Oil soldiers (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

''Ölsoldaten'') is the name given to soldiers of the Swiss Army poisoned by accident in 1940, when they were served ''Käseschnitten'' (fried bread with cheese) in which

mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise, ...

mixed with

tricresyl phosphate Tricresyl phosphate (TCP), is a mixture of three isomeric organophosphate compounds most notably used as a flame retardant and as a plasticizer in manufacturing for lacquers and varnishes and vinyl plastics. Pure tricresyl phosphate is a colourles ...

, intended as a coolant for machine guns, was mistakenly used for the preparation of the dish.

Course of events

On July 29, 1940,

peanut oil Peanut oil, also known as groundnut oil or arachis oil, is a vegetable oil derived from peanuts. The oil usually has a mild or neutral flavor but, if made with roasted peanuts, has a stronger peanut flavor and aroma. It is often used in America ...

, used in the preparation of food for a company (Mitr Kp IV/52) in Ramiswil, canton of Solothurn, was mixed with machine gun cooling oil by mistake and used to make a cheese dish (''Käseschnitten''). That happened because, after a drill, the coolant was stored in cooking oil cans that weren't marked properly, and the oil was indistinguishable from cooking oil by taste or appearance. That led to 74 soldiers and 10 to 12 civilians suffering from

poisoning, causing paralysis of the legs which in some cases was grave and irreversible. There were civilians, including children, among the victims of the poisoning because some of the soldiers had shared their rations. 32 of the cases were registered as "grave", 20 of them as "total invalidity". Later the same year, a similar incident affected the

Schwyz The town of Schwyz (; french: Schwytz; it, Svitto) is the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ' ...

''Gebirgsmitrailleurkompanie IV/72'' where at least 17 soldiers suffered permanent health damage after a salad was prepared with cooling oil.

Impact

The case of the "oil soldiers" was widely publicised and discussed in Switzerland. In 1947, the first broadcast of

Swiss Solidarity Swiss Solidarity (German ''Glückskette'', French ''Chaîne du Bonheur'', Italian ''Catena della Solidarietà'', Rhaeto-Romanic ''Chadaina da Fortuna'') is a Swiss nonprofit organization. Since 1946, Swiss Solidarity has embodied the solidarity r ...

in the German-speaking part of Switzerland was used for a fundraising campaign to help them. A foundation ("Stiftung Vergiftungspatienten") was created to support the disabled. The incidents triggered a revision of the Swiss military insurance law. Swiss military insurance had paid a total of 46.1 million Swiss Francs to the "oil soldiers" by 2015. Legally, the incident was treated as an accident, and only the battalion doctor was convicted, being sentenced to 45 days in prison for negligence of duty. He had repeatedly refused to visit the sick soldiers on the evening of the poisoning because he didn't think it was a serious matter. The last surviving "oil soldier" was Christoph von Blarer, who died on April 8, 2014 in

Aesch, Basel-Landschaft , neighboring_municipalities= Dornach (SO), Duggingen, Ettingen, Pfeffingen, Reinach, Therwil , twintowns = } Aesch (sometimes written as ''Aesch BL'' in order to distinguish it from other "Aesches"; Swiss German: ''Ääsch'') is a vil ...

, aged 98.{{cite web , url=https://www.baselland.ch/themen/c_d/chronik-bl/chronik-2000er/chronik-april-2001 , title=Chronik April 2001 , author= , publisher=Kanton Basel-Landschaft , access-date=2019-05-26 , language=German

References

Sources

* Balz Ruchti:
Das Gift von 1940
', in: Der Beobachter, 16. Dezember 2011 * Franziska Gebel, Alois Fässler: ''Ölsoldaten''. Statistik der Militärversicherung 2016, p. 53-59
Online (PDF)
Switzerland in World War II Food safety scandals Mass poisoning 1940 in Switzerland