Herbert Czaja
Herbert Czaja PhD | |
---|---|
![]() Czaja CDU electoral poster, 1976 | |
Member of the Bundestag | |
In office 6 October 1953 – 20 December 1990 | |
Personal details | |
Born | 5 November 1914 Christian Democratic Union |
Alma mater | Jagiellonian University |
Awards | Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany |
Scientific career | |
Doctoral advisor | Adam Kleczkowski |
Herbert Czaja (November 5, 1914 – April 18, 1997) was a German Christian democratic politician. Czaja was born to a multi-ethnic and multilingual family in
He served as a member of the city council of Stuttgart from 1947 to 1953, as a member of the Bundestag from 1953 to 1990, was a long-time member of the Central Committee of German Catholics from 1948, and was President of the Federation of Expellees from 1970 to 1994. His political activity focused both on the refugees from Eastern Europe and on Catholic affairs. In the official propaganda of the Polish People's Republic, Czaja was portrayed as one of West Germany's most important politicians and his influence often exaggerated. After the Cold War, Czaja was involved in Polish-German reconciliation efforts. He was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1984.
Early life in Austria-Hungary and Poland
Herbert Czaja was born in Teschen (Cieszyn) in Austria-Hungary to a bilingual family of Polish, Czech and German origin. Cieszyn was a typically multi-ethnic city where many had both Polish and German (Austrian) roots. His father Albert Czaja was a respected notary who was fluent in Polish, German and Czech;[1] his mother was Louise née Smekal. His father's name Czaja is Polish, while his mother's name Smekal is of Czech origin.[2] Herbert Czaja became a Polish citizen at age four when his hometown became part of the Second Polish Republic. He was fluent in Polish and German.
Czaja studied
During World War II, when his hometown was annexed by Germany, he was considered part of the ethnic German community by the German authorities. From October 1940 to March 1941 Czaja worked as a secondary school teacher in Zakopane and then from March 1941 to May 1942 in Przemyśl. He continued to be involved in anti-Nazi activities, but fearing prosecution for treason and upon the advice of a friend, he volunteered for the Wehrmacht in 1942 to get away from Silesia, serving until he was severely wounded in early 1945.[1]
Expulsion from Poland
When Czaja returned to Cieszyn, his parents' home had been destroyed, communists had taken control over Poland and the situation of ethnic Germans in Silesia was dire. The boundaries between Germans and Poles were blurry in multi-ethnic families like the Czajas, and Czaja appears to initially have been considered Polish upon his return to his hometown. Czaja's mentor and doctoral advisor Adam Kleczkowski offered him a position at the Jagiellonian University to undertake a
Political career in West Germany
Herbert Czaja settled in
He was a member of the city council of Stuttgart from 1947 to 1953. He also co-founded the Union of Expellees in the CDU and chaired the branch in Northern Württemberg. In 1948 he was elected a member of the Central Committee of German Catholics, an office he held for decades. His political career in West Germany focused equally on refugee affairs and on Catholic issues. He was also a central member of the Ackermann Community, a Catholic organisation promoting ties between Germans and Czechs.
He served as a member of the Bundestag, the Parliament of West Germany, from 1953 to 1990. During this time he represented Stuttgart-Nord from 1983 to 1990. He also served as spokesman of the Landsmannschaft der Oberschlesier from 1969 and was president of the Federation of Expellees (Bund der Vertriebenen, BdV) from 1970 to 1994.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Czaja voted, along with several conservative politicians, against the recognition of the
During the
After the end of the Cold War, he was active in Polish-German reconciliation efforts in the 1990s, and worked as an adviser for the authorities of
Family
Czaja died in Stuttgart in 1997, survived by a wife and ten children. His oldest daughter, Christine Maria Czaja, published a biography of her father in 2003, titled Herbert Czaja: Anwalt für Menschenrechte (Herbert Czaja: Advocate for Human Rights).
Honours
Herbert Czaja was awarded the Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1968. He was awarded the Commander's Cross of the same order in 1973 and the Knight Commander's Cross in 1984. He was awarded the Medal of Merit of Baden-Württemberg in 1988. A street in Stuttgart, Dr.-Herbert–Czaja-Weg, was named in his honour in 2002.
Literature
- Christine Maria Czaja (2003): Herbert Czaja: Anwalt für Menschenrechte. Kulturstiftung der deutschen Vertriebenen
- Waldemar Zylla (ed.), Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstag von Dr. Herbert Czaja am 5. November 1984, Oberschlesischer Heimatverlag, 1984
- Gottfried Zieger, Boris Meissner, Dieter Blumenwitz (eds.), Deutschland als Ganzes: Rechtliche und historische Überlegungen – anläßlich des 70. Geburtstages von Herbert Czaja am 5 November 1984, Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1985
References
- ^ a b c Dr. Herbert Czaja
- ^ Dr Herbert Czaja
- ^ Jeszcze Steinbach nie zginęła 09-03-2009 Rzeczpospolita