My mother's diamonds : in search of the Holocaust assets

For 40 years, Swiss banks denied the existence of thousands of accounts opened by Jewish families during World War II as a haven for their savings, until forced into admission in July 1997.

Told in the words of the families and lawyer Henry Burnsteyner - who brought the first successful case against the banks - this text reveals how events unfolded.

The process opened to question Switzerland's neutrality during the war and focused attention on the everyday crimes of omission and comission which contributed to the Holocaust.