Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus "Jaap" Burger (20 August 1904 – 19 August 1986) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

on 4 January 1975.

Early life and education

Burger attended a Gymnasium in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

from April 1917 until May 1923 and applied at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

in July 1923

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conc ...

in Law and obtaining an

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree in June 1925 before graduating with an

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in July 1929. Burger worked as a lawyer in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

from October 1929 until December 1942. On 10 May 1940

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

the Netherlands and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

fled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to escape the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. Burger joined the Dutch resistance against the German occupiers in August 1942. In January 1943 Burger escaped the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Burger worked as

political advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

for

Minister of Social Affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of s ...

Jan van den Tempel from February 1943 until August 1943.

Political career

Burger was appointed as Minister for Return Policy in the Cabinet Gerbrandy II by Queen Wilhelmina, taking office on 11 August 1943. Burger was appointed as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

following the resignation of

Hendrik van Boeijen Hendrik van Boeijen (23 May 1889 – 30 March 1947) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; ...

, taking office on 31 May 1944. On 27 January 1945 Burger was forced to resign by Prime Minister Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy following an impromptu remark during a radio address where he differentiated between "wrongful" Dutch civilians (''foute Nederlanders'') and Dutch civilians who made a mistake (''Nederlanders die een fout hebben gemaakt'') during the War, but because Prime Minister

Gerbrandy Gerbrandy is a West Frisian patronymic surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1885–1961), Dutch politician * Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (born 1967), Dutch politician See also *Gerbrandy Tower Gerbrandy is a We ...

did not discuss this with rest of the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

all Social Democratic Workers' Party cabinet members resigned in response and the cabinet continued to serve in a demissionary capacity. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Queen Wilhelmina ordered a

Recall of Parliament A recall of Parliament is a parliamentary procedure involving an extraordinary sitting of a parliament, occurring outside the time when that parliament would usually meet, such as over a weekend, or when the parliament would normally be in recess. ...

and Burger was appointment as a Member of the House of Representatives taking the place of the deceased Theo van der Waerden, taking office on 20 November 1945 serving as a

frontbencher In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then kno ...

and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for

the Interior , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Interior" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivi ...

and the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

. On 9 February 1946 the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) choose to merge in a

political alliance A political group is a group consisting of political parties or legislators of aligned ideologies. A technical group is similar to a political group, but with members of differing ideologies. International terms Equivalent terms are used differ ...

to form the Labour Party (PvdA), with Burger as one of the co-founders he became one of the unofficial Deputy Leaders of the Labour Party. Burger also became active in the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

and worked as media administrator for the public broadcaster ''

VARA Vara or VARA may refer to: Geography *Vara (river), in Liguria, Italy *Vara Parish, former municipality in Tartu County, Estonia * Vara, Estonia, village in Peipsiääre Parish, Tartu County, Estonia *Vara Municipality, municipality in western Swe ...

'' serving as Chairman of the Supervisory board from 12 February 1949 until 20 December 1966. After the Parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in the House of Representatives

Marinus van der Goes van Naters Marinus van der Goes van Naters (21 December 1900 – 12 February 2005) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later the Labour Party (PvdA) and lawyer. Background and early career He was born in Ni ...

announced he was stepping down as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following a conflict with Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party

Willem Drees Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, Gui ...

the Labour Party leadership approached

Leendert Antonie Donker Leendert Antonie Donker (7 September 1899 in Almkerk – 4 February 1956 in Rotterdam) was a Dutch politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicia ...

as his successor but the day before he took office Parliamentary leader-designate Donker took a leave of absence for health reasons and the Labour Party leadership approached Burger as interim Parliamentary leader, serving from 16 January 1951 until 18 September 1951. After the election of 1952 Donker was appointed as Minister of Justice in the Cabinet Drees II and the Labour Party leadership approached Burger as Parliamentary leader, taking office on 2 September 1952. Burger also served as President of the Benelux Parliament from 1 January 1958 until 1 January 1959. On 11 December 1958 the Cabinet Drees III fell and incumbent Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party

Drees Drees is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kelberg, whose seat ...

announced his retirement from national politics and that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1959, the Labour Party leadership approached Burger as his successor, Burger accepted and became the Leader and one of the '' Lijsttrekkers'', taking office on 22 December 1958. The Labour Party suffered a small loss, losing 2 seats and fell back as the second largest party and now had 48 seats in the House of Representatives. On 16 September 1962 Burger announced that he was stepping down as Leader and Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives following increasing criticism on his leadership. Burger remained in active in national politics, he was elected as a Member of the Senate after the Senate election of 1963, taking office on 5 June 1963 serving as a frontbencher and spokesperson for

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

and deputy spokesperson for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

European Affairs Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. Burger was selected as a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

and dual served in those positions, taking office on 20 October 1966. After the Delegation leader of the Labour Party in the European Parliament Van der Goes van Naters resigned Burger was appointed as Delegation leader, taking office on 7 May 1967. Burger was nominated as a Member of the Council of State, serving from 1 October 1970 until 1 September 1979. After his retirement Burger occupied numerous seats as a nonprofit director for supervisory boards for several international non-governmental organizations and research institutes (

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figur ...

Transnational Institute The Transnational Institute (TNI), is an international non-profit research and advocacy think tank that was founded in 1974, Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to their website, the organization promotes a "... just, democratic and sustainable wor ...

, Royal Netherlands Historical Society,

Netherlands Atlantic Association Since its establishment in 1952, the Netherlands Atlantic Association is a forum for public debate on transatlantic security issues. It provides information and encourages research on topics such as the relationship between Europe and United Stat ...

and the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

) and as an advocate and lobbyist for

European integration European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

cooperation and serving on several commissions for the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

and state commissions on behalf of the Dutch government.

Decorations

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. J.A.W. (Jaap) Burger
Parlement & Politiek *
Mr. J.A.W. Burger (PvdA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Burger, Jaap 1904 births 1986 deaths Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch expatriates in Belgium Dutch expatriates in England Dutch lobbyists Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch nonprofit executives Dutch officials of the European Union Dutch public broadcasting administrators Dutch political party founders Dutch resistance members Engelandvaarders European Union lobbyists Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Grand Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) MEPs Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Leaders of the Labour Party (Netherlands) Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) MEPs for the Netherlands 1958–1979 Ministers of the Interior of the Netherlands Ministers of State (Netherlands) Ministers without portfolio of the Netherlands People from Dordrecht People from Moerdijk Recipients of the Bronze Cross (Netherlands) Recipients of the Order of the House of Orange Recipients of the Resistance Memorial Cross Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands) politicians University of Amsterdam alumni 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch lawyers 20th-century Dutch jurists 20th-century Dutch politicians