Huber, P. Fluchtpunkt Fremdenlegion. Schweizer im Indochina- und im Algerienkrieg, 1945-1962

Some 2200 young Swiss men joined the Foreign Legion in the years after the Second World War, despite the ban, in order to go to war far away from Europe for the colonial power France. What motivated them to do so, what their everyday life in the legion was like and what life was like after returning home from foreign service is discussed in detail in this book.

Anyone who delves into the world of these modern mercenaries inevitably encounters poverty and injustice in Swiss post-war society: men from mostly low social classes, from broken families, with little education, but with a lot of experience in institutions or as a Verdingkind, with a criminal record consisting of "poverty offences" or even with relationship problems. All this made it difficult to get ahead in Switzerland and led these men to flee to the legion. Formed into obedient legionaries in the rigid military unit, quite a few saw a new chance in life in the Foreign Legion, although they were unscrupulously instrumentalised by France for its colonial policy in Indochina and North Africa. Thus they also became witnesses or perpetrators of torture and war crimes. The Swiss military justice system produced extensive files on the Foreign Legionnaires, from which the author was able to draw - in addition to oral sources and memoir literature. The result is a collective biography with numerous case studies that provide a vivid and differentiated picture of the Swiss Foreign Legionnaires.