You can now research your Catholic Donauschwaben ancestral
baptismal records from 1636—1895 on-line and it‘s free.
The Latter Day Saints (Mormons) now have abstracts of these
records on their web site > www.familysearch.org
<. Go to the ―Familysearch icon at the far
top left of their web page, type in your ancestor‘s name
and location, and see if you hit pay dirt. I have had luck
with a number of mine.
Before WWI, as you know, most of the Donauschwaben region
was in Hungary and under the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Keep
in mind the spelling of your ancestor‘s name in these
records is probably in either, German, Hungarian or Latin
format depending on the time period (i.e.: Lorenz Helleis is
Laurentius Helleisz and Christian Bauer is Christianus
Bauer). Also, the county of Batschka is listed as Bács
Bodrog and the town Weprowatz is Veprovácz. This adds to
search problems at times.
The abstract lists; Name, event (Baptismal), event date,
event place (town, county, country), gender, father, mother,
line number in actual church record page, LDS microfilm
number of actual record, digital folder number and image
number (see examples). You can also order copies of the
actual church records on microfilm and view them at the
local Family History Center (Morrisville, PA). Always check
the LDS library catalog for other records available that may
not be on-line.
The actual database is: Hungary Roman Catholic
Christenings, database, Family Search, 2010; from Magyar
Orszagos Leveltar, Hungary. "Hungary Roman Catholic
christenings". Magyar Orszagos Leveltar, Hungary. FHL
microfilm reels.
Family
History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. DJB
VISITING
AUTHOR-ARTICLE
APRIL
2011
Political
Voice in the German-American Community
Forwarded
by United Donauschwaben Milwaukee
Have you noticed how many German surnames
appear in American politics? I am thinking of US
Secretary of Treasurer Timothy Geitner and the
recently elected new Speaker of the House John
Boehner, as well as the countless German surnames
among representatives and senators such as
Heidepriem, Daschle, Ehrlich, Shuster and Gerlach.
But do these politicians give the German-American
community any political influence in the USA? So
far, definitely not. Even though Germany is
America’s most important partner in Europe, has
the third largest economy in the world, and
although 43 million Americans, according to the
2000 Census, are of German descent and are thus
the largest ethnic minority in the USA, Germany
plays no role in the US media and politics. Even a
visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Los
Angeles was covered by the LA Times with a mere
photo and a two-line text.
The opening of the first national
German-American Heritage Museum in Washington DC
in March of 2010 put German-Americans in the
limelight for the first time, with a focus on
their history and their achievements. And slowly,
we are seeing what looks like a new trend in
American politics, too. Not only did John Boehner
talk openly about his German descent in a TV
interview with Diane Sawyer, Jim Gerlach from
Pennsylvania has recently issued an initiative for
creating a German-American caucus in the US
Congress. At a gala event of the German Society of
Pennsylvania on October 3 commemorating the 20th
anniversary of German reunification he spoke in
detail about his plans. “My growing awareness of
my family’s German roots and the rich German
heritage in my Congressional District has led me
to take actions in the House of Representatives to
foster a greater appreciation of and fortify the
German American connection. The Caucus will be an
informal, bipartisan group of Members of Congress
dedicated to maintaining and strengthening the
relationship between
the US and Germany. It will highlight our current
economic ties with Germany and draw attention to
the German-American heritage and achievements
German- Americans have made in building the United
States. The House already has well-established
caucuses focused on issues with India, Pakistan,
Switzerland, Mexico, and Albania to name a few. I
believe it well past time to establish one
focusing on the German-American experience.”
Don’t you think that it is finally time
to honor the achievements of German Americans in
building and developing the United States of
America? Jim Gerlach has already found support
from the nonprofit organizations German American
Business Council, German American Coalition and
German American Heritage Foundation. I hope that
many members of the US Congress from both parties
will listen to and follow Gerlach’s request.
After all, Germany is still America’s most
important partner. Reason enough for a sufficient
number of American politicians to step forward and
help launch this caucus, either because of their
German descent or their interest in Germany and
Europe.
The 15 million German people who were chased out,
ran, tortured, put in camps and executedafter World War II from 1944-1948 will be
the focus of this conference. After the release of
my first documentary film I realized how much more
there is to this part of history and that’s what
brought me to bring this conference to the public.
It will take place on Thursday and Friday, April
28 & 29, 2011 at the Viking Holiday Inn in
Crestwood Missouri. The cost is $75.00 for two
days of speakers, films, art exhibit, traditional
clothing show, books & DVD sales, Lunch for
the 28th & 29th and dinner followed
by a dance on the 29th. There is a one
day ticket for $15.00, but does not include the
meals or dance.
You may register at www.annsfilms.com
where you will find more information about the
upcoming event.
Ann
Morrison
Millions
Cried…No One Listened
That’s what happened to 15 million Germans
living behind the iron curtain after World War II.
The Second Would War ended in May of 1945 for
Germany, but not for the millions of Germans who
lived in Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia,
Czechoslovakia, Slovakia, East Prussia and the
surrounding areas. The German people who had lived
in these countries for no less than three hundred
years were to be expelled from their homes and
taken out of these countries according to the
Potsdam Conference.This conference was held directly after
Germany surrendered. Attending this conference was
The Big Three, Truman, Atlee and Stalin. The
decision was made to eliminate the Germans from
these areas and send them back to their “Home
Land.” The problem was Germany was not their
home land and had not been for at least 7
generations. The decision was made and the
document signed with one very misleading word.
ELIMINATE! Truman and Atlee thought they were
giving permission for the German population to be
moved from one country to another, but Stalin had
a different definition for the word. Eliminate
gave him permission to destroy a population and he
had a couple of men who would help him do it.
Edvard Benes, the President of Czechoslovakia
and Marshall Joseph Tito were right there to lend a
hand. They took on the job of sending as many
Germans as they could to Russia and Ukraine to
rebuild what was destroyed during the Second World
War. They chased others across surrounding
boarders, put them in camps that were once used
for the Jewish people, turned villages in camps,
tortured, starved and executed millions and it was
all done with a hand shake and a smile from our
countries leaders.
The survivors of this horror have told me of their
pain which I made into my first documentary called
The Forgotten Genocide, but there was so much more
to tell. I’ve spent the past year traveling to
Europe, Canada and throughout the United States
interviewing and researching to put a six film
series together that will give the facts of what
happened and how it affects us today.
There are so many topics involved in what happened
over sixty five years ago and have been hidden all
these years that I’ve put together a two day
conference entitled the same as my first film The
Forgotten Genocide.It will take place April 28 & 29, 2011
at the Viking Holiday Inn in Crestwood Missouri.
The topics covered will include Humanities,
Nationality, Culture, Genocide, but covers many
more aspects of what happened and what has come
from it. There will be an art display from
survivors as well as descendents showing what
they’ve lived through. Books that range from
Biographies to genealogy to historical to
political will be sold along with DVDs covering
some of the same topics. Two fashion shows will
take place showing the traditional clothing of the
Eastern European Germans and a new line of
clothing that shows how strongly the people have
held onto their traditions. A dance performance
from a traditional German folk dance group will
take place before ending the conference with a
dance lead by The Polka Band. The cost is $75.00
for the two days of everything listed above
including lunch for both days and dinner on the 29th.
One day tickets are available for $15.00 each day,
but do not include meals or dance. Students and
teachers are welcome with no charge with a valid
I.D.
You can go to www.annsfilms.comto register and find more information about
who I am and what I’m working on now.
Does our ostensibly Christian society understand the message
of Jesus Christ, or do we just pay lip service to it?
Let us imagine, just for a moment, that we were to take the
Sermon on the Mount seriously. Would we still consider
ourselves Christians?
Quite
frankly, we do not practice Christianity, which is based on
love and forgiveness. That's what the New Testament is all
about. What we practice is a modified form of the Old
Testament, flattering ourselves with the illusion that we
are, after all, the "good guys", the chosen people
of God, that we shall be saved and that all others are
doomed (and probably deserve to be doomed) -- the Muslims,
the Bahais, the Hindus, the Buddhists, the agnostics, the
atheists.
Every time we read the Old Testament and accept with
self-righteous contentment the idea that our God sent ten
plagues to the Egyptians, ordered the Israelites to smite
the women and children of Canaan, to kill everything living
in Jericho, to slaughter the city of Hai ... everytime we
read such stories without reflecting on what they ultimately
entail, without realizing the cruelty and profound
unreligiousity of it all -- we are not behaving as New
Testament Christians, but as Old Testament patriarchs
equipped with divine legitimacy and justification to take
our promised Lebensraum by force. (Exodus,
Chapters 8 to 15, Deuteronomy Chapter VII, verses
1-6, Chapter XX, verses 16-18, and Joshua Chapter
VI, verse 21, Chapter VIII, verses 18-29). In the Old
Testament Jaweh is defined as the Lord of Armies, Lord of
Sebaoth (from Hebrew ṣəbā’ôt,
pl. of ṣābā’, army, from ṣābā’,
to wage war). This concept of a warrior God is common to
many other religions -- but does it satisfy our sense of
religion, our sense of goodness, our sense of morality, our
sense of justice?
Apparently it does. And many evangelical churches project
this image of divinity. Somehow it seems that the majority
of Christians do not even try to understand the message,
much less llive according to the Sermon on the Mount,
because they think it is an allegory, a metaphor, too tough,
because we reject the fundamental premise of the equality of
human beings. We want to be the privileged class,
even if we would not admit it to ourselves. It is not
equality that we want, but privilege!
We know the Beatitudes only in name -- not in practice --
for in essence we still live according to Old Testament
rules, considering ourselves the good chosen people and
judging all others as heathen and worthy of destruction. We
adhere to the myth of the "clash of civilizations"
instead of looking for an alliance of civilizations, for a
rehabilitation and reconciliation of cultures.
When
I go to Catholic Mass on Holy Thursday to celebrate the
founding of the New Alliance and the concelebration of the
Eucharist feast, when I go with my wife to the reformed
Protestant Good Friday service to meditate on the
overwhelming symbolism of the crucifixion, when we go to the
oecumenical Easter Sunday service, I like to focus on the
mystery of our existence.
How
ineffable the very fact that we exist, that one day we all
shall die, and that above all we believe in Life and have
faith in the Resurrection.
As
Rilke said: "Das Leben ist eine Herrlichkeit".
And again, Hiersein ist Herrlich (7. Duino Elegy)
I
like to reflect on the overwhelming mystery that a GOD
CREATOR would so love his Creation that he would send his
SON to die in the Cross to redeem us. Admittedly, a mystery
of faith. Impossible to grasp. Too anthropomorphic to be
transcendental, and yet it has that subconscious
metaphysical quality to it. Either you believe it, or you
don't. Credo quia absudum!
If
you do emotionally and physically feel faith, if you
believe, you would agree that we can be saved only by GRACE,
i.e. by the same transcendental force, by the same
incomprehensible generosity -- that gratuitous act of
creation. We ought to endeavour to do the right thing, to be
good to our families, to our neighbours, to our colleagues,
to be just, but our good works can hardly be enough to
deserve eternal salvation. We are only the vessels into
which Divine Grace is poured, like wine is poured into a
chalice, and yet it is the wine that matters, the wine that
still tastes of its grapes (Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets
from the Portuguese, 6).
If we
practiced Christianity, we would at least make an effort not
to hate our neighbours, not to lie to and double-cross our
acquaintances and even our friends. Maybe we could even
persuade ourselves to love some more of them, in principle,
not just our spouses and buddies, but also the people who
work with us, our colleagues in the office, our secretaries,
even our bosses! We should endeavour to hate only evil, but
not the persons who deliberately or by error do evil. Maybe
they are thoroughly confused and subjectively think that
they are doing the "right" thing. Maybe they, too,
think they are Christians and acting honourably.
Instead of creating at atmosphere of confidence around us,
we project a sense of being threatened, the suspicion that
we consider our neighbour to be a competitor, a potential
enemy instead of a potential friend. Thus we provoke the
dislike of our neighbours, committing that first and gravest
of the seven capital sins – the sin of arrogance.
Christ tried to teach us humility, not arrogance.
And
yet,. listen to John Cotton of the first Church of Boston in
the 17th century, listen to Increase and Cotton Mather
(1663-1728) of the Second Church of Boston in puritan
Massachusetts. They considered themselves the New Canaan,
the New Chosen People of God, entitled to smite the
indigenous population of the New World, who had first
welcomed them, given them food and taught them how to
survive in the wilderness.
Sixty-five years ago the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials were in
progress. The Prosecutors condemned the vanquished and
prostrate Germans, both the Nazi leaders and the common
folk. It was an exercise in arrogance, because the crimes of
the British, American and Soviet leaders were not less in
the eyes of God. Who were we to cast the first stone against
the adulteress? For we were guilty of the nuclear
annihilation of the civilian populations of Hiroshimaa and
Nagasaki, the carpet bombing of Tokyo, the fire-bombing of
population centres Dresden, Hamburg, Kassel, the massacres
of Katyn, Nemmersdorf, Methgethen, Marienburg, Postelberg,
Lamsdorf, Swientochlowice, Aussig and Brno, the expulsion of
15 million human beings from their 700-year old homelands,
the deportation of nearly two million ethnic Germans to
slave labour for many years after the war, etc.
Not without reason Christ asks us, “But why dost thy see
the speck in your brother’s eye and yet does not consider
the beam in your own eye”? Matthew Chapter VII, verse 3.
Nuremberg was not a Christian court. It was an Old Testament
tribunal, in the spirit of revenge, not reconciliation. When
I think of Nuremberg I cannot help but be reminded of Luke,
Chapter XI, Verse 52
"Woe to you lawyers! Because you have taken away the
key of knowledge"
Nuremberg was an exercise in hypocrisy. A continuation of
hate and war by the instrumentalization of the
administration of justice, a corruption of legal norms and
procedures, a pollution of philosophy, a truly Pharisee
tribunal.
George W. Bush and Tony Blair too are Pharisees. Certainly
no Christians (new-born or newly-made Catholic), even if
they masquerade as Christians and misuse the name of Christ.
When they do, I have a sense of blasphemy. I think of so
many politicians before (and no doubt) after them. Alas,
they are but two in a long list of politicians who have
abused religion as a justification for crime, who
instrumentalize the transcendental, the sense of awe, to
lead the gullible masses to their doom. Just as the
fanatical Islamists misuse the Koran. Thus can good books
like the New Testament be transformed into evil deeds. For
indeed our God is a God of Peace, not a god of war like Mars
or Wotan.
The New Testament is a "plan of action" for peace
and reconciliation, but in AD 312 Roman Emperor Constantine
made Christianity his personal religion and in AD 380
Emperor Theodosius declared Christianity to be the only
State religion. This transformed the New/Old Testament into
a programme of war and conquest, instrumentalizing it into a
weapon of mass destruction, an instrument of asserting power
-- and keeping it.
It is appropriate in Holy Week to be reminded of the core of
Christian faith, of the mode d'emploi -- the
Beatitudes:
"Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they shall be satisfied.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
the children of God.
"Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
(Matthew,
Chapter V, verses 1-10)
And I
would turn to that passage of the Sermon of the Mount
“If
thou art offering thy gift at the altar, and there
rememberest that thy brother has anything against thee,
leave thy gift before the altar and go first to be
reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer thy
gift.” Matthew V, 23-24. This is a cardinal principle of
the Beatitudes -- charity, forgiveness, reconciliation ahead
of ritual. For what is the use of the ritual, if we persist
in doing injustice to our neighbour?
We
should reconcile ourselves with our families, with our
neighbours, with the indigenous people of the Americas, of
Australia and Tasmania against whom our European ancestors
committed genocide, with the Africans, whom our ancestors
enslaved for hundreds of years, with the Palestinians, whom
we have ravaged and murdered since 1947, with the Vietnamese
and Cambodians, whom we napalmed for no reason, with the
Iraqis whom we aggressed and despoiled of their riches, with
the Iranians, whom we are preparing to shock and awe.
The
Sermon on the Mount is the New Law, replacing the Old Law of
the Old Testament.
Moses
proclaimed the Old Law from Mount Sinai
Christ proclaimed the New Law from the Mount near Capharnaum.
Let us hail the golden rule: “Therefore all that you wish
men to do to you, even so do you also to them” Matthew
VII, 12.
The New Law has replaced the old, as a new Alliance with all
of humanity (Matthew Chapter 26, verse 28, Luke Chapter 22,
verse 20) has replaced the Old Covenant with its exclusivist
principle of a chosen people. Christ's Language at the Last
Suppler upon the Consecration of the Wine says it all: hic
est enim Calix Sanguinis mei, novi et aeterni testamenti qui
pro vobis et pro multis effundetur in remissionem peccatorum.
And this new Alliance rests on two principles, that of love,
and that of forgiveness, which Christ so clearly stated in
the Lord's Prayer, et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut
et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.
Let
us thus intone the Benedictus of Beethoven's Missa
Solemnis
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini
and the Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi
dona nobis pacem
And now let us meditate for a moment. What would we do with
the Lamb of God if He were to visit us today? We probably
would not recognize Him. Bearing in mind that the
establishment in the Roman province of Palestine in the time
of Emperor Tiberius considered Him to be a seditious person,
a kind of intellectual terrorist, who knows, maybe He would
find Himself today a "disappeared person" in some
incommunicado cell somewhere, awaiting interrogation. But
maybe he would turn the tables on the interrogator and tell
him a parable of an Animal Farm with sheeps and goats and
postulate a different World where human beings could
unabashedly show compassion to other human beings, where
needs would be addressed "for I was hungry and you gave
me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a
stranger and you took me in; naked and you covered me; sick
and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to
me..." (Matthew XXV, 35-36). Yes, he would be in prison
for us and his message would reach the world as the message
of Nelson Mandela escaped the walls of Robben Island and
touched the world. What would Wikileaks reveal to us about
prison conditions and about the justifications of the
Pharisees?
Easter is the name of the pagan goddess of spring. It
commemorates the rebirth of nature, thus the resurrection of
Christ. True enough, the foundation of the Eucharist
coincides with the celebration of the Jewish Pass-over. It
is worth pausing for a moment and reflecting on what is
being celebrated there: "For I will pass through the
land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all
the gods of Egypt I will execute judgement. I am the LORD.
And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses
where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over
you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you,
when I smite the land of Egypt." Wow! Is this an
allegory? It seems a pretty ghastly one, and hardly a good
example to follow! Talk of love of neighbour! What kind of a
good God would send his agents to murder the first born of
Egypt. This is certainly not my idea of Divinity, not my
idea of Perfection, but the caricature of a very
misanthropic God. Just as misanthropic and hateful as the
unhistorical and aggressive "ten plagues" of
Egypt. Indeed, there is not a speck of historical evidence
to back them up, and the period when the plagues are
supposed to have occurred coincides with the years of great
prosperity and cultural brilliance under Pharaon Ramses II.
Why so much hate in the Old Testament? I would have to say
with the Taino Chief Hatuey, burned at the stake by
his Spanish victimizers 1512 in Yara, Cuba: "if that's
your God, I don't want to be there."
Meanwhile historians have come to understand that Moses was
not a Jewish slave found as a baby in a basket floating in
the Nile (Exodus, Chapter 2). Moses was an Egyptian
follower of the monothesistic Pharaon Akhenaton (1380-1362
BC), husband of Nefertiti, who anticipated monotheism by
several centuries. As part of my Easter meditation I
recommend reading Akhenaton's Hymn to the Aton. I
cannot help thinking that Akhenaton was a soul brother and
that Ramses II too was a child of God's manificent creation.
We are all one family and there simply cannot be any
"chosen people" of God. It would be a contradictio
in adjecto. We are all his children. Indeed, it would
be outrageous if we Christians were to celebrate the blood
of the Egyptian first-born, the "Pass-over" when
the angel of Death passed and "slew every first-born in
the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharao on the
throne to the first-born of the prisoner in the dungeon, as
well as all the first-born of the animals" (Exodus,
Chapter 12, verse 29) sparing only the Israelites. Everytime
I reread that I can hardly believe my eyes!
I think we do well to celebrate the Spring of the
Resurrection.
I think we do well to reflect on Pope Benedict XVI's
encyclical "Deus Caritas est", for indeed
this is the new Covenant, God is Charity and enjoins us to
love one another. "A new commandement I give you, that
you love one another" (John Chapter 13, verse 34),
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you"
(John, Chapter 14, verse 27), and to reflect on his more
recent encyclicals Spe Salvi and Caritas in
Veritate.
And let us imagine ourselves back in that high room of the cenaculum
in Jerusalem where Christ invited his 12 disciples for the
Last Supper. He invited them all -- even Judas Iscariot,
even Peter who would deny him three times that very evening!
We are all invited -- we sinners, and all the world is
invited to the table of our Lord the Creator. It is not only
the "elect" or the "pure" who are
invited. In fact, we sinners are those who most need God's
grace and Christ's blessing to acquire the strength
necessary to carry us through the vicisitudes of every day.
We are all invited to share the bread and the wine.
Let us be thankful for this invitation and sing Psalm 136, Confitemini
Domino, quoniam bonus. Confitemini Domino Alleluia.
When
we celebrate Easter -- let us celebrate life, not death. It
is the resurrection that gives us hope and meaning. If
Christ had died on the cross and that had been it, the
perspectives would be different. The cross is a much more
powerful symbol when it is just the cross, without the
lifeless, martyred body hanging on it. The cross is the
symbol of the resurrection, the symbol of reconciliation,
the promise of boundless Caritas. That is what
gives us strength. That is what we have chosen to believe
in!
When we celebrate Easter -- let us celebrate the brotherhood
of all men and women. Indeed, we are all children of God,
for, as Saint Paul writes in his Epistel to the Romans:
"For there is no distinction between Jew an Greek, for
there is the same Lord of all, rich towards all who call
upon him. 'For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved.'" (Romans, Chapter X, 12-13).
Throughout the world the most popular Easter symbol is the
lamb.
The
reference to lamb in Christianity goes back to the book of
Genesis, When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son.
In
past centuries it was considered a lucky omen to meet a
lamb, especially at Easter time. It was a popular
superstition that the devil, who could take the form of all
other animals, was never allowed to appear in the shape of a
lamb because of its religious symbolism.
In
the 7 th century the Benedictine monks wrote a prayer for
the blessing of lambs.
A few hundred years later the pope adopted it and a WHOLE
roasted lamb became the feature of the Pope's Easter Dinner,
and has been ever since.
It wasn't too many years before people decided that it was
ok to roast parts of lamb instead of the whole bleeting
thing. In the spirit of the old days here is a version of
leg of lamb that can be done on the BBQ.
Little
figures of a lamb made of butter, pastry, or sugar have been
substituted for the meat, forming Easter table centerpieces.
In
Greece Easter is the biggest holiday, and apparently most
everyone roasts a whole lamb on a “Souvla” which is a
large spit. I understand that a motorized one is not popular
so if you are interested in doing a traditional Greek
roasted lamb, they say it is good to have plenty of friends
to help turn the spit.
The
Greek spit-roasted lambs are always turned by a
hand crank.
Recipe
for Greek Spit Roasted Lamb
Greek
Spit Roasted Whole Lamb
Easter in Greece is the biggest holiday of the
year and most every family roasts a lamb.
Every family has it's idea of the best way to cook
the Easter meal but in general the animal is
spitted and cooked over an open charcoal bed for
about 6 hours. Constant turning of the 'souvla',
Greek word for spit, is required so if the family
is traditional and doesn't use an electric motor a
lot of friends come in handy. I've found that the
best way to obtain help in turning the lamb is to
have LOTS of beer and Greek wine on hand. The 'souvla'
is about 8-9 feet long with a handle for turning
on one end. It's placed on a pair of spikes driven
into the ground about 7 feet apart. The spikes
have several different 'U's welded to them for
raising and lowering the spit.
If you try this recipe, start a charcoal bed about
6'x2' before preparing the lamb or kid and have a
separate charcoal fire going to add to the bed
later on. By the time you get the animal prepared
the fire should be just about right. You'll
probably need 20 pounds, or more, of charcoal to
complete the cooking. Have more than you need on
hand.
Wipe lamb inside and out with a damp cloth. Rub
cavity and outside of lamb with lemon juice, salt
and pepper. Cut a small opening in the shoulder
and hip joints and pour a small amount of salt
& pepper into them. Run the spit through the
anus and out of the top of the skull. A hammer may
be needed for this. Use baling wire to secure the
spine to the spit in two or three places. Sew up
the cavity with string. Push fore-shanks back
towards body and tie in position. Wire the back
legs to the spit. This will prevent it from
splaying out. Rub outside again with lemon juice,
salt and pepper and place on a rack in a large
catering-size baking dish.
Combine melted butter with olive oil and mop the
lamb or kid. Baste whenever it feels right during
cooking.
Place the spit over the fire with the lamb or kid
approximately 18" over the fire. Adjust the
height according to the heat of the fire during
cooking. Turn the spit constantly for 6-8 hours,
lubricating the person turning liberally with wine
or beer, then enjoy your Greek Easter Feast.
The innards aren't wasted. They're used to make a
dish called 'Kokoretsi' also cooked over a
charcoal bed on a small souvla, but that's another
story and this is too long already. Have a Happy
Easter!
Michael, from Chambersburg, Pa, and
Angela, from Ettrick, Va, are a husband
and wife team of songwriters and
performers. Angela sings and conceptually
writes the songs with Michael, who
co-writes and solidifies the songs, and
produces all of the music. The couple met
during their college years while
performing shows at King’s Dominion
Theme Park in Doswell, Va.
The Souders’ music would be best
described as adult contemporary Christian,
but there is much time and effort given
toward the praise and worship genre, as
well. They reside in Midlothian, Virginia,
where they raise their four children.
Am 13. März 2011 fand die Jahreshauptversammlung der
Donauschwaben in Cleveland statt.Es gab mittags ein schmackhaftes Essen von Steve
Weiss und seinen Helferinnen zubereitet für diejenigen die
davon Gebrauch machen wollten.
Um 2:30 Uhr eröffnete Präsident Franz Rimpf die
Versammlung und begrüsste die Anwesenden ganz herzlich.Er leitete zuerst eine Schweigeminute ein und bat
Willi Hetzel, den ehemaligen Leiter der Seniorengruppe zum
Gedenken an die Verstorbenen ein Gedicht vorzulesen.
Zuerst wurde die Beschlussfähigkeit festgestellt, dann bat
Präsident Rimpf den Vorsitzenden der Vereinigung Tim
Cornett ans Mikrofon.Tim
begrüsste alle und gab seinen Jahresbericht ab indem er
verschiedene Neuerungen in der Bar erwähnte.Er bedankte sich bei seinem Vorstand und seinen
Mitarbeitern.Er
lobte die gute Zusammenarbeit mit der Jugendgruppe bei der
nun schon zur Tradition gewordenen“Antique Auto Show”, die von Jahr zu Jahr grösseres
Interesse findet.Er sprach vom 3tägigen Oktoberfest und von den
Bier-und Weinverkostungen die sehr erfolgreich waren.
Dann gab der Schatzmeister der Vereinigung Ed Klass seinen
Rechenschaftsbericht ab über die Einnahmen und Ausgaben des
Jahres 2010.Nun
folgte der Präsident des Deutsch-Amerikanischen
Kulturzentrums der Donauschwaben Franz Rimpf mit seinem
Rechenschaftsbericht des Jahres 2010.Er streifte die Renovierungen in der Parkanlage, in
der Küche wurde ein neuer Kühlschrank und andere Gegenstände
angeschaft aber die grössten Ausgaben des Jahres waren für
mehrere Klimaanlagen in verschiedenen Räumen, die ersetzt
bzw. neueingebaut werden mussten.Auch er erwähnte das 3tägige Oktoberfest (zwei Tage
schönes und ein Tag Regenwetter) und die “Fishfry Abende”.Er bedankte sich bei allen freiwilligen Arbeitskräften
für diese Veranstaltungen sowie für alle Mithilfe, sei es
im Gebäude oder auf dem Gelände.Er meinte ohne diese Unterstützung derMitglieder wäre es nicht möglich unser Heim mit
allem Drum und Dran aufrecht zu erhalten.
Dann war es Zeit, dass unser Finanz Sekretär Karl Helfrich
seinen Bericht über die Finanzen abgab,der vermuten liess, dass eine gewaltige Teuerung auf
allen Gebieten eingetreten ist.Karl verstand es über alle Einzelheiten und Fragen
eine befriedigende Antwort zu geben.
Dann hatten die Leiter und Leiterinnen der angeschlossenen
Gruppen Gelegenheit über ihre Tätigkeiten zu berichten.Es waren dies:
Der
Banater Chor:Leiterin Cindy Cornett
Die
D.S. Blaskapelle:Leiter Roger Radke
Der
Blau-Weiss Tennis Club:Leiter John Szeltner
Die
Deutsche Sprachschule:für die Leiterin Edith Hebrank, Karoline
Lindenmaier
Der
Edelweiss Ski Club:für die Leiterin Anita Kalkhof, Robert
Gutwein
Die
D.S. Frauengruppe:Leiterin Helga Schlothauer
Die
Golfspieler:Leiter Robert Filippi (er ist auch Landespräsident)
Die
Handarbeitsgruppe:für die Leiterin Käthe Straky, Margaret
Hohmann
Die
D.S. Jugendgruppe:Leiterin Margot Maurer
Die
Kegler:Leiter
Josef Szeltner
Die
D.S. Kindergruppe:Leiterin Ingrid (Dorr) Pejsa
Die
D.S. Kulturgruppe:Leiterin Erika (Nitsch) Knowles
Der
Sportclub Donauschwaben Concordia:Leiter Rick Welker
Die
Seniorengruppe:Leiter Peter Sartschev
Die
Schuhplattler und Trachtengruppe Bavaria:für den Leiter Kenny Ott berichtete Renate
Elber
Dann hatte noch Ehrenpräsident und Geschäftsführer Josef
Holzer Gelegenheit seinen Dank an alle auszusprechen bevor
man die Neuwahlen durchführte die mit folgendem Resultat
endeten:
Präsident
Franz Rimpf
1.
Vizepräsidentin Ingrid (Dorr) Pejsa
2.
Vizepräsident Pete Szeltner
Finanz
Sekretär Karl Helfrich
Schatzmeister
Wolfgang Urban
Protokoll
Sekretärin Elisabeth Miehle
Mitglieder
Sekretärin Ingrid Urban
Verbindungsperson
Barbara Hermann
Veranstaltungen
Cindy Cornett
Bekanntmachungen
Margot Maurer
Vertrauensleute:Robert Filippi, Hanz Hermann, Lisa Rimpf,
Helen Schatschneider
Dann wurden noch 20 Personen gewählt, die die Geschäfte für
die Vereinigung durchführen, sie werden bei der ersten
Sitzung ihre Amtswalter wählen.Präsident Rimpf bedankte sich für das Vertrauen der
Mitglieder und hofft auf eine gute Zusammenarbeit aller.
Dem Wahlkomitee gebührt Lob und Dank für die reibungslose
Durchführung der Wahlen.
Karoline
Lindenmaier (Hetzel)
VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
APRIL
2011
Did
You Know ?
Forwarded
By Sgt. James S. Thornton
DID
YOU KNOW?
As you walk up the steps to
the building which houses
the U.S. Supreme
Court you can
see near the top of the building
a row of the world's law
givers and each one is facing
one in the middle who is
facing forward with a full
frontal view.
It is Moses and he is holding
the Ten
Commandments!
DID
YOU KNOW?
As you enter the Supreme
Court’s courtroom,
the two huge oak doors have
the Ten Commandments engraved
on each lower portion of each
door.
DID
YOU KNOW?
As you sit inside the
courtroom, you can see on the
wall, right above where the Supreme
Court Judges sit, a
display of the Ten
Commandments!
DID
YOU KNOW?
There are Bible
verses etched in stone
all over the Federal Buildings
and Monuments in Washington,
D.C. .
DID
YOU KNOW?
James Madison, the fourth
president, known as 'The Father
of Our Constitution'
made the following statement:
'We have staked the whole of all
our political institutions upon
the capacity of mankind for
self-government, upon the
capacity of each and all of us
to govern ourselves, to control
ourselves, to sustain ourselves
according to The
Ten Commandments of God.'
DID
YOU KNOW?
Every session of Congress begins
with a prayer by a paid
preacher, whose salary has been
paid by the taxpayer since 1777.
DID
YOU KNOW?
Fifty-two of the 55 founders of
the Constitution were members of
the established Orthodox
churches in the colonies.
DID
YOU KNOW?
Thomas Jefferson worried that
the Courts would overstep their
authority and instead of
Interpreting the law would begin
making law an oligarchy the rule
of few over many.
How then, have we gotten to the
point that everything we have
done for 220 years in this
Country is now suddenly wrong
and ...
?
unconstitutional ?
Let us put it around the world
and let the world see and
remember what this great country
was built on The Holy
Bible and belief in GOD!
VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
MARCH
2011
REMEMBERING
AN
AMERICAN HERO
Forwarded
by Jon C. Zimmerman
You're a 19 year old kid.
You're critically
wounded and dying in the
jungle somewhere in the
Central Highlands of Viet Nam.
It's November 11, 1967.
Your unit is outnumbered 8-1
and the enemy’s fire is so
intense from 100 yards away,
that your commanding
officer has ordered the
Med-Evac
helicopters to stop
coming in. You're
lying there, listening to the
enemy machine
guns and you know
you're not getting out.
Your family is half way around
the world, 12,000 miles away,
and you'll never see them
again.
As the world starts to fade in
and out, you know this is the
day.Then,
over the machine gun noise,
you faintly hear the sound of
a helicopter. You look
up to see a Huey coming in. But,
it doesn't seem real because
no Med-Evac markings are on
it.Capt.
Ed
Freeman is coming in
for you. He's not Med-Evac
so it's not his job.But he heard the radio
call and decided he's flying
his Huey down into the machine
gun fire anyway.
Even after the Med-Evacs
were ordered not to come, he's
coming anyway. He drops
it in and sits there in the machine
gun fire, as they load
3 of you at a time on board.
Then he flies you up and out
through the gunfire to the
doctors and nurses and to
safety.And, he kept coming
back !! 13 more
times!!..until all of the
wounded were out. No
one knew until the mission was
over that the Captain had been
hit 4 times in the legs and
left arm.He took 29 of you and
your buddies out that day.Some would not have
made it without the Captain
and his Huey.
Medal of Honor Recipient,
Captain Ed Freeman (Major,
Ret.), United States Army,
died Wednesday, August
20, 2008,
at the age of 80, in Boise ,
Idaho.
May God Bless and Rest
His Soul.
You probably did not hear
about this hero'spassing,
but we've sure seen a whole
bunchabout
Lindsay Lohan, the Super Bowl,
and the bickering of Congress
over Health Reform.
"Captain Ed W. Freeman,
United States Army,
distinguished himself by
numerous acts of conspicuous
gallantry and extraordinary
intrepidity on 14 November
1965 while serving with
Company A, 229th Assault
Helicopter Battalion, 1st
Cavalry Division (Airmobile).
As a flight leader and second
in command of a 16-helicopter
lift unit, he supported a
heavily engaged American
infantry battalion at Landing
Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang
Valley, Republic of Vietnam.
The unit was almost out of
ammunition after taking some
of the heaviest casualties of
the war, fighting off a
relentless attack from a
highly motivated, heavily
armed enemy force. When the
infantry commander closed the
helicopter landing zone due to
intense direct enemy fire,
Captain Freeman risked his own
life by flying his unarmed
helicopter through a gauntlet
of enemy fire time after time,
delivering critically needed
ammunition, water and medical
supplies to the besieged
battalion. His flights had a
direct impact on the battle's
outcome by providing the
engaged units with timely
supplies of ammunition
critical to their survival,
without which they would
almost surely have gone down,
with much greater loss of
life. After medical evacuation
helicopters refused to fly
into the area due to intense
enemy fire, Captain Freeman
flew 14 separate rescue
missions, providing
life-saving evacuation of an
estimated 30 seriously wounded
soldiers -- some of whom would
not have survived had he not
acted. All flights were made
into a small emergency landing
zone within 100 to 200 meters
of the defensive perimeter
where heavily committed units
were perilously holding off
the attacking elements.
Captain Freeman's selfless
acts of great valor,
extraordinary perseverance and
intrepidity were far above and
beyond the call of duty or
mission and set a superb
example of leadership and
courage for all of his peers.
Captain Freeman's
extraordinary heroism and
devotion to duty are in
keeping with the highest
traditions of military service
and reflect great credit upon
himself, his unit and the
United States Army."
Impressionen aus dem donauschwäbischen
Siedlungsgebiet im ehemaligen Österreich-Ungarn
auf alten Ansichtskaren. Batschka - Apatin - Baja
- Batsch - Bac - Batsch-Brestowatz - Bukin -
Mladenovo - Futok - Gajdobra - Hodschag - Odzaci -
Kalocsa - Maria-Theresianopel - Subotica - Neusatz
- Novi Sad - Neu-Schowa - Obrovac - Boroc -
Backa_Palanka - Alt-Palanka - Neu-Palanka -
Deutsch-Palanka - Donau - Solt - Sombor - Temerin
- Tschwerwenka - Csrvenka - Neu-Webaß - Zenta -
Senta -
VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
MARCH
2011
2011
DANCE
GROUP BOARD
Forwarded From Los Angeles
Donauschwaben
by Karl
Seitz
Congratulations
to the 2011 Dance Group Board
All Dance Group members thank the outgoing Board for
their hard work during 2010. It's a tribute to them
and all those before them that the Dance Group
continues its success.
Thank
You! And now for the 2011 Board ...
President
- Josef Becker, Vice President - Karl A. Seitz,
Treasurer - Will Kolbow, Recording Secretary -
Katrina Stevens, Correspondence Secretary - Veronica
Schulz, Members At-Large: Kinder Gruppe - Christine
Wendl, Mittlere Gruppe - Matt Kolbuzs, Jugend Gruppe
- Lauren Weitmann, Adult Gruppe - Rosie Burmeister,
Erwachsene Gruppe - Mike Ewing
Groupleaders
- Kinder Gruppe - Linda Mayer & Erika Goldbach,
Mittlere Gruppe - Indrid Mansir & Isabell Kerins,
Jugend Gruppe - Liz Burmeister, Erwachsene Gruppe -
Marcella Konrad
Young people forget
that we old people
had a career before
we retired
Charley, a new retiree-greeter
at WalMart,
just couldn't seem to get to
work on time.
Every day he was 5, 10, 15
minutes late. But he was a
good worker, really tidy,
clean-shaven, sharp-minded and
a real credit to the company
and obviously demonstrating
their "Older Person
Friendly" policies.
One day the boss called him
into the office for a talk.
"Charley, I have to tell
you, I like your work ethic,
you do a bang-up job when you
finally get here; but your
being late so often is quite
bothersome."
"Yes, I know boss, and I
am working on it."
"Well good, you are a
team player. That's what I
like to hear.”
“Yes sir, I understand your
concern and I’ll try
harder.”
Seeming puzzled, the manager
went on to comment, “It's
odd, though, your coming in
late. I know you're retired
from the Armed
Forces.
What did they say to you there
if you showed up in the
morning so late and so
often?"
The old man looked down at the
floor, then smiled.
He chuckled quietly, then said
with a grin, "They
usually saluted and said,
‘Good morning, Admiral, can
I get your coffee, sir?’”
One
of my favorite stories
!
Thank
you, ...Sir !!
VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
APRIL
2011
BEST
LAWYER STORY
Forwarded
by Eduard Grünwald
The
BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR
(if
not the decade)
Charlotte, North Carolina
A
lawyer purchased a box of very rare
and expensive
cigars,then insured
them against, among other things, fire.
Within
a month, having smoked his entire
stockpile of these
great cigars and without yet having made
even his first
premium
payment on the policy, the lawyer filed
a claim
against the insurance company. In his
claim, the lawyer
stated the cigars were lost 'in a series
of small fires.'
The insurance company refused to pay,
citing the obvious reason
that the man had consumed the cigars in
the normal fashion.
The lawyer sued, and WON!
(Stay with me.)
Delivering
the ruling, the judge agreed with the
insurance
company that the claim was frivolous.
The judge stated
nevertheless, that the lawyer held a
policy from the
company, which it had warranted that the
cigars were
insurable and also guaranteed that it
would insure them
against fire, without defining what is
considered to be
unacceptable fire' and was obligated to
pay the claim.
Rather than endure lengthy and costly
appeal process, the
insurance company accepted the ruling
and paid $15,000
to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars
lost in the'fires'.
NOW
FOR THE BEST PART
After the lawyer cashed the check, the
insurance company
had him arrested on 24 counts of
ARSON!!!
With
his own insurance claim and testimony
from the
previous
case being used against him, the lawyer
was
convicted
of intentionally burning his insured
property
and
was sentenced to 24 months in jail and
a$24,000 fine.
This is a true story and was the First
Place winner in
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02/24/13
