Wenzel Jaksch
Encyclopedia
Wenzel Jaksch was a Sudeten German Socialdemocrat
politician and the President of the Federation of Expellees
in 1964-66.
, Bohemia
, Austria-Hungary
(today Horní Stropnice, Czech Republic
) and started to work as a construction worker in the age of 14 in Vienna
. He joined the Austrian Social Democratic Party in 1913 and served in the Austrian Army in World War I
, where he was badly wounded. After World War I he started to work as a journalist for a German-language Socialdemocratic newspaper in Czechoslovakia
In 1929 he was elected as a member of the Parliament of Czechoslovakia in Prague
representing the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic and became its chairman in 1938.Biography at Austrian SPÖ Jaksch opposed the growing influence of Nazis in Sudetengerman Politics. After Germany invaded Czechoslovakia
in March 1939, Wenzel escaped to Poland and after the German invasion of Poland to Great Britain
, where he represented the interests of the Sudetengermans at the Czechoslovak government-in-exile
.
After World War II
the Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia
. Influenced by Edvard Beneš
, the British Government refused to allow Jaksch's return to Western Germany
until 1949. In 1949 he became responsible for Refugee affairs in the Socialdemocratic Party of Germany, director of the Hessian
State Office for Expellees, Refugees and Evacuees in 1950-53 and founded the Seliger-Gemeinde, an Association of Sudeten German Socialdemocrats, in 1951. In 1957 he was elected a member of the Bundestag
, in 1961 he became the Vice-President of the Sudeten German Federal Assembly and in 1964 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 Sudetengerman Council.
Jaksch died in a road accident in Wiesbaden
.
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
politician and the President of the Federation of Expellees
Federation of Expellees
The Federation of Expellees or Bund der Vertriebenen is a non-profit organization formed to represent the interests of Germans who either fled their homes in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, or were expelled following World War II....
in 1964-66.
Biography
Jaksch was born in LangstrobnitzHorní Stropnice
Horní Stropnice is a village and municipality in České Budějovice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 1,592 ....
, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(today Horní Stropnice, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
) and started to work as a construction worker in the age of 14 in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. He joined the Austrian Social Democratic Party in 1913 and served in the Austrian Army in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where he was badly wounded. After World War I he started to work as a journalist for a German-language Socialdemocratic newspaper in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
In 1929 he was elected as a member of the Parliament of Czechoslovakia in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
representing the German Social Democratic Workers Party in the Czechoslovak Republic and became its chairman in 1938.Biography at Austrian SPÖ Jaksch opposed the growing influence of Nazis in Sudetengerman Politics. After Germany invaded Czechoslovakia
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia in what is today the Czech Republic...
in March 1939, Wenzel escaped to Poland and after the German invasion of Poland to Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, where he represented the interests of the Sudetengermans at the Czechoslovak government-in-exile
Czechoslovak government-in-exile
The Czechoslovak government-in-exile was an informal title conferred upon the Czechoslovak National Liberation Committee, initially by British diplomatic recognition. The name came to be used by other World War II Allies as they subsequently recognized it...
.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
. Influenced by Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš
Edvard Beneš was a leader of the Czechoslovak independence movement, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the second President of Czechoslovakia. He was known to be a skilled diplomat.- Youth :...
, the British Government refused to allow Jaksch's return to Western Germany
Western Germany
The geographic term Western Germany is used to describe a region in the west of Germany. The exact area defined by the term is not constant, but it usually includes, but does not have the borders of, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse...
until 1949. In 1949 he became responsible for Refugee affairs in the Socialdemocratic Party of Germany, director of the Hessian
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
State Office for Expellees, Refugees and Evacuees in 1950-53 and founded the Seliger-Gemeinde, an Association of Sudeten German Socialdemocrats, in 1951. In 1957 he was elected a member of the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
, in 1961 he became the Vice-President of the Sudeten German Federal Assembly and in 1964 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 Sudetengerman Council.
Jaksch died in a road accident in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
.
Awards
- Großkreuz mit Stern des BundesverdienstkreuzBundesverdienstkreuzThe Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
- Ehrenplakette des Bundes der Vertriebenen
- Ehrenbrief der Sudetendeutschen LandsmannschaftSudetendeutsche LandsmannschaftThe Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft is an organization representing Sudeten German refugees from the Sudetenland. Most of them fled to West Germany from Czechoslovakia during the Expulsion of Germans after World War II....
- Rudolf Lodgmann Plakette
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, Aufsatz 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 - Untertitel: Richters neue Legende, SPD-Faltblatt, Bonn, ca. 1950
- Heimatrecht. Anspruch und Wirklichkeit (mit 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, ISBN 3-7844-2304-3. (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, 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.