25 years in the service of Jewish contemporary history

Actually, it is no coincidence that Uriel Gast started working at the Archives of Contemporary History at ETH Zurich (AfZ) 25 years ago as a fresh graduate from the University of Zurich. He says he "slipped" into the job of archivist rather unintentionally, but the fate of the Jewish refugees had accompanied him for many years. In his younger years, he completed a commercial apprenticeship at the Europa Verlag Zürich, whose owners had supported political emigrants and Jewish refugees during the Second World War. "The stories about that time pervaded the building," he remembers. Later, he studied general history and wrote his final thesis on the history of the Swiss immigration police since the First World War. After graduating, he expanded it into a dissertation. This work attracted the attention of the then-head of the archives, who offered him a job, says Gast. "It was my luck that he was interested in the same topics."

Much more than just a job

Starting this job as a young archivist and historian marked the beginning of an important chapter in his life. Helping to establish the AfZ and later to found the Department of Jewish Contemporary History gave him the unique opportunity to secure important resources on Jewish contemporary history in Switzerland in a systematic manner. "The nineties were the years of crucial pioneer work for this," says Gast. His work consisted of securing important historical documents such as letters, photographs, certificates, passports and much more. He and his colleagues often ventured down into the basements of both institutions and private households to preserve what otherwise would have fallen into oblivion. The 2,000 files in the historical archives of the Association of Swiss Jewish Refugee Aid and Welfare Organisations are just one example. The AfZ also invited concentration camp survivors, refugees, refugee helpers, diplomats and business representatives to share personal stories from their own, often highly eventful lives.

Many personal encounters

Uriel Gast’s working years were intensive and his evenings long. He had to establish contact with key figures of contemporary history and read about people’s life stories and fates. Personal encounters with many contemporary witnesses often meant building a long-standing relationship with them and sometimes accompanying them until their death. Now Gast, the head of the Department of Jewish Contemporary History, is 62 years old. The hard work of the early years is past and his work days have become shorter. The historian, who is Jewish himself, says his work at the AfZ was far more than just a job. "For me, it was and is – probably subconsciously – a search for parts of my own identity."