Alfréd Meissner (April 10, 1871 – September 29, 1950) was a

Czechoslovak Czechoslovak may refer to: *A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93) **First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38) **Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39) **Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60) **Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...

politician and member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

in the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic ( cs, První československá republika, sk, Prvá česko-slovenská republika), often colloquially referred to as the First Republic ( cs, První republika, Slovak: ''Prvá republika''), was the first Czechoslov ...

. He was elected to the National Assembly and served twice as Minister of Justice and twice as Minister of Social Welfare of the republic. Following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia during the Second World War, he was deported to the

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

. He survived the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, and after the war he returned to Prague where he died at the age of 79.

Life

Alfréd Meissner was born in

Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; german: Jungbunzlau) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 42,000 inhabitants. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region and a major centre of the Czech automotive ind ...

, a city about 50 kilometres (31 miles) northeast of Prag, on April 10, 1871, in what was then the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

, a crown-land of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. He studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and the University of Prague. After obtaining the degree of Doctor of Law, he worked as a lawyer in Prague. In 1898 he joined the Social Democratic Party (a forerunner of today's

Czech Social Democratic Party The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a m ...

), of which he became an influential member. He married Rosa Sommer (born 1887), and together they had three children. When the

was formed in 1918, he was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...

to the Chamber of Deputies of the National Assembly. Meissner made important contributions to statutes and the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

of the new republic. He served as Minister of Justice of the Czechoslovak Republic from May 25, 1920, until September 15, 1920; and from July 12, 1929, until February 14, 1934. Subsequently, he was made Minister of Social Welfare in 1934. An office he held until June 4, 1935, when he was replaced by

Jaromír Nečas Jaromír Nečas (17 November 1888 in Nové Město na Moravě, Margraviate of Moravia – 30 January 1945 in Merthyr Mawr) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak politician. He was one of the leading figures in the Social Democratic Workers' Party in ...

. He then briefly held the same post again, from November 5 to December 18, at the end of 1935. In 1930 Meissner was made honorary president of the conference of the

International Association of Penal Law The International Association of Penal Law (AIDP) (french: L'Association Internationale de Droit Penal) was founded in Paris on March 14, 1924. It emerged from a reorganization of the International Union of Penal Law (UIDP), founded in Vienna in 18 ...

in Prague. He was also the managing director of a factory. By reelection (in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

) he remained a member of the National Assembly until the German invasion and subsequent occupation in 1939. Due to his Jewish origins, the Germans deported Meissner and his wife to the

; they arrived there on January 30, 1942. In Theresienstadt, Meissner was one of the elders of the

Jewish Council A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every com ...

led by Benjamin Murmelstein. At the end of the war on May 1, 1945, control of the camp was transferred from the Germans to the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

. The Commandant of the camp and the SS subsequently fled a few days later, and on May 8 Theresienstadt was liberated by Soviet troops. Meissner returned to Prague in the summer of 1945, where he lived until his death in 1950, at the age of 79.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

Alfred Meissner
on www.ghetto-theresienstadt.info

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meissner, Alfred 1871 births 1950 deaths People from Mladá Boleslav 19th-century Czech lawyers Jewish Czech politicians Czechoslovak Jews Czech Social Democratic Party MPs National Labour Party (1938) politicians Government ministers of Czechoslovakia Members of the Revolutionary National Assembly of Czechoslovakia Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1920–1925) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1925–1929) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935) Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939) 20th-century Czech lawyers Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors University of Vienna alumni Charles University alumni People from Austria-Hungary