Diepoldsau is a municipality in the Wahlkreis (constituency) of Rheintal in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

[3] It was the crossing point for Jews escaping Nazi Germany into the St. Gallen area.

[citation needed] Thousands of Jews were saved despite the general Swiss Policy of severely restricting Jewish escape from Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.

[citation needed] In 1938, a labour camp for refugees was set up in an old embroidery factory.

It was supervised by the Swiss Red Cross and financed by the Jewish Community of St.

The refugees were not permitted to seek work and were subject to frequent police controls and restrictive measures.

Of the rest of the land, 20.3% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (8.5%) is non-productive (rivers or lakes).

It consists of the villages of Diepoldsau and Schmitter on the shore of the old Rhein at the Hohenemser curve.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Vert two Ears of Maize Or and in base a Barrulet wavy Argent.

Of the foreign population, (as of 2000[update]), 48 are from Germany, 172 are from Italy, 432 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 147 are from Austria, 40 are from Turkey, and 82 are from another country.