Hello to my Donauschwaben Cousins, Another book on our DS Leidensweg is forthcoming: From Banat to Bailey Avenue, by Rita Tomkins. Rita Tomkins wrote: "This is Resi’s story and then her daughter Anna’s story, which together tell the history of the Danube Swabians, a community of German settlers living in Eastern Europe before, during, and after World War II. As Germans living in Romania, they didn’t really belong to one country or the other. They had their own culture, rich with customs and traditions and the occasional paradox. Some were seasoned travelers, living part time in bustling New York City to make money, but usually returning home to the rural life they loved. At the end of World War II, their world was destroyed. Their land was confiscated by the new communist government, and adults—both male and female—were sent to forced labor camps hundreds of miles away. This is an interesting corner of history that deserves to be illuminated and preserved. And I have been blessed to receive true stories about it that read like a novel. My mother is a natural oral historian and these are the stories I have been hearing all my life. This is my mother’s story and her mother’s story and, to help modern readers make a connection, part of my American story as well. From Banat to Bailey Avenue vividly presents a time and place that doesn’t exist anymore except in the memories of aging Swabians who have scattered across the west. It strives to preserve their world within an engaging true story." It will be interesting to read it. Rosina www.hrastovac.net