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Georg Kreis

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Georg Kreis
Black and white photo of Georg Kreis in 1988
Georg Kreis in 1988

Georg Kreis (born November 14, 1943) is a Swiss historian. He is a professor emeritus of modern general history and history of Switzerland at the University of Basel[1] and was head of the University’s Europa Institute until July 2011. Aside from his academic duties, Kreis was the President of the Swiss Federal Commission against Racism, a Swiss government-supported commission of experts, from its founding in 1995 until 2011.[2]

Biography

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He received his PhD from the University of Basel in 1972 with a thesis on censorship in Switzerland during the Second World War. He completed a postdoc at the same institution in 1981. [3]

He is married, has three sons and a grandson. [4]

Career

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He was appointed a member of the Bergier Commission of historians to investigate Switzerland’s conduct during World War II.[5] Kreis was quoted by the New York Times as stating he felt the scandal about Nazi Gold and the World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss banks unearthed anti-Semitism that had always been part of the Swiss societal fabric. [6]

He also lead a research project financed by the Swiss Government to investigate Switzerland’s ties to Apartheid South Africa and authored the project’s final report.[7] Kreis also lead a renowned 2014 project to write an all-encompassing history of Switzerland, based on newly released archival sources. [8]

In 2006, Swiss news magazine Schweizer Illustrierte designated Kreis to be one of the 100 most important Swiss citizens of the year.[9] In 2007, he won the Fischhof Prize issued annually by the Swiss Society for Minorities, a group advocating for the rights of minorities in Switzerland. [10]

The publication of Kreis’ autobiography in 2018, led to him being profiled in multiple Swiss newspapers such as Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Basler Zeitung.[11] [12] [13] [14]

In 2022, Georg Kreis gave multiple interviews to the Swiss press about current affairs. One of these interviews was about Swiss neutrality in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[15] another about the removal of historical artifacts with alleged colonial connections from Swiss cities.[16] In 2023, Kreis was interviewed by Swiss Television about his latest project, regarding Swiss ties to colonialism in Africa.[17]

Kreis was heavily criticized by members of the right-wing populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP) after he compared the Swiss minaret ban (which the party proposed and successfully campaigned for the Swiss people to vote for in a 2009 referendum) to a hypothetical SVP-initiated ban on synagogues during World War II, with calls for his resignation as Head of the Swiss Federal Commission against Racism.[18]

Kreis was a member of the Free Democratic Party of Switzerland before quitting the party in 2013, citing its apparent ideological rightward shift. He had long publicly criticized party leadership for allying itself with the Swiss People’s Party as opposed to more moderate political forces.[19]

References

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  1. ^ "Profil | Departement Geschichte". dg.philhist.unibas.ch (in Swiss High German). Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  2. ^ swissinfo.ch, <Gaby Ochsenbein> in Basel, (Translated from German by Julia Slater) (2011-12-19). ""The mood towards foreigners has worsened"". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2023-08-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Georg Kreis" (PDF). Istituto Svizzero. September 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  4. ^ Reimer, Caspar (Feb 2019). "ICH LEBE SEIT ÜBER 40 JAHRE HIER" (PDF). Neubad Magazine Online. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War ICE". www.uek.ch. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  6. ^ Olson, Elizabeth (1998-11-06). "Anti-Semitism Rising in Switzerland, Study Finds". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  7. ^ "NRP 42+ "Relations between Switzerland and South Africa"". Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) (in German). Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  8. ^ SwissCommunity. "A hefty tome with exquisite contents". www.swisscommunity.org. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  9. ^ "Die 100 wichtigsten Schweizer". Schweizer Illustrierte. 29 July 2006. p. 21.
  10. ^ "Fischhof-Preis |" (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  11. ^ Haener, Ruth (2019-01-17). "Georg Kreis vermisst seine Zeit". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  12. ^ Mensch, Christian (2018-10-28). "Georg Kreis - Er ist ein Vielschreiber, der nicht ans Aufhören denkt". bz Basel (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  13. ^ "Auf Besuch bei Georg Kreis" (PDF). January 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  14. ^ Mensch, Christian (2018-10-28). "Georg Kreis - Er ist ein Vielschreiber, der nicht ans Aufhören denkt". Luzerner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  15. ^ Cassidy, Alan (2022-04-30). "Georg Kreis: «Die Schweizer Neutralität muss sich anpassen»". NZZ Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  16. ^ Tribelhorn, Marc (2022-05-01). "Streit um Denkmäler: Der Historiker Georg Kreis im Interview". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  17. ^ "Ein neuer Blick auf die koloniale Vergangenheit der Schweiz - Kultur-Talk - SRF". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  18. ^ "Georg Kreis wehrt sich". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in Swiss High German). 2009-12-14. ISSN 0376-6829. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  19. ^ "Bundesratswahlen: «Ein wichtiger Teil der FDP wurde verraten»". 20 Minuten (in German). 2003-12-12. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
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