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VISITING AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE JULY 2007 A
Tribute to the Donauschwaben in North America By
Hans Kopp As shown in Michael Bresser’s comments,
Donauschwaben have been immigrating to North America, in particular the United
States as early as prior the two World Wars. As further stated it is very
difficult to identify them or trace them to their place of origin. A classical
example is my great-great-uncle Josef Ergh who came from Batschsentiwan to the
United States in 1905 and his family that followed him here in 1907, as well as
his sisters who came here in 1909. They are listed in the ships manifest that
took them across the ocean, archived in the records of Ellis Island, as coming
from a town in Hungary which is spelled differently three times. If we did not
know that they were relatives coming from the same town and did not know the
various different spellings of the town’s name which existed, we could not
have been able to determine that they were indeed members of the same family.
Once here in Cleveland, my great-great-uncle opened a barbershop in a Hungarian
neighborhood on Buckeye Road. He spoke perfect Hungarian and therefore, one
would not know that he was a Donauschwabe except for us, our family. While he
remained in Cleveland with his family his sisters returned to Batschsentiwan.
One interesting note is and all of us Donauschwaben should be proud of the fact,
that his barbershop was dismantled the day he retired and reassembled in the
Cleveland Auto and Aviation Museum where it can be seen today. We
also learned that the German-Hungarian emigrants arriving from Hungary organized
themselves into various interest groups and clubs with names like “Die
Deutsch-Ungarn” and “The Banater”. There they were active fostering their
culture and traditions, as well as language, mostly in songs. Very little is
known however, about their businesses and daily lives although we know of many
businesses whose founders were of German extraction, and several of them indeed
were Donauschwaben, like in Cleveland the Blasius brothers from Obrowatz, Stefan
Fischler from Futok and Johann Gerber of Batschsentiwan. What
brought them together after WWII were their strong inherited characters, the
desire and need of the Donauschwaben to socialize with other fellow
Donauschwaben, who experienced the horrors of the Second World War and the
expulsion from their homes by the communist governments in their home countries,
homes their ancestors had built during the previous 250 years. The Donauschwaben
now uprooted by the hundreds of thousands, their homes destroyed, the survivors
left homeless and penniless. But not only that, they were also deeply scarred by
their mistreatments starvation and deceases, the suffering from the loss of
family members and some of them were often now left all alone in a strange new
world they have come to, to seek new opportunities, new homes, new life’s and
live in peace. Shortly
after their arrival in the United States and Canada, and after they had made new
friends and acquaintances, the urge to form new club communities where they
could speak their language did grow ever stronger. They organized themselves in
many interest groups, however their primary goal was to maintain and foster
their inherited culture and customs they brought from their homeland. In most
cases, it was the only thing they had left from their home country to hold onto
besides their families and friends. First,
many of them were organizations to aid other Donauschwaben with social problems,
like housing, employment and give them support to build new life’s and new
homes. One of their foremost concerns was their children. Bringing them together
was accomplished by organizing dance groups, choruses, as well as with a variety
of sports clubs, mainly soccer (football). These soccer clubs attracted young
men who in turn attracted the young women; they became very popular and enjoyed
a large following. For
the Donauschwaben the Sunday afternoons became a place to socialize and unwind
among friends. German language interest groups were organized followed by German
language schools to teach the children German and German history. The result of
the programs required many hours of work, dedication and patience by many
volunteers. Their efforts brought rewards, although, the programs originally
intended were for our children, it attracted also their parents and
grandparents. It was the parents and grandparents attracted by the activities,
who became a viable support group for other functions of the Donauschwaben
Societies. It was a win, win situation from the start from which everyone
involved benefited and thus, became the springboards and the cornerstones for
the Donauschwaben Societies of today in North America. The
need to establish contacts with groups from other cities and to establish a
national Organization developed soon after their arrival. From this need the
head organization “The Society of Donauschwaben of North America” was
founded in 1957. The sport of soccer was among one of the first inter city
contacts bringing young people together for that purpose, and establishing
friendships across the states. Society meetings hammered out other types of
functions, such dancing, and singing, as well as social and political interest
groups giving them directions and goals to follow. Many
of the Donauschwaben had the desire to meet with relatives in other cities and
the need to visit them grew ever stronger. It did not take long before
arrangements, in the sixties, were made to hold an annual “Donauschwaben
Day”. During such times memorial services were held for the victims of death
camps, chorus performances, youth dance performances, as well as inter city
youth dance competitions, among other functions. But most important, meeting
with long lost relatives and friends from their old home towns and the
socializing of young adults, who would eventually be asked to carry on the
tradition of our culture. More
than 60 years have passed since our expulsion that brought the end of the
Donauschwaben in their home country, as we knew it then. As we look today at the
accomplishment of the “Last
Generation of Donauschwaben” born in their home country. In the free
world they live in today, one can only admire them for their never fading
believe in themselves and the persistence to leave the fruits of their labor for
the generations to come. How
could they achieve the wealth they have achieved in such a short span of time
one has to question? The answer lies in the strong inherited character they
acquired as survivors. By being used living all their lives on foreign soil, and
being exposed to the many political changes and the pressures existing there and
from their work ethics handed down from generation to generation. The schools
systems they created back home, where young women were taught to knit, sew,
cook, and bake, as well as good housekeeping and childcare from early on in
life. While the same time, their oncoming men were taught not only how to hold a
hammer and nail, but also the necessities the young men needed to know, how to
raise farm animals and farm products and process them. This valuable education
continued in the environment of a good home under the supervision of their
parents and grandparents. The
post WW I changes they were exposed to, like the closing of their schools
forcing them to go to Austria and Germany to study. The post WW II changes they
were exposed to, like the deportation of many to Russia, the expulsion from
their homes in Hungary, the expulsion from their homes in Romania and
deportation to the Baragan Steppe, the expulsion from their homes in Yugoslavia
and incarceration into death camps, as well as forced labor camps. All of these
factors helped them to become determined, useful, productive and prosperous
citizens in the New World the live in today. Is
it understandable that the survivors of the Donauschwaben, who were dealt the
lowest hand in the stack of cards of politics, who landed at the shores of equal
opportunity in North America, would rebound under this environment of their new
gained freedom! We
are the last generation, expelled from our homes our forefathers had built and
have survived the insurmountable odds placed in our lives. We, whose forefathers
had amassed a wealth in riches and culture, and who inherited this wealth and
riches, came to the United States with only a suitcase, which held all of what
was left of our possessions. We came to the United States and Canada, strange
lands we did not know. We came here with new hopes to establish new roots. Some
of us came here deeply depressed for we had lost our homes but also a mother, a
father or both. Some had lost a brothers or sisters some came alone after losing
every one of their family members. We,
the last Generation came here to work again with our bare hands and with the
sweat of our brows to establish a new life and a new home, as our forefathers
did in the land of the Donauschwaben. This however, was by no means an easy task
as one might want to believe; it was a difficult uphill struggle for all of us.
We had to find housing mostly in poor neighborhoods because of the lack of
money. More often then not we were exploited at the work place, because of the
language barrier or the lack of education which had suffered greatly, especially
by those of us born in the thirties, who lost anywhere from two to six valuable
school years. We had now to go to evening schools not only to learn to speak
English but also take academic classes to further our education. However, it
took perhaps not more than five years after our arrival and we were proud owners
of a car and even had a house to our name. We
may not have made a giant industrial impact in this country, but have never the
less made a distinct economical impact in the local communities where we live
today. Today, we the Donauschwaben not only take working places in this country
but also are in a position to give thousands of jobs to the American people in
our factories, our construction businesses, our tool shops and farms. Most of
our children have obtained higher education and are professionals, doctors,
lawyers, engineers, scientists, and entertainers and as such have much to offer.
Thus they have contributed to the common good and welfare of this country, even
though our descendants may no longer speak German, the language of their
forefathers. They still recognize themselves as Donauschwaben, members of the
youngest of the “German
Volksgroups”, to foster and maintain the heritage and culture of their
ancestors in their community centers, we the “Last generation” have built for them. Despite the successful lives, many of the Donauschwaben enjoy today, none of them have forgotten who they are. They have not only been able to establish themselves financially but also as great supporters of the Donauschwaben heritage and the culture in North America. It would take pages and pages to write about their unselfish contributions of their many hours of dedication and labors of love. There are thousands of names connected with the many achievements. We need to thank them all what they have accomplished to uphold the traditions and memory of our ancestors by erecting monuments in their names. Pause at their monuments they have erected at their Donauschwaben Centers and Homes and spend a minute in silent prayer in remembrance of their suffering, survival and resurgence; they have earned it. Submitted by: Hans Kopp
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