Gerhard Jahn (10 September 1927 – 20 October 1998) was a German politician and a member of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD). He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1967 to 1969, and Federal Minister of Justice from 1969 to 1974.

Early life

Jahn was born on September 10, 1927, at

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, to Ernst and Lilli Jahn, a couple of medical practitioners. Together with four younger siblings, he stayed with his mother after his parents divorced in 1942. His mother, a German Jew, had been banned from her medical occupation since the Nazi take-over, and lost her and the children's home during a bombing raid in 1943. The Nazis then subjected Lilli Jahn to

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

, and sent her to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

in 1944, where she died in July after three months. After his mother was deported, Gerhard and his siblings lived with their father and his new wife. Gerhard Jahn studied at a grammar school (''Humanistisches Gymnasium''), before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During the war, he was drafted as an airforce auxiliary manning anti-aircraft guns in 1943–44, and later sent to the

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the Economy of Nazi Germany, German economy, militarise the wo ...

. After the war, he worked in a job in the food office of the local town hall.

Education and law career

After graduating from school with

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1947, he studied law at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...

. In the same year, he joined the

(SPD), and became an active member while at the university. He took multiple jobs to support himself. In 1949, he was elected leader of the student movement of the SPD, the

Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund The Sozialistische Deutsche Studentenbund — the Socialist German Students' Union or Socialist German Students' League — was founded in 1946 in Hamburg, Germany, as the collegiate branch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the ...

(SDS). Since 1950, he held the office of a secretary of the local SPD group Marburg-Frankenberg. He graduated from Marburg University. In 1956 he qualified as a lawyer, and began practicing law.

Political offices

Jahn was elected to the Federal German parliament,

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

, in 1957, where he was a member until 1990. He served on various parliamentary committees at the Bundestag. In 1960 he was elected to chair committee on restitution in the public service. Alfred Frenzel, who was Jahn's predecessor was exposed as a

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

spy. He represented the SPD in various legal cases. In addition to his federal offices, he was chairmen of the SPD-fraction of the

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

town parliament since 1962. In 1963, while Jahn was a member of the parliamentary committee for defense, he involved himself in a scandal by handing over a confidential document to the press, which proved that the former minister for defense,

Franz Josef Strauß Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions between ...

, had knowingly made untrue statements. Jahn was Parliamentary State Secretary to Minister for Foreign Affairs

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

from 1967 to 1969. When Brandt became

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

in 1969, he selected Jahn as Federal Minister of Justice. While in this position, he initiated reforms of the laws on marriage and divorce as well as on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. On the latter issue, Jahn favoured a modified legalising abortion in several exceptional cases - the so-called ''Indikationsregelung'', but his cabinet colleagues insisted on a general legalisation during the first trimester. This ''Fristenregelung'' was passed by parliament but was later held up by the Constitutional Court, so that Jahn's position eventually prevailed. Jahn decided to withdraw from the office when chancellor Brandt resigned in 1974.

Other positions

Jahn was founding chairman of the German-Israeli Society (''Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft'') in 1966, and president of the German Lessee Union (''Deutscher Mieterbund'') from 1979 to 1995.

Later life

After Jahn left his position of Minister of Justice, he continued to work in the parliamentary committees, and became the managing director of the SPD-fraction. He served as West German representative to the United Nations Human Rights Commission twice (1975–77 and 1979–82). He was one of the signatories of the agreement to convene a convention for drafting a world constitution. As a result, for the first time in human history, a

World Constituent Assembly The World Constitutional Convention (WCC), also known as the World Constituent Assembly (WCA) or the First World Constituent Assembly, took place in Interlaken, Switzerland and Wolfach, Germany, 1968. The convention aimed to foster global coopera ...

convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

Death

Jahn died from cancer on 20 October 1998.

References

External links

Publications by Gerhard Jahn

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jahn, Gerhard 1927 births 1998 deaths Politicians from Kassel German people of Jewish descent Justice ministers of Germany Members of the Bundestag for Hesse Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund members University of Marburg alumni Deaths from cancer in Germany Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German lawyers Members of the Bundestag for the Social Democratic Party of Germany Luftwaffenhelfer Reich Labour Service members World Constitutional Convention call signatories