During World War II, the geographically exposed location of the canton of Schaffhausen, which extends extensively and indistinctly into German territory north of the Rhine, had a particularly significant impact. How did authorities and the population respond to this threat? How did they experience those crisis-ridden years, and what measures did they take? This study by a young Swiss historian outlines both the military danger and its perception in the border region, as well as the resulting evacuation plans for the civilian population, banks, and cultural assets. The focus is on the situation in the "hot" May of 1940, when an invasion of Switzerland was widely anticipated in connection with the German Western Campaign. The feeling that Schaffhausen was no longer being defended militarily, the turmoil surrounding the so-called Pfi...