Wenzel Jaksch (25 September 1896 – 27 November 1966) was a
Sudeten German
German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part ...
Social Democrat
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
politician and the president of the
Federation of Expellees in 1964 to 1966.
[Biography at spd-wiesbaden.de]
Biography
Jaksch was born in Langstrobnitz,
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
,
Austria-Hungary
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 ...
(now
Horní Stropnice,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
), and started to work as a construction worker in the age of 14 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He joined the
Austrian Social Democratic Party
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
in 1913 and served in the Austrian Army in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, where he was badly wounded. After World War I he started to work as a journalist for a German language Social-Democratic newspaper in
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
.
[
In 1929 he was elected as a member of the Parliament of Czechoslovakia in ]Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
representing the , of which he became the chairman in 1938.[Biography at Austrian SPÖ]
Jaksch opposed the growing influence of Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in Sudeten German Politics.[Biography at Friedrich_Ebert_Stiftung]
After Germany invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Wenzel escaped to Poland, and after the German invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week afte ...
to Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, where he represented the interests of the Sudeten Germans in the Czechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile, sometimes styled officially as the Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia ( cz, Prozatímní vláda Československa, sk, Dočasná vláda Československa), was an informal title conferred upon the Czechos ...
.[ During the war Jaksch's relations with the Czechs became strained as he opposed to acknowledge the pre-Munich borders of Czechoslovakia of his homeland.
After ]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 ...
the Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia. Influenced by Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1945 to 1948. He also led the Czechoslovak government-in-exile 1939 to 1945 ...
, the British Government refused to allow Jaksch's return to Western Germany
The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...
until 1949. In 1949 he became responsible for Refugee affairs in the Social-Democratic Party of Germany, in 1950-53 he became director of the Hessian
A Hessian is an inhabitant of the German state of Hesse.
Hessian may also refer to:
Named from the toponym
*Hessian (soldier), eighteenth-century German regiments in service with the British Empire
**Hessian (boot), a style of boot
**Hessian f ...
State Office for Expellees, Refugees and Evacuees, and in 1951 he founded the ''Seliger-Gemeinde'', an Association of Sudeten German Social Democrats. In April 1960 Jaksch regretted that West German politicians officially claimed only the 1937 borders of former 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 ...
and declared that "No Sudeten German would go back to his homeland if he felt that he would belong to a minority", demanding annexation and union (Anschluss) of "German speaking territories" with Germany as a "sensible solution".[Britain, Germany and the Cold War: the search for a European Détente, 1949-1967, page 77, R. Gerald Hughes, 2007 Routledge] In 1957 he was elected a member of the Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
, in 1961 he became the Vice-President of the Sudeten German Federal Assembly and in 1964 he became the President of the German Federation of Expellees.[
Jaksch was the president of the German Foundation for European Peace Questions (Deutsche Stiftung für Europäische Friedensfragen) and a member of the Sudeten German Council.][
Jaksch died in a road accident in ]Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
.[
]
Awards
* Grand Merit Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...
* Badge of Honour of the Federation of Expellees (''Bund der Vertriebenen'')
* Honorary letter of the Sudeten German Homeland Association
* Rudolf Lodgmann Badge [
* Jaksch Wenzel Jaksch prize of Seliger community is named (mentality Community Sudeten Social Democrats).
* Streets named in his honour in ]Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
, Nauheim
Nauheim is a municipality in Groß-Gerau district in Hesse, Germany.
Nauheim is located southwest of Frankfurt am Main and is part of the metropolitan region of Frankfurt. It lies in the Hessian Ried.
Geography
Location
Nauheim lies 3 ...
, Bad Vilbel and Griesheim (where he lived)
* Memorial plaque at Lindauer 34-36 in Ottakring
Ottakring () is the 16th District in the city of Vienna, Austria (german: 16. Bezirk, Ottakring). It is located west of the central districts, north of Penzing and south of Hernals. Ottakring has some heavily populated urban areas with many resid ...
(the 16th district of Vienna) at the great social democrats
Publications
*"Was kommt nach Hitler?" In: Jitka Vondrová, ''Češi a sudetoněmecká otázka'', 1939
*''Can industrial peoples be transferred? The future of the Sudeten population'', Executive of the Sudeten Social Democratic Party (Herausg.), London 1943
*"Mass transfer of minorities", in: ''Socialist commentary'' (4 S.), London, ca. 1944
*''Sudeten labour and the Sudeten problem. A report to international labour'', Herausg.: Executive of the Sudeten German Social Democracy Party, London 1945. - 47 S.
*''Wir heischen Gehör - ein wichtiges historisches Dokument für die Wiedergutmachung der völkerrechtswidrigen Ausweisungen''; Petition an die Vereinten Nationen / von Wenzel Jaksch (37 S.). München, Verl. "Das Volk", 1948.
*''Sozialdemokratie und Sudetenproblem'' (15 S.), Frankfurt a. M./Höchst, 1949
*''Der Dolchstoß gegen den Frieden. Richters neue Legende'', SPD-Faltblatt, Bonn, ca. 1950
*''Heimatrecht. Anspruch und Wirklichkeit'' (with Erich von Hoffmann), Verlag der Altherrenschaft bündischer Studentenverbände, Erlangen 1957.
*''Europas Weg nach Potsdam'' (533 S.), 1958; 4. Auflage (mit einem Nachruf von Willy Brandt), München 1990, . (Das Hauptwerk von Wenzel Jaksch)
*''Der 4. März 1919 und das Elend der deutschen Geschichtsschreibung'', Verlag des Münchner Buchgewerbehauses, München 1959.
*"Deutsche Ostpolitik – ein Experiment in Sachlichkeit", in: ''Die Neue Gesellschaft'', Nr. 12/1965, S. 800–802.
*''Gedanken zur Ostpolitik'', Verlag „Die Brücke“, Hg.: Seliger-Gemeinde, 32 Seiten, ca. 1966
Sources
*Martin K. Bachstein: ''Wenzel Jaksch und die sudetendeutsche Sozialdemokratie.'' Munich, 1974.
*Detlef Brandes: ''Der Weg zur Vertreibung 1938–1945. Pläne und Entscheidungen zum Transfer der Deutschen aus der Tschechoslowakei und aus Polen.'' Munich, 2001.
*Edmund Jauernig: ''Sozialdemokratie und Revanchismus. Zur Geschichte und Politik Wenzel Jakschs und der Seliger Gemeinde.'' Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften
(DVW) (English: ''German Publisher of Sciences'') was a scientific publishing house in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR/).
Situated in Berlin, DVW was founded as (VEB) on 1 January 1954 as the successor of the main department of "un ...
, East Berlin 1968.
*Hans-Werner Martin: ''„… nicht spurlos aus der Geschichte verschwinden“: Wenzel Jaksch und die Integration der sudetendeutschen Demokraten in die SPD nach dem II. Weltkrieg (1945–1949).'' Lang, Frankfurt, 1996.
*Friedrich Prinz: ''Benes, Jaksch und die Sudetendeutschen.'' Stuttgart: Seliger-Archiv, 1975, 76 S.
*Emil Werner: ''Wenzel Jaksch'', Bonn 1991.
References
External links
*
Biography by Martin K. Bachstein
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaksch, Wenzel
1896 births
1966 deaths
People from České Budějovice District
People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
German Bohemian people
Sudeten German people
Social Democratic Party of Austria politicians
German Social Democratic Workers' Party in the Czechoslovak Republic politicians
Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1929–1935)
Members of the Chamber of Deputies of Czechoslovakia (1935–1939)
Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia
Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
German people of German Bohemian descent
Road incident deaths in Germany
Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany