Westward. Encounters with Swiss American Women

“London was my dream.” (around 1950)

This marriage had dire consequences for Rosa. “From one day to the next I had to relinquish my Swiss citizenship. Suddenly I was a foreigner in my own country and experienced discrimination. The Swiss Bank Corporation forced me to quit and to work as a temp. For them I had become a risk, an element of uncertainty. I might have gotten pregnant!” The marriage lasted only three years. “He wanted to return to Iran; for me that was out of the question. I sensed that he was not reliable. Still, I do not regret having experienced this love.” In a matter-of-fact tone she says, “the divorce did cost 250 Swiss francs, a third of my monthly paycheck. I have never heard from him again.” In the same year Rosa’s father died. “I missed him very much, and realized that like a rock, he had always been in my life.” She moved back to her mother and took stock of her life. “With regard to love I had not been very successful, but I had a loving mother with whom I got along well and I had a job. Was this sufficient for the rest of my life? Actually, I had had enough of Switzerland. My negative experiences as a foreigner in my own country left a deep impression on me. I was naturalized again when the law changed, but my disappointment remained – until today.”