Paul Lejeune-Jung
Encyclopedia
Paul Adolf Franz Lejeune-Jung, (actually Lejeune genannt Jung, meaning called Jung) (16 March 1882 in Cologne
– 8 September 1944 Berlin
, executed) was a German
economist
, politician
, syndic in the pulp industry, and resistance fighter against Adolf Hitler
's Third Reich.
family in Berlin. Forebears had run the Jungsche Apotheke, still owned by the family, where the writer Theodor Fontane
, who trained as a pharmacist
, once worked. Committed to the Huguenot tradition, the family was French Reformed
. Lejeune-Jung's mother, however, a Catholic
Rhineland
er, had her children christened
in the Catholic Church, thereby starting the development of a Catholic twig in an otherwise Protestant family tree. As a captain in the British
merchant marine, Paul's father was for years at sea, until after being stationed in Hamburg
and Cologne, where his son Paul was born, he settled down in Rathenow
an der Havel
, where he died in 1889.
Paul Lejeune-Jung completed the requirements for his secondary school certificate (Mittlere Reife
), and following his mother's wishes, he then went to a humanistic Gymnasium
, the Theodorianum in Paderborn
, a town with a strong Catholic character. This transfer meant for Lejeune-Jung three years of Greek
, and he needed to do some considerable catching-up in Latin
. In 1901 came the Abitur
, and thereafter the beginning of Lejeune-Jung's studies in theology
, with a view to becoming a Catholic priest
. After a few semesters, however, he changed his mind and his specialization, and chose instead to go to the University of Bonn
to devote himself to studying philosophy
and history
. In the latter discipline, Lejeune-Jung earned, under the mediaevalist Alois Schulte, a doctorate
in philosophy whose theme was "Walther von Palearia, Chancellor of the Norman-Hohenstaufen Empire".
principles as he was busying himself with studies in economics
and economic history at the Humboldt University in Berlin. The year 1907 marked the beginning of his practice-oriented career. Until 1909, he worked as an economic assistant in the Imperial Colonial Office (Reichskolonialamt) and in the German Colonial Company (Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft) so that he could transfer to the pulp and paper
industry in 1910, where he met with professional success at Feldmühle AG.
In 1913, Lejeune-Jung wed Hedwig Foltmann, a salesman's daughter from Breslau (nowadays Wrocław, Poland
). They would have three daughters and five sons. After Lejeune-Jung worked in the wartime raw materials department, wool
unit, at the Prussian
War Ministry, he found his definitive professional niche as managing director of the Association of German Pulp Makers (Verein Deutscher Zellstofffabrikanten). This was also the starting point for his later political career.
(DNVP), for whom he was elected in 1924 as the only Catholic member of the Reichstag
from Middle Silesia
, representing the electoral district of Breslau. In the November election that same year, he was reëlected, and in the years that followed, he was member and chairman of the trade policy board, taking part in the International Parliamentary Conferences in London
(1926), Rio de Janeiro
(1927) and Berlin (1929).
An undated written record connected with a memorandum whose author was Lejeune-Jung bears witness to the beginning of the 1920s in Germany. In it, the proposed founding of the Imperial Board of Catholics in the German National People's Party is communicated to the Fulda Bishops' Conference. Lejeune-Jung thereby showed himself to be a representative of the so-called rightwing Catholics, who were monarchists, quite unlike the republican-oriented Catholic Centre Party
. The writers also explicitly distanced themselves from the Centre Party, "which denies the outcome of every force of God, and instead declares the disastrous heresy of the people's sovereignty." The rightwing Catholics did not stand alone with their polemic against the Centre Party. Indeed, even within the Centre Party itself by 1919, a dispute had arisen among Catholics as to Catholics' relationship with the republic
an form of government.
His political position as a Reichstag member with fundamental conservative convictions notwithstanding, Lejeune-Jung belonged to the moderate forces within the DNVP, who managed to bring themselves to practise positive coöperation in the Weimar State
. Lejeune-Jung belonged to the conservative German Gentlemen's Club (Deutscher Herrenklub). The petition for a referendum against the Young Plan
(1929), sought by DNVP chairman Alfred Hugenberg
, brought about Lejeune-Jung's – and 11 other members' – departure from the DNVP faction, which meant for him having to give up a secure place on the party list. This secessionist grouping founded on 28 January 1930 the "People's Conservative Union" ("Volkskonservative Vereinigung"), and also joined themselves on 23 July with the Westarp Group – who themselves had been barred from the DNVP – to form the "Conservative People's Party" ("Konservative Volkspartei"). The new party, however, did not fare well in the September 1930 election, having only four members returned. Lejeune-Jung, who won no seat, temporarily took up management, but then on 11 June 1932, he joined the Centre Party, with whose right wing he had already had ties even before 1920.
Chancellor Heinrich Brüning
had already named Lejeune-Jung as an expert to the German-French Economic Commission in 1931. In the analysis of German-French economic relationships, which Lejeune-Jung undertook in a chronicle under the title "Parisian Impressions, 30 March to 10 April 1930", his skill at precise observation and exact political reasoning became apparent. The core of his supranational concept envisaged coöperation among Europe
an states in the economic domain on the basis of a German-French understanding. Lejeune-Jung floated the idea for a European market in which such sectors as the potash
industry, heavy industry
, the automobile
industry and the electrical industry would play a central rôle. He had not, however, overlooked the protectionist
mindset that French
economic leaders and politicians displayed during discussions about concrete measures, which only bore on a customs union
limited to agricultural products, anyway.
and lawcourts identify the constitutional breach and overthrow the usurper."
In 1941-1942, Lejeune-Jung got his first knowledge of concrete plans for a resistance against the unjust Nazi state. Through the former trade unionist Max Habermann came contact with Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
, the former Mayor
of Leipzig
and head of the civilian resistance. At his behest, Lejeune-Jung drafted a politicoeconomic plan for the time after the dictatorship were successfully overthrown. In a memorandum from early summer 1943, called "Basic Reich Law on Reich Economic Easements", Lejeune-Jung named Reich ownership of mineral wealth, socialization of key industries, and state monopolies on transport, insurance, and foreign trade as vital bases of the new economic system. At least two meetings took place at Lejeune-Jung's house during 1943, in which important members of the resistance took part. Among them were the aforesaid Max Habermann, Hermann Kaiser, Wilhelm Leuschner
and Julius Leber
as well as Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg
, former ambassador
to Moscow, and Josef Wirmer
. Although Lejeune-Jung's revolutionary politicoeconomic visions did not meet with every resistance member's approval, Goerdeler latched onto him as the future economics minister in his post-Hitler cabinet.
to assassinate
Adolf Hitler
with a briefcase bomb at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia
, to whose concrete planning, going by statements that he made before the Volksgerichtshof, Lejeune-Jung was not privy, brought all plans for a democratic government in the German Reich to an abrupt end. Like thousands of others who were to a greater or lesser extent involved in the July 20 resistance movement as a whole, Lejeune-Jung became a victim of the Nazi rulers' barbaric revenge operation, which was unparalleled in German history
. After being arrested on 11 August 1944, he was brought to the Gestapo
prison
on Lehrter Straße in Berlin. On 3 September, the Volksgerichtshof chief prosecutor
Lautz laid charges of high treason
and treason
against him. Among the co-accused were Goerdeler, Wirmer and Leuschner, all members of the formerly foreseen new government.
In the course of the proceedings on 7 and 8 September, Lejeune-Jung became just as much a victim of Volksgerichtshof President Roland Freisler
's infamous handling of trials as many others before and after him. On 8 September 1944, the second day of the trial, the accused Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Wilhelm Leuschner, Josef Wirmer, Ulrich von Hassel and Paul Lejeune-Jung were sentenced to death by hanging
. Together with the aforesaid charges, Leujeune-Jung was also found guilty of defeatism and supporting the enemy. Leujeune-Jung, Wirmer and von Hassel were put to death that same day at Plötzensee
Prison in Berlin. Paul Lejeune-Jung went to his death with the words "My Jesus, mercy." His family's enquiries brought to light that the bodies had been taken on Hitler's orders to the Wedding Crematorium, whereafter the ashes had been scattered at an unknown location.
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
– 8 September 1944 Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, executed) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, syndic in the pulp industry, and resistance fighter against Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's Third Reich.
Early life
Lejeune-Jung's roots were in an old HuguenotHuguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
family in Berlin. Forebears had run the Jungsche Apotheke, still owned by the family, where the writer Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane
Theodor Fontane was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.-Youth:Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to an apothecary, his father's profession. He became an...
, who trained as a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
, once worked. Committed to the Huguenot tradition, the family was French Reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
. Lejeune-Jung's mother, however, a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
er, had her children christened
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
in the Catholic Church, thereby starting the development of a Catholic twig in an otherwise Protestant family tree. As a captain in the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
merchant marine, Paul's father was for years at sea, until after being stationed in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Cologne, where his son Paul was born, he settled down in Rathenow
Rathenow
Rathenow is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 26,433 .-Overview:The Protestant church of St. Marien Andreas, originally a basilica, and transformed to the Gothic style in 1517-1589, and the Roman Catholic Church of St...
an der Havel
Havel
The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...
, where he died in 1889.
Paul Lejeune-Jung completed the requirements for his secondary school certificate (Mittlere Reife
Mittlere Reife
The Mittlere Reife is a school leaving certificate in Germany that is roughly comparable with the American high school diploma. It is regularly awarded after ten years of schooling....
), and following his mother's wishes, he then went to a humanistic Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, the Theodorianum in Paderborn
Paderborn
Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
, a town with a strong Catholic character. This transfer meant for Lejeune-Jung three years of Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, and he needed to do some considerable catching-up in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
. In 1901 came the Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
, and thereafter the beginning of Lejeune-Jung's studies in theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, with a view to becoming a Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. After a few semesters, however, he changed his mind and his specialization, and chose instead to go to the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
to devote himself to studying philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. In the latter discipline, Lejeune-Jung earned, under the mediaevalist Alois Schulte, a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in philosophy whose theme was "Walther von Palearia, Chancellor of the Norman-Hohenstaufen Empire".
Professional career
Lejeune-Jung broadened his understanding of scientificScience
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
principles as he was busying himself with studies in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
and economic history at the Humboldt University in Berlin. The year 1907 marked the beginning of his practice-oriented career. Until 1909, he worked as an economic assistant in the Imperial Colonial Office (Reichskolonialamt) and in the German Colonial Company (Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft) so that he could transfer to the pulp and paper
Pulp and Paper
Pulp and Paper is the name of the largest United States-based trade magazine for the pulp and paper industry. See also: Paper engineering, Pulp and Paper Merit Badge...
industry in 1910, where he met with professional success at Feldmühle AG.
In 1913, Lejeune-Jung wed Hedwig Foltmann, a salesman's daughter from Breslau (nowadays Wrocław, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
). They would have three daughters and five sons. After Lejeune-Jung worked in the wartime raw materials department, wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
unit, at the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
War Ministry, he found his definitive professional niche as managing director of the Association of German Pulp Makers (Verein Deutscher Zellstofffabrikanten). This was also the starting point for his later political career.
Political career
Early on, Lejeune-Jung had connections with the German National People's PartyGerman National People's Party
The German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...
(DNVP), for whom he was elected in 1924 as the only Catholic member of the Reichstag
Reichstag (Weimar Republic)
The Reichstag was the parliament of Weimar Republic .German constitution commentators consider only the Reichstag and now the Bundestag the German parliament. Another organ deals with legislation too: in 1867-1918 the Bundesrat, in 1919–1933 the Reichsrat and from 1949 on the Bundesrat...
from Middle Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
, representing the electoral district of Breslau. In the November election that same year, he was reëlected, and in the years that followed, he was member and chairman of the trade policy board, taking part in the International Parliamentary Conferences in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(1926), Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
(1927) and Berlin (1929).
An undated written record connected with a memorandum whose author was Lejeune-Jung bears witness to the beginning of the 1920s in Germany. In it, the proposed founding of the Imperial Board of Catholics in the German National People's Party is communicated to the Fulda Bishops' Conference. Lejeune-Jung thereby showed himself to be a representative of the so-called rightwing Catholics, who were monarchists, quite unlike the republican-oriented Catholic Centre Party
Centre Party (Germany)
The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
. The writers also explicitly distanced themselves from the Centre Party, "which denies the outcome of every force of God, and instead declares the disastrous heresy of the people's sovereignty." The rightwing Catholics did not stand alone with their polemic against the Centre Party. Indeed, even within the Centre Party itself by 1919, a dispute had arisen among Catholics as to Catholics' relationship with the republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
an form of government.
His political position as a Reichstag member with fundamental conservative convictions notwithstanding, Lejeune-Jung belonged to the moderate forces within the DNVP, who managed to bring themselves to practise positive coöperation in the Weimar State
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. Lejeune-Jung belonged to the conservative German Gentlemen's Club (Deutscher Herrenklub). The petition for a referendum against the Young Plan
Young Plan
The Young Plan was a program for settlement of German reparations debts after World War I written in 1929 and formally adopted in 1930. It was presented by the committee headed by American Owen D. Young. After the Dawes Plan was put into operation , it became apparent that Germany could not meet...
(1929), sought by DNVP chairman Alfred Hugenberg
Alfred Hugenberg
Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg was an influential German businessman and politician. Hugenberg, a leading figure within nationalist politics in Germany for the first few decades of the twentieth century, became the country's leading media proprietor within the inter-war period...
, brought about Lejeune-Jung's – and 11 other members' – departure from the DNVP faction, which meant for him having to give up a secure place on the party list. This secessionist grouping founded on 28 January 1930 the "People's Conservative Union" ("Volkskonservative Vereinigung"), and also joined themselves on 23 July with the Westarp Group – who themselves had been barred from the DNVP – to form the "Conservative People's Party" ("Konservative Volkspartei"). The new party, however, did not fare well in the September 1930 election, having only four members returned. Lejeune-Jung, who won no seat, temporarily took up management, but then on 11 June 1932, he joined the Centre Party, with whose right wing he had already had ties even before 1920.
Chancellor Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning
Heinrich Brüning was Chancellor of Germany from 1930 to 1932, during the Weimar Republic. He was the longest serving Chancellor of the Weimar Republic, and remains a controversial figure in German politics....
had already named Lejeune-Jung as an expert to the German-French Economic Commission in 1931. In the analysis of German-French economic relationships, which Lejeune-Jung undertook in a chronicle under the title "Parisian Impressions, 30 March to 10 April 1930", his skill at precise observation and exact political reasoning became apparent. The core of his supranational concept envisaged coöperation among Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an states in the economic domain on the basis of a German-French understanding. Lejeune-Jung floated the idea for a European market in which such sectors as the potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
industry, heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
, the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
industry and the electrical industry would play a central rôle. He had not, however, overlooked the protectionist
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
mindset that French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
economic leaders and politicians displayed during discussions about concrete measures, which only bore on a customs union
Customs union
A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas...
limited to agricultural products, anyway.
Resistance activities
With the rise of the Nazi dictatorship after 30 January 1933, Lejeune-Jung was pushed out, as were so many in the political fringes. He expressed his hostility towards the Nazi régime in a letter to his friend Treviranus: "The breach of the constitutional order the Reich will, to the bitter end, hand over to a madman, unless WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and lawcourts identify the constitutional breach and overthrow the usurper."
In 1941-1942, Lejeune-Jung got his first knowledge of concrete plans for a resistance against the unjust Nazi state. Through the former trade unionist Max Habermann came contact with Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime...
, the former Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
and head of the civilian resistance. At his behest, Lejeune-Jung drafted a politicoeconomic plan for the time after the dictatorship were successfully overthrown. In a memorandum from early summer 1943, called "Basic Reich Law on Reich Economic Easements", Lejeune-Jung named Reich ownership of mineral wealth, socialization of key industries, and state monopolies on transport, insurance, and foreign trade as vital bases of the new economic system. At least two meetings took place at Lejeune-Jung's house during 1943, in which important members of the resistance took part. Among them were the aforesaid Max Habermann, Hermann Kaiser, Wilhelm Leuschner
Wilhelm Leuschner
Wilhelm Leuschner was a social-democratic politician who opposed the Third Reich....
and Julius Leber
Julius Leber
Julius Leber was a German politician of the SPD and a member of the German Resistance against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
as well as Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg
Friedrich Werner von der Schulenburg
Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenburg was a German diplomat who served as the last German ambassador to the Soviet Union before Operation Barbarossa. He began his diplomatic career before World War I, serving as consul and ambassador in several countries...
, former ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Moscow, and Josef Wirmer
Josef Wirmer
Josef Wirmer was a German jurist and resistance fighter against the Nazi régime.- Life :Born in Paderborn, Josef Wirmer was from a Catholic family of teachers. His father was a Gymnasium headmaster. After his Abitur in Warburg he studied law in Freiburg and Berlin...
. Although Lejeune-Jung's revolutionary politicoeconomic visions did not meet with every resistance member's approval, Goerdeler latched onto him as the future economics minister in his post-Hitler cabinet.
Arrest, trial, and death
The failure of the July 20 PlotJuly 20 Plot
On 20 July 1944, an attempt was made to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of the Third Reich, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia. The plot was the culmination of the efforts of several groups in the German Resistance to overthrow the Nazi-led German government...
to assassinate
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
with a briefcase bomb at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, to whose concrete planning, going by statements that he made before the Volksgerichtshof, Lejeune-Jung was not privy, brought all plans for a democratic government in the German Reich to an abrupt end. Like thousands of others who were to a greater or lesser extent involved in the July 20 resistance movement as a whole, Lejeune-Jung became a victim of the Nazi rulers' barbaric revenge operation, which was unparalleled in German history
History of Germany
The concept of Germany as a distinct region in central Europe can be traced to Roman commander Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul , which he had conquered. The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the...
. After being arrested on 11 August 1944, he was brought to the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
on Lehrter Straße in Berlin. On 3 September, the Volksgerichtshof chief prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
Lautz laid charges of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
and treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
against him. Among the co-accused were Goerdeler, Wirmer and Leuschner, all members of the formerly foreseen new government.
In the course of the proceedings on 7 and 8 September, Lejeune-Jung became just as much a victim of Volksgerichtshof President Roland Freisler
Roland Freisler
Roland Freisler was a prominent and notorious Nazi lawyer and judge. He was State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice and President of the People's Court , which was set up outside constitutional authority...
's infamous handling of trials as many others before and after him. On 8 September 1944, the second day of the trial, the accused Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, Wilhelm Leuschner, Josef Wirmer, Ulrich von Hassel and Paul Lejeune-Jung were sentenced to death by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
. Together with the aforesaid charges, Leujeune-Jung was also found guilty of defeatism and supporting the enemy. Leujeune-Jung, Wirmer and von Hassel were put to death that same day at Plötzensee
Plötzensee
Plötzensee is a small glacial lake in Berlin. It is situated near the Rehberge public park in the former borough of Wedding, now a part of Mitte. The name stems from Plötze, one name for the roach in German, as the lake formerly teemed with it....
Prison in Berlin. Paul Lejeune-Jung went to his death with the words "My Jesus, mercy." His family's enquiries brought to light that the bodies had been taken on Hitler's orders to the Wedding Crematorium, whereafter the ashes had been scattered at an unknown location.
Written works
- Kolonial- und Reichskonferenzen. Wege und Ziele des britischen Imperialismus. Berlin 1917;
- Walther von Palearia, Kanzler des normannisch-staufischen Reiches (dissertation), Bonn o. J.
Literature
- Becker, J.: Die Deutsche Zentrumspartei 1918-1933, in: aus Politik und Zeitgeschehen, supplement to weekly newspaper 'Das Parlament' B 11/68, Bonn 1968, 3ff.
- Bracher, Karl Dietrich: Das Gewissen steht auf. Lebensbilder aus dem deutschen Widerstand 1933-1945. Mainz 1984; - Chronicle of the Archbishopric of Berlin, Internet: http://www.kath.de/bistum/berlin
- Hoffmann, Peter: Widerstand, Staatsstreich, Attentat, München 1985
- Hohmann, G.F. et al.: Deutsche Patrioten in Widerstand und Verfolgung 1933-1945, Paderborn 1986
- Jonas, E.: Die Volkskonservativen 1928-1933, Düsseldorf 1965
- Leber, A. (publisher): Das Gewissen steht auf, 64 Lebensbilder aus dem Deutschen Widerstand 1933-1945, Berlin-Frankfurt 1955
- Leber, A. (publisher): Das Gewissen entscheidet, Bereiche des deutschen Widerstandes von 1933-1945 in Lebensbildern, Berlin-Frankfurt 1957
- Maier, H.. Symbol der inneren Reinigung - Die moralischen und juristischen Aspekte des 20. Juli 1944, in: Anstöße, Beiträge zur Kultur- und Verfassungspolitik, Stuttgart 1978, 44 ff.
- Morsey, R.. Die Deutsche Zentrumspartei 1917-1923, Düsseldorf 1966
- Morsey, R. (publisher): Zeitgeschichte in Lebensbildern, Aus dem deutschen Katholizismus des 20. Jahrhunderts, Mainz 1973
- Olles, Werner: Katholizismus, Abendland, Nation, in: Düsseldorfer Tageblatt v. 19 September 1997
- Peter, K.H. (publisher): Spiegelbild einer Verschwörung. Die Kaltenbrunner-Berichte an Bormann und Hitler über das Attentat vom 20. Juli 1944, Stuttgart 1961
- Schmädeke, Jürgen u. Steinbach, Peter (publishers): der Widerstand gegen den Nationalsozialismus, München 1986