BRUNSCHVIG, GEORGES

BRUNSCHVIG, GEORGES (1908–1973), Swiss lawyer and communal leader. Brunschvig was born in Berne, where he studied law; during his military service, he was an artillery captain and also served as a judge. Brunschvig was one of the lawyers at the trial held in Berne in the 1930s at which the Protocols of the Learned *Elders of Zion were declared a forgery. Together with another of the lawyers, Emil Raas, he published Vernichtung einer Faelschung (1938), dealing with the history of the Protocols and giving an account of the trial. He distinguished himself in two sensational espionage trials: one in 1958 at which he served as counsel for Max Ulrich who was accused of handing over State secrets to French Intelligence; the other in June 1963, when he defended an Israeli agent named Ben-Gal, and an Austrian scientist, Otto Joklik, who had been charged with threatening German scientists who purchased radioactive materials for Egypt to use against Israel. Brunschvig was prominent in Jewish affairs from his early years. From 1940 to 1948 he served as the youngest president of the Berne community, and in 1946 was appointed president of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, retaining the position until his death. In this capacity his advice was often sought by Swiss authorities on matters affecting the Jewish community. In 1962 he became the first president of the Le-Ma'an Yerushalayim Society in Zurich, and offered his services to Israel to exploit any possibility of a neutral Switzerland intervening in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

add. bibliography:

J. Picard, Die Schweiz und die Juden 1933–1945 (1994), v. Index.