Peter Sager (politician)

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Peter Sager (1986)

Peter Sager (born January 17, 1925 in Bern , † July 1, 2006 in Blonay , Canton of Vaud ) was a Swiss political and economic scientist, Eastern Europe expert and right-wing politician ( BGB , SVP , LPS ). He was the founder and temporary director of the Swiss East European Library and the Swiss East Institute .

Education and scientific activity

Peter Sager and his older brother Hans grew up with his mother Anna Sager (née Abderhalden) in Bern. His father Franz Sager, director of the Gurten Brewery from 1919 , died in a car accident in June 1925. After attending primary and secondary school in Bern, Peter Sager spent a year in 1940 at the Jomini boarding school in Payerne (today Ecole en Guillermaux). He then attended the commercial high school in Lausanne , where he graduated from high school in 1945.

After beginning his studies in Lausanne, he moved in 1945 after Bern and enrolled at the local university one to study economics with an emphasis on political science. Also in 1945 began his work for the "Berner Student", the newspaper of the students at the University of Bern at that time, for which he worked as an editor from 1946. In 1947 he became a member of the Zofingia student union , whose Bern section also included Achmed Huber and Jean Ziegler . With his dissertation “The theoretical foundations of Stalinism and its impact on the economic policy of the Soviet Union”, he received the title of Dr. rer. pole. He then attended the Soviet Union Program at Harvard University for two years , where u. a. Alexander Gerschenkron , Merle Fainsod , Zbigniew Brzezinski , Robert Lee Wolff and Isaiah Berlin taught.

He returned to Bern for a short time, but went back to the USA in 1956, where he was a fellow at the Russian Research Center at Harvard University for a few months. Impressed by the events in Hungary , he returned to Switzerland early to set up a political information center to educate people about communism.

Eastern European research in Switzerland

Peter Sager was the founder of the Swiss East European Library and the Swiss East Institute (SOI). While he only headed the Eastern European Library until 1963, he headed the Eastern Institute for more than 30 years, from 1959 to 1991. With his numerous publications and lectures - according to his own statements, he should have given around 2000 lectures between 1957 and 1991 - he determined the discourse the events in Eastern Europe in Switzerland.

Initially, Peter Sager was still striving for a scientific career, but after the Hungarian uprising he devoted himself more and more to the development of the SOI: “This change of role accentuated the political and enlightening note of scientific enemy research in Sager's work 'not very scientific, but a first-rate propagandist' ". Sager saw himself committed to anti-communism and polemicized domestically, particularly against the Swiss New Left , which is why he was seen by many as the “personification of the 'Cold Warrior'”. The WoZ wrote in the obituary for Sager that he was “in case of doubt not committed to democracy and human rights”, “but to Western power. In this respect he was a typical Cold Warrior, albeit significantly less simple than other members of this caste. "

In addition to building up the Eastern European Library since the late 1940s, Peter Sager has been collecting old Western European prints and maps about Russia since the 1950s. This unique “Rossica Europeana” collection has been in the possession of the Swiss East European Library since 2005.

politics

In 1945 Peter Sager joined the BGB, in which his father had been active since 1919. In 1959 and 1979 he ran for the BGB and the SVP for the National Council , but was not elected. In 1983 he was elected to the National Council for the Bern SVP, of which he was a member until 1991. From 1984 to 1991 he was a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and its Vice-President, and from 1987 to 1991 chairman of its Committee on Relations with European Non-Member States.

As an expert on Eastern Europe, he played a key role in the discussion in the Council of Europe about developments in the socialist countries at the end of the 1980s. However, his political interest extended far beyond Eastern Europe and Switzerland. He also spoke out on topics such as the Falklands War or developments in Latin America.

At the end of the 1980s, Peter Sager came into conflict with Christoph Blocher , whom he described in an interview in 2005 as “a terrible catastrophe”: “He's a centrifuge, everything that doesn't look like him or doesn't fit, he throws away.” Sager In contrast to Blocher, was a supporter of Switzerland joining the UN in 1986 and the EEA in 1992. He described the no to the EEA in 1992 as “probably the greatest foreign policy mistake in the 20th century”.

Sager resigned from the SVP in 1991 in protest. In 2003 he joined the Liberal Party of Switzerland (LPS).

Criticism and controversy

Peter Sager was considered to be one of the most controversial political figures in Swiss post-war history and was repeatedly exposed to fierce criticism, to which he often responded briskly. In 1961, for example, he was attacked by National Councilor Hans Oprecht for his stance on trade with the East. Oprecht accused him of schizophrenia, which is why Sager charged him with defamation. The lawsuit was dismissed in 1963.

Peter Sager et al. Came under criticism. a. also regarding his attitude towards the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. In several newspapers in Switzerland he was accused of supporting the contra rebels, who in turn were financed by the CIA, in his public appearances and thus of being in the service of the CIA himself. Sager responded with the "case study of defamation - news manipulation by Nicaragua propagandists in Switzerland" and charges of defamation.

According to Peter Hug, the records of the South African military intelligence service indicate that the contact was a. to Peter Sager and other right-wing politicians ascribed "great importance" for propagating a positive image of South Africa.

Others

In 1972, Peter Sager co-founded the “Foundation for Freedom and Human Rights”, which in the following years awarded numerous prizes to personalities who have made a contribution to freedom and democracy.

In 1974 Peter Sager received the Ida Somazzi Prize.

Writings by Peter Sager (selection)

  • To study political economy in the Soviet Union: basics and requirements . Publishing house Peter Haupt, Bern 1951.
  • The theoretical foundations of Stalinism and its effects on the economic policy of the Soviet Union . Dissertation. Publishing house Peter Haupt, Bern 1953.
  • The Working Capital in Soviet Industry . Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 1954.
  • Science and Politics in the Soviet Union. Communist infiltration in Africa. Two lectures. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1959.
  • Together with Richard Daetwiler: The role of economic policy and, in particular, foreign trade relations in Soviet Russian world politics. Writings of the Swiss Reconnaissance Service, Bern 1960.
  • Reports from Vietnam. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1968.
  • The technological gap between East and West . Swiss East Institute, Bern 1971.
  • Sri Lanka - test case for Moscow. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1973, ISBN 3-85913-072-2 .
  • Democratic center and totalitarianism. 5 lectures. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1974, ISBN 3-85913-086-2 .
  • Communist attempt to infiltrate Swiss churches: Documentation. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1975, ISBN 3-85913-082-X .
  • What can the churches expect from communism? Documentation. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1975.
  • Problematic use of church aid funds and information carriers. Documentation. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1975.
  • Youth riots - symptom of bad education. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1980, ISBN 3-85913-112-5 .
  • Disinformation in the media. Contribution to the definition of terms with special consideration of the monopoly media. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1981, ISBN 3-85913-116-8 .
  • Europe. Ball or player quarreling power in the crosshairs of world politics. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1982.
  • Case study Falkland. An orientation model. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1984, ISBN 3-85913-118-4 .
  • Soviet foreign policy under Gorbachev and after Chernobyl. Crises in the East-West conflict. Causes and possible solutions. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1986, ISBN 3-85913-142-7 .
  • The withholding of human rights in pre-trial detention and the penal system in the GDR. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1986.
  • Case study of a defamation. News manipulation by Nicarague propagandists in Switzerland. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1986, ISBN 3-85913-145-1 .
  • Together with Jaques Baumgartner: Radio DRS and his news. The news organization of a monopoly medium in the period from October 1 to 30, 1987. Schweizerisches Ost-Institut, Bern 1987, ISBN 3-85913-155-9 .
  • Together with Jaques Baumgartner: SRG (DRS) and UBI above all criticism? Interim report on reactions to the media analysis project. Swiss East Institute, Bern 1988, ISBN 3-85913-161-3 .
  • Nationalism - the new danger? About the causes of increased declarations of secession. Foundation for Democracy, Bern 1992, ISBN 3-85913-168-0 .
  • Life in the Twentieth Century: Facts and Opinions. Verlag Peter Haupt, Bern 1994, ISBN 3-258-05021-X .
  • Life in the Twentieth Century 2: Facts and Opinions. Verlag Peter Haupt, Bern 1996, ISBN 3-258-05317-0 .
  • Experienced, considered, read, heard: added diaries. Place of publication cannot be determined 2001.
  • How on with humanity. Empirical-sociological reflections on the problems of the present from a demographic and historical perspective . Hase and Koehler, Mainz 2002, ISBN 3-7758-1400-0 .
  • Breaking my word: Notes on the time . Place of publication cannot be determined 2002.
  • Anti-attitudes: backgrounds, differences and responsibilities as I see it . Ulrich Neuenschwander Foundation, Bern 2004.
  • Final texts: in search of clarification . Blonay 2005.

literature

  • Christophe von Werdt: Peter Sager and East Research in Switzerland . In: Religion and Society in East and West . Volume 42, Issue 3, 2014, pp. 22-23 .
  • "Blocher is a terrible disaster" . In: The Bund . January 22, 2005, p. 3 .
  • Happy life between two disasters. Peter Sager 1925-2006. To the death of a cold warrior . In: Wochenzeitung (WoZ) . July 13, 2006, p. 12 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 16.
  2. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. pp. 39-40.
  3. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 66.
  4. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. pp. 74-75.
  5. ↑ Peter Sager: The theoretical foundations of Stalinism and their effects on the economic policy of the Soviet Union. Bern, Verlag Peter Haupt, 1953. 100 pp.
  6. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 132.
  7. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 151.
  8. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century. Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 159.
  9. ↑ a b Christophe von Werdt: Peter Sager. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . February 7, 2011 , accessed July 7, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 159
  11. ↑ Christophe von Werdt: Peter Sager and the East Research in Switzerland . In: Religion and Society in East and West , vol. 42 (2014), no. 3, p. 23.
  12. ↑ Peter Sager: "Blocher is a terrible catastrophe" . In: Der Bund , January 22, 2005, p. 3.
  13. ↑ Happy life between two disasters. Peter Sager 1925-2006. On the death of a cold warrior , in: WoZ , July 13, 2006, p. 12.
  14. ^ Rossica Europeana
  15. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. pp. 63-65
  16. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century 2 . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1996. p. 176.
  17. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century. Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. pp. 184-185.
  18. ↑ See case study Falkland. An orientation model. Verlag Schweizerisches Ost-Institut, Bern 1983
  19. ↑ Case study of a defamation. News manipulation by Nicaragua propagandists in Switzerland. Verlag Schweizerisches Ost-Institut, Bern 1986.
  20. ↑ Peter Sager: "Blocher is a terrible catastrophe" . In: Der Bund , January 22, 2005, p. 3.
  21. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century 2 . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1996. pp. 215-218 and 318-329.
  22. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century 2 . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1996. p. 323.
  23. ^ "Anti-communism as anti-totalitarianism". In memory of Peter Sager. In: NZZ , July 5, 2006.
  24. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1994. p. 217.
  25. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the twentieth century 2. Haupt Verlag, Bern 1996. p. 224.
  26. ↑ Case study of a defamation. News manipulation by Nicaragua propagandists in Switzerland. Verlag Schweizerisches Ost-Institut, Bern 1986.
  27. ↑ Peter Hug: With the apartheid government against communism. Switzerland's military, arms industry and nuclear relations with South Africa and the UN's apartheid debate, 1948–1994.
  28. ↑ Peter Sager: Life in the Twentieth Century 2 . Haupt Verlag, Bern 1996. p. 16.
  29. ^ Awarded the Somazzi Prize 1974 to Peter Sager
personal data
SURNAME Sager, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss political scientist and politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 17, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Bern
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 2006
Place of death Blonay , Vaud, Switzerland