Maximilian Jaeger
Maximilian Jaeger (born May 20, 1884 in Baden AG , canton Aargau ; † October 29, 1958 in Kilchberg ZH , canton Zurich ) was a Swiss diplomat , from 1925 to 1938 envoy in Vienna and Budapest and from 1938 to 1944, according to the “Anschluss” of Austria, envoy in Budapest. He was involved in saving Hungarian Jews from the Holocaust .
Life
His father Josef Jaeger (1852-1927) was the National Councilor from 1896 to 1905 and from 1911 to 1925 for the liberal FDP. Maximilian Jaeger was married to Amélie Hofer (1877 to 1960).
Jaeger studied law in Zurich, Paris, Rome, Vienna and Berlin and was awarded a Dr. jur. PhD. In 1909 he joined the Federal Political Department, the Swiss Foreign Ministry, from 1909 to 1911 he was an attaché at the embassy of his country in Rome, from 1911 to 1913 he held the same position in Berlin and from 1913 to 1916 in Paris. From 1917 to 1922 he worked in Madrid. In 1918 he was promoted to Legation Secretary First Class and the following year to Legation Councilor.
Jaeger took up his first responsible post abroad in May 1922 as Consul General at the Swiss Consulate in Athens . From January 1925 he changed to the embassy in Vienna as envoy . As such, he was also head of mission in Budapest. After the annexation of Austria in March 1938, Switzerland moved the seat of the envoy, who was only accredited in Hungary, to Budapest. Jaeger only served a short time as Consul General in Vienna. He formally moved to Budapest in June 1938.
In Budapest the Vice Consul Carl Lutz and the Legation Secretary Harald Feller were his employees, both of whom were actively involved in the rescue of Hungarian Jews by issuing protective passports . Jaeger took part in the resistance against the deportations of Jews in Hungary by the German National Socialists and the Hungarian government under Miklós Horthy and the Arrow Cross members . He tried to protect Jews in 76 houses that had been declared quasi extraterritorial by “Switzerland”. Lutz later confirmed that Jaeger had always given him freedom of action with full mutual trust. From 1942 onwards, after the USA declared war on Hungary, he also represented American interests.
Jaeger was accredited as ambassador to Hungary until April 1945 even if he retired early as October 1944 Budapest and Harald Feller as charge d'affaires was represented. His last post abroad was Lisbon , where he was the Swiss envoy to Portugal from February 1946 to January 1948. He then resigned due to illness.
literature
- Theo Tschuy: Carl Lutz and the Jews of Budapest . 1995. 446 pages. ISBN 3-8582-3551-2
- Alexander Grossman : Just the conscience. Carl Lutz and his Budapest action. Story and portrait . Verlag im Waldgut, Wald, 1986. ISBN 3-7294-0026-6
- Bernd Haunfelder : Austria between the powers. The political reporting of the Swiss representation in Vienna 1938–1955 (= Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland. Quaderni di Dodis. Volume 4). DDS, Bern 2014, ISBN 978-3-906051-16-1 and ISBN 978-3-906051-19-2 . doi : 10.5907 / Q1
Web links
- Documents by and about Jaeger, Maximilian in the Dodis database of Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
- Biography at raoulwallenberg.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Swiss Embassy in Budapest in the Dodis database of Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland , accessed on June 10, 2015
- ^ Carl Lutz: The persecution of the Jews under Hitler in Hungary. NZZ from June 30, 1961 , accessed on June 15, 2015
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Charles-Daniel Bourcart |
Swiss envoy in Austria 1925–1938 |
--- Peter Anton Feldscher (from 1946) |
| --- |
Swiss envoy to Hungary 1938–1945 |
Ernst Feisst |
| Henri François Martin |
Swiss envoy to Portugal 1946–1948 |
Alfred Brunner |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jaeger, Maximilian |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hunter, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 20, 1884 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baden AG , Canton of Aargau |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 29, 1958 |
| Place of death | Kilchberg ZH , Canton of Zurich |