Friedrich Gustav Jaeger

Infobox Military Person
name=Friedrich Gustav Jaeger
lived=25 September 1895 – 21 August 1944
placeofbirth=Kirchberg an der Jagst
placeofdeath=Berlin (Plötzensee Prison)


caption=Colonel Friedrich Gustav Jaeger, 1895-1944
nickname=
allegiance=flagicon|German Empire German Empire (to 1918)
flagicon|Germany Weimar Republic (to 1933)
flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
branch=Heer
serviceyears=1914-1944
rank=Oberst
commands=II./Infanterie-Regiment 8
unit=
battles=World War I
World War II
awards=Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
laterwork=

Friedrich Gustav Jaeger (25 September, 1895 – 21 August, 1944) was a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany and a member of the July 20 Plot.

Life

Friedrich Gustav Jaeger – sometimes known as "Fritz" – was born in Kirchberg an der Jagst, a small town in eastern Württemberg (now part of Baden-Württemberg) to the district doctor (later chief doctor), Franz Jaeger and his wife Sofie Katharina (née Schirndinger von Schirnding). In 1906, the family moved to Stuttgart, where Jaeger went to the "Eberhard-Ludwigs-Gymnasium".

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Jaeger did the "Notabitur" (a special, harder wartime version of the "Abitur"), declared himself a volunteer, and became an ensign in Infantry Regiment 119. During the war, he was deployed in Flanders and France, and also at the Battles of the Isonzo on the Italian Front in Slovenia. Jaeger was wounded six times and received numerous decorations.

After the war's end, he studied agriculture in Tettnang. In 1919, Jaeger's only son, Krafft Werner Jaeger, was born. In the same year, Jaeger joined the German Workers' Party ("Deutsche Arbeiterpartei"), which later called itself the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP). Although he was a leading member of the Munich Freikorps Oberland‎, Jaeger refused to participate in the Kapp Putsch and quit the NSDAP.

In the years that followed, Jaeger was a resolute opponent of the Nazis. In 1934, he went out of his way to get himself back into the Reichswehr, since he was foreseen as "Reichssportführer" Hans von Tschammer und Osten's adjutant. He was taken on by Infantry Regiment 29 as a captain. In 1936, he was promoted to major.

Resistance activities

In 1938, after the Sudeten Crisis, Jaeger took part in the German troop invasion of Czechoslovakia's Sudeten-German areas. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he was deployed in the invasion of Poland. From 1939, Jaeger forged contacts with resistance elements within the Wehrmacht, including Hans Oster, Friedrich Olbricht and Ludwig Beck. In 1940, he participated in the Battle of Francewhere he earned The Knights Cross (German Medal Of Honor) and in 1941, he was deployed in the Russian Campaign.

After his wife's death on 17 February 1942, Jaeger spoke with his son for the first time about his contacts with the resistance and their plans to overthrow Adolf Hitler. In the course of the year, Jaeger was made a colonel, and he was sent to the Battle of Stalingrad. There, he was wounded eight times, and after becoming sick with epidemic typhus, he was flown out to Lublin.

In 1943, Jaeger reluctantly agreed to the plans for an attempt on Hitler's life. Owing to his Christian convictions, he would rather have seen Hitler standing before a duly constituted court. As a result of an adverse report, Jaeger's son Krafft was arrested and charged with attempted treason and leading a comrade into military disobedience. Krafft was freed for lack of evidence, but he was then sent to the front so that he could "recover his honour".

Plot failure, downfall, and death

On 20 July 1944, the day of the attempt on Hitler's life, Jaeger was commander of the Panzer reserve troops in defence districts II (Stettin) and XXI (Kalisch). After the briefcase bomb exploded at the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, Jaeger received orders from Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg to arrest an SS Oberführer. Furthermore, he was also to arrest Joseph Goebbels and occupy the radio station in Masurenallee. After it became known that Hitler had survived the attempt on his life, however, the soldiers under his command would no longer take his orders. Jaeger himself was arrested by the Gestapo in connection with the plot. His son was likewise arrested, being taken from an Italian military hospital and brought by train to the Gestapo prison in Berlin. On 21 August, Friedrich Gustav Jaeger was sentenced to death for treason by Roland Freisler at the "Volksgerichtshof", and he was hanged later the same day at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin. His family's property was confiscated.

Honours

Krafft Werner Jaeger was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He survived, however, and on 25 September 1995, he unveiled a memorial plaque to his father at the house where he was born exactly one hundred years earlier. The house is now Kirchberg an der Jagst's town hall.

Friedrich Gustav Jaeger has also been honoured by having a street in Wünsdorf named "Fritz-Jaeger-Allee" after him.

References

* Fellgiebel, Walther-Peer. "Die Träger des Ritterkreuzes des Eisernen Kreuzes 1939-1945". Friedburg, Germany: Podzun-Pallas, 2000. ISBN 3-7909-0284-5.

External links

* [http://www.dhm.de/lemo/html/biografien/JaegerFriedrich/ Biography at DHM LeMO] (in German)