Dr. Daniele Ganser: P-26: The Secret Army of Switzerland (01.09.2023) (english subtitles)

In Switzerland, there existed a secret army named P-26 during the Cold War. This was uncovered by the PUK EMD after the Fichen affair in the year 1990. The P-26 had 400 members. At the time of its exposure, it was still under construction and was supposed to grow to 800 members. In the 'Schweizerhof', an army facility carved into the rock above Gstaad in the canton of Bern, the 400 P-26 members received their basic training. Pistols, hand grenades, special rifles, explosives, medical supplies, and radios for the secret army were stored in weapon depots scattered throughout the country. In the event of a hostile occupation of Switzerland, the P-26 was to build and lead the resistance. Similar stay-behind secret armies existed abroad, coordinated by the CIA and MI6. The Swiss population and the majority of the parliament were unaware of the existence of P-26. Even the Swiss Defense Minister Kaspar Villiger did not know that P-26 existed. 'I was shocked that such a thing could happen here,' said CVP Senator Carlo Schmid, who led the parliamentary investigation. The head of the P-26 was Efrem Cattelan. His code name was 'Rico.' In December 1990, he appeared before the Swiss press for the first time. Hans-Rudolf Strasser was Efrem Cattelan's right-hand man. Strasser worked at the Ministry of Defense EMD as the head of information and was the communication responsible of the Chief of Staff. His code name was 'Franz.' One of the fiercest critics of the P-26 was the long-time SP president Helmut Hubacher. He believed that the secret organization 'was illegal and unworthy of a constitutional state.' Former Chief of the Swiss Army General Staff Hans Senn held a different opinion, stating that building up the resistance was important and could only be done in secret. The democratic attitude of the army leadership could not be doubted. Particularly sensitive for neutral Switzerland was the integration of the P-26 into the Ne