Holocaust gaffe

In an interview in the Liechtensteiner Volksblatt, Prince Hans-Adam II said that Liechtenstein and Switzerland had saved the lives of many people, especially Jews, thanks to their bank secrecy laws.

"The comments make a mockery of the Holocaust and those who survived it," Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Council, said to Germany's Bild daily newspaper.

"It is an attempt to use the Holocaust as a defense for the prince's political failures," Kramer said. "Portraying Liechtenstein as a merciful helper of the Jews does not chime with the historical facts."

Elsewhere in the article, the prince said that Germany "should think about its own past" before attacking Liechtenstein as well as other countries that are accused of encouraging tax evaders.

"Bank secrecy saves lives"

Liechtenstein and Switzerland remained neutral in World War II, the prince also noted in the article, and it was because of their neutrality that families during the Nazi era were able to use the money in secret accounts to buy their freedom.

"In communist countries it was similar," said the prince. "Bank secrecy saved lives and continues to save lives today."

This is not the first time that the prince has gotten into hot water for his comments. Last year he referred to Germany as a "Fourth Reich" when the subject of bank secrecy laws were being discussed.

In 2004 Prince Hans-Adam II handed over power for making day-to-day governmental decisions to his son Prince Alois, while formally remaining Head of State.

av/Reuters/dpa
Editor: Susan Houlton