiss repatriates who were housed in the former refugee homes until their integration. From 1947 to 1949, Pfeiffer was the head of the administration for the liquidation of properties rented by the Confederation (restitution to the owners) and from 1949 to 1971, Pfeiffer was association secretary of the Schweizerischer Verband des Personals öffentlicher Dienste (Swiss Association of Civil Service Personnel).

Author of the description:: Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2020