I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.
I was born on June 3rd, 1929, in Graenichen in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, where I went to the public schools until the age of 16.
For many years, when still a Yugoslav citizen, I was already a Swiss patriot, and in 1959, I obtained Swiss citizenship. However, I consider myself a world citizen, and I am very grateful to my adopted country that it allows me to be one.
Maybe if I was born in Kosovo, I might not be where I am now, so I need to thank Switzerland, of course, because I went to school there, learnt to play football there, and started my career there.
My rank is the highest known in Switzerland: I'm a free citizen.
I have always found it jarring to encounter people born and raised in, say, Switzerland, who are denied its citizenship and still considered Algerians or Turks.
In 1958, I decided that I was going to live in Europe permanently. So in 1959 I moved to Lugano, Switzerland.
I was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and we lived there for three to five years - with my mother and father. And then they divorced and she came back to America.
