A bit of History from my childhood in Salzburg, Austria where I did go to school after 3 years of absence in Gakowa. Salzburg, Austria a harbor for refugees Two eventscontributed to the demise and tragic developments of the life in the Donauschwabenduring the post war years of World War II. They were 1) the agreement at Potsdam by the allied Nations, which allowed the expulsionof all Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslaviaand Hungary.It was done without regard to the fact that the Germans were citizens of thesenations whose ancestors had been living in these countries anywhere from 200 to800 years and in some cases even longer. 2) The decision made by the rebelgroup of the communist partisan’s lead by Tito on November 29, 1943 in Jajce, Bosnia regarding theGerman population. The result of these treaties was devastating, primarily for thosecitizens of German descent in Yugoslavia.It denied them the rights of their citizenship, which they received after theFirst World War when Yugoslaviawas formed. The treaty permitted the confiscation of the property of the Donauschwaben,expulsion from their homes, deporting young men and women in their prime tolabor camps in Russia andtaking teenagers, the older men and women force them to work in slave laborcamps throughout Yugoslavia.The Partisans lead by Tito also took the privilege to brutalize murder andstarve to death tens of thousands of innocent Donauschwaben. Thousands of Donauschwaben,who managed to escape Yugoslavia,reached Austria and Germany invarious ways. Once there, they were temporarily housed in old German armybarracks, since no other housing was available at the end of the war. ByOctober 1949, 305,326 German-speaking refugees lived in Austria. Themajority of the refugees were Donauschwaben from the regions of the formerHabsburg Monarchy. By the end of 1949, 5.4% of the total population of Salzburg was refugees,and of those refugees 60% lived in former army barracks. During the earlypostwar years, the refugees of German descent from Eastern Europe weredeliberately excluded from receiving aid given by large help institutions. Thebiggest problems were faced by those families who were separated at the end ofthe war and during the early post war years. The most difficult task was thereunification of living family members. The Church institutions developed asystem to find the separated family members and reunite them. As more and morefamilies were reunited, clear directions had to be found for them. They werehomeless and without means of financial support. Austria became aharbor for the refugees. This was true especially in Salzburg, center of the American Zone. Salzburg became a centerfor the German refugees and by 1951 there were 235,000 refugees living in theAmerican Zone. The Donauschwaben were extremely grateful to the helping handsin Salzburg,which included Archbishop DDr. Andreas Rohrbacher, the governors of SalzburgDr. Josef Klaus and Dipl. Ing. Dr. Hans Lechner, as well as, Major KR. AlfredBäck of the US Army. Two men were instrumental in aiding the refugees. Theywere Pater Josef Stefan and Dr. Hans Schreckeis, as the President of the Donauschwabenin Salzburg.These men worked relentlessly to ease the burden and pain of the refugees andassisted them with their social and cultural realignment. It was Pater (Father)Stefan, head of the “Katholischen Flüchtlings - und Fürsorgestelle” (CatholicRefugees Aid Station) and his counterpart the “Christliche Hilfswerk derEvangelischen und Reformierten Kirche” (The Christian Help Organization for theLutheran and Reformed Church). They helped thousands of their countrymen solvethe difficult problems they confronted during those hopeless years. When the allied powers began to trust the German refugees,organizations to benefit the refugees were formed. The refugees also formedorganizations within themselves. In 1948 the “Zentralstelle der Volksdeutschen”(Center for People of German Descent) was formed. During the same year“Neuland” a newspaper, edited by Prof. A. K. Gauss for the Donauschwaben, beganits publication. Under the direction of the honorary Archbishop DDr. AndreasRohracher of Salzburg,the Donauschwaben staged a “Donauschwaben Home Night” on April 4th1948. These actions were taken by the Donauschwaben, with the intent ofbringing their problems to the attention of the public and the world leaders. By early 1950, all hope for the German refugees to return homevanished. It was by no means easy to decide where to go. The Donauschwaben hadno other alternative but to look elsewhere to establish new homes and new livesfor themselves. Due to their German heritage, most Donauschwaben could not getpermits to emigrate. Before permits could be obtained good relations had to beestablished with the U.S. Immigration office. One reason for the denial ofpermits was the military past of our men. It was a delicate matterdemonstrating unfair discrimination against the Donauschwaben at the U.S.Immigration Department. In the matter of discrimination, Prof. Pater JosefStefan and Kons. Rat Prof. Josef Haltmayer directed efforts to collectdocuments regarding the so-called “voluntary” enlistment into the Waffen SS.The collection of documents was the basis for a memorandum written by Prof. A.K. Gauss. The memorandum was distributed to various institutions andorganizations concerning the emigration question and the status of the Donauschwaben.The memorandum found recognition at the U.S. Immigration Department and thebarrier of mistrust of the Donauschwaben was broken and new inroads were made. In 1950the World Church Conference, whose priority issues were the refugees, tookplace in Salzburg.Prof. A. K. Gauss presented a document entitled “Children in the Shadow” at theconference. He addressed the problems of thousands of our children orphaned andleft to suffer in Yugoslaviawithout parents, grandparents or caring relatives. It was the first time theworld took note of the problem and with the cooperation and the help of theInternational Red Cross, thousands of children were allowed to leave Yugoslavia to be reunited with their families inAustria, Germany, USA and other countries. TheGovernor of Salzburg (Landeshauptmann) Dr. Josef Klaus took a leading roleencouraging local communities in Salzburg to become involved with theresettlement of the refugees and to free more land for housing developmentprojects. The land was sold for a low price of 3 Austrian Schilling per squaremeter. One man that must be mentioned is Pater (Father) Warenfried vanStraaten, whose fundraising activities became a fixture in the communities. Hisdonations of food earned him the beloved nickname “Speckpater” (Bacon father).While traveling through the newly built communities he conceived the idea oforganizing the “Baugesellen” (Building fellows). He recruited young men from Belgium, Holland,France, Germany, Austria and other countries todonate their time to build houses, old age homes, orphanages and hostels. Healso extended his work to other countries. On ‎Saturday‎, ‎September‎ ‎02‎, ‎2017‎ ‎04‎:‎23‎:‎37‎ ‎PM‎ ‎EDT, Franz via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: After the war, I went to school in the DP Camp in Groedig, Austria, about 12 Km from Salzburg. We had all ages in a one room classroom, and we started out using small chalkboards. Paper and pencils were not available until 1947, and by then, classes were divided into grades one through three in one group and four through five in the other. Boys and girls....all together. Our teacher was also a refugee, but lived in a local farmer's house (also did some farmwork to earn his food and lodging). In my second and third grade years, our teacher was strict, and used the 'paddle' when he deemed it necessary to maintain control. I was never paddled because the thought of a getting a paddling , and then my mother hearing about it, apart from the shame, it would only lead to another paddling from mom, kind of a two-for-one-deal. That did not appeal to me, so I behaved. :-) On the brighter side, we took many walking class trips into the surrounding areas, and that was a treat...just to get out of the room, out of that camp. Once we even visited the nearby German border where we learned about the 'roten Streich auf der Landkarte'. In class, our teacher often smoked Pall Mall cigarettes while teaching, and as a treat, he oftentimes read a Chapter of a Karl Mai American Western fiction book. Those readings were real treats....it brough dreams of foreign sights I never knew I'd see....little did I know that I'd wind up in America one day and see those badlands with my own eyes. When I was able to attend sixth grade (1951), I had to travel from Groedig to Salzburg on the train. The last traincar was reserved only for students because of the noise they made. The conductors never were friendly to us Lager-students, and it was my first introduction to being considered 'different'. Once, I forgot my student pass, so the conductor kicked me off the train and I had to walk 10 KM home...in a snowstorm. (He never checked for the pass on the trip to school) I never forgot that trainpass again..never! I saw similar discrimination in the Hauptschule in Austria, though a few of the teachers were empathetic. However, I was one of the few Auslaender (foreigners) in that school, and my heart always felt the pain of being considered 'second class'....not knowing why, other than I was not Austrian. It was somewhat subtle, a sideways look, a whispered comment, a mocking laugh at the meager lunch I brought, always being chosen  last for recess play teams, my clothes were laughed at......quite a hurtful education that has stayed with me...till today, at age 77! On 9/2/2017 8:09 AM, Dennis Bauer via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES wrote: > Cuz...ok to use this in our new club newsletter? Den > > Sent from AOL Mobile Mail > Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.com > > On Thursday, August 31, 2017 Rose Vetter via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: > I was born in Neusatz (Novi Sad) in the Batschka. I started school in 1942, I think it was in the fall, a time of war and political upheaval. In 1941 Hungary, as a member of the Axis powers, had reclaimed the larger part of the Batschka which they had lost to Yugoslavia after World War I. We were once again in Hungary without having moved! The official language and the bureaucracy became Hungarian, the street signs were changed to Hungarian, etc. I never forget my first days at school. Outfitted with a new schoolbag, a wood-framed slate, slate pencils and an abacus, I was quite excited about my new adventure. My mother walked me to school, and again on the second day. When the third day came around, I was expected to go alone, but I refused; I cried and insisted that Mom to come with me. When I couldn't be persuaded, my father gave me a spanking. That worked. From that day on, I promised myself I would behave, rather than risk getting a spanking again--and I didn't. As for corporal punishment by the teachers, that was accepted in those times. I remember that boys in particular bore the brunt of the teachers' anger by getting the end of the rod. Minor infractions were usually dealt with by a slap on the cheek. I remember getting slapped once and being so humiliated that I tried to hide the red streaks on my cheek from my parents. Those certainly were different times and we've come a long way. I grew up speaking three languages: German at home, and Serbian and Hungarian outside the home and at school. At that time the German Sütterlin or Fraktur script was still taught, but I had to switch to the Latin script once we got to Germany. Our lessons were mainly in Hungarian. I remember being able to sing the whole Hungarian anthem off by heart. When my mother, sister and I packed our bags for our flight in October 1944, I made sure I included my Hungarian schoolbook, which I kept for a long time. Unfortunately, once we were in Germany and I was no longer exposed to the Serbian and Hungarian languages, I forgot them in a short time, which I regret to this day. Unfortunately, my schooling was disrupted by the accelerating war conditions and bombing of the city, so I was not able to attend much school during grade 2. We lived only a block away from the Danube, right across the famous Peterwardein fortress, between the two main bridges which were the constant targets of Allied bombers. I will never forget being awakened by the air raid sirens in the middle of the night and rushing to a nearby air raid shelter. Some nights we didn't bother to get up, but the night our home was turned into a pile of rubble, we had been in the shelter, otherwise I would not be alive today. About a month later we boarded one of the last refugee trains to leave Neusatz. Rose On 29 August 2017 at 22:21, DVHH-L Administrator via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: > Forwarding to the mailing list. > Darlene > > ----------------------------------------------- > Darlene Dimitrie > DVHH-L Email List Administrator > > On 29 August 2017 at 15:42, Hans Kopp <[email protected]> wrote: > > > We were very unfortunately and had our schooling interrupted by three > > years in Gakowa > > A dead camp were the people were taken to die. I started Kindergarten at > > age 6 because in Yugoslavia children started the school at seven. Now we > > had two age groups in one class. The girl school was located in the nuns > > monastery wile the boys went to the boys school. We were more than 100 > boys > > in the school. The girls so what less and therefore it was necessary to > > take t he July ages of the boys to go with the girls to school. I found > > there was actually no corporal punishments by the nouns. > > When we were deported to Gakowa, several of the priest there attempted to > > hold school in the houses, but the was forbidden and stopped when several > > of the priests were taken out of the camp and some of them were killed > and > > became Mardirers > > When I came to Austria I had lost 3 years of school and had to go to > > school with children 3 years younger. Here in Austria we still had > corpora > > punishment, like putting someone over the knee or hitting on the hand > with > > the rulers or standind outside in front of the door. But we grew up to > > become successful citizen of Austria or the USA. I still visit my school > > friends in Austria. I even skied with in 2003. Since than several have > > passed away. Two years ago I did visit my friend I usually stay with to > > celebrate the 60 anniversary of the sports club there I was a founder and > > was honored with several items. I also learned the soccer team I > captioned > > is among the top team in the league and their youth teams have won > several > > championship in their respective leagues. > > > > > > Sent from my iPa > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Aug 28, 2017, at 11:12 AM, DVHH-L Administrator via > > DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Hello everyone, > > > > > > Conversation on the list has been kind of slow lately. Guess everyone > is > > > busy enjoying summer! > > > > > > Was just thinking about the kids going back to school and wondering > about > > > school back in the old country. My mom went to school from the ages of > > > 7-12, for five grades. She repeated grade 3 because she was very sick > > that > > > year and missed a lot of school. It was a one-room schoolhouse. She > > > really liked watching Little House on the Prairie. The school and life > > > reminded her of home. At some point it was divided into 2 rooms, for > > older > > > and younger kids. > > > Yes, there was someone who stuck her pigtails in the inkwell! They had > > > slates to do their work. One of her "friends" used to change her > answers > > > to incorrect ones so my mom would get in trouble. > > > My uncle has an incredible knowledge of European history. He told me > > that > > > because there was not a lot of books available they had to really learn > > and > > > remember what they had been told, which is why he still remembers all > > this. > > > > > > She learned Serbian, both in Latin and Cyrillic letters and German in > > both > > > Latin and Gothic. She also spoke a smattering of other languages > because > > > of going to two different markets each week to sell farm produce. She > > > really loved working at the markets. > > > She lived in Hrastovac in western Slavonia, a town of about 700-800 > > > residents. She always felt under-educated here in Canada because she > > only > > > went to 5 grades, but I think she was quite intelligent and knew as > much > > as > > > people who went through the whole elementary and secondary school > > systems. > > > Maybe not the calculus and trigonometry, but the languages, everyday > > > mathematics, history and geography and she certainly knew a lot of > > growing > > > crops and raising farm animals and how to fix just about anything. > Very > > > practical life skills! > > > > > > Would anyone like to share stories about school life, especially those > of > > > you who went to school there? When did school start? What months did > it > > > run? Did you get let out at certain times to help in the fields? What > > were > > > your teachers like? Where did they come from? How were things > different > > > in smaller towns and larger towns and cities. > > > > > > Feel free to share any other stories about childhood life during the > good > > > times. > > > > > > Darlene > > > > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------- > > > Darlene Dimitrie > > > DVHH-L Email List Administrator > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Dear friends, Mr. Kopp's history brings back so many remembrances as a child in the Waidmansdorf B DP camp.The barracks housed 3 families in the beginning, divided by bed sheets or blankets for just a little privacy and an old pot bellied stove in the kitchen area. Latrines were down the road and I recall an open warehouse where bulk powdered milk was stored for the camp. we did attend school in the camp. our teachers were German speaking and i think they were other displaced Schwaben who had taught in their former lives. My cousin and I were 4 years old and our brothers were 5. I remember my parents went to Salzburg on occasion to file for immigration and prepare papers. When I went through my parents papers a few years ago I found affidavits that stipulated they were who they said they through recreated marriage records and christening records. I even found my father's original passport, some of his school records and records of his farm in Eminovci, Pozega. there were slips approving him or my mother to go by bus to Salzburg by the camp commandant and other slips authorizing a trip to the hospital. it was not until 1952 that we were given permission to go to America. by that time there were 5 of us. initially, there was no work and very little food. My older cousin was sent to a private family in Salzburg because she developed rickets so that she could get the right food to become healthier. After several years, my father was able to work in a brick factory and my mother worked for a woman doctor in town which made life a little more tolerable. Most of my Aunts and Uncles on my parents side were there with us, but we did not know where the extended families ended up. we would only learn of my mothers family over the course of time. My fathers family was much more difficult, but I was able to find my father's favorite aunt a few years ago. Sadly it was not in time for her or my father to find each other. I do however try to stay in touch with her family in Brazil. Her daughter and son in law were sent to a labor camp by Tito and their son was placed in an orphanage for 2 years, but happily they were released and reunited in Brazil. Others were not so lucky. let us make sure that we tell our stories over and over so that our children can be spared from a catastrophe as this in the future! Justine Barth Zentner On 9/8/2017 11:49 AM, Hans Kopp via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES wrote: > A bit of History from my childhood in Salzburg, Austria where I did go to school after 3 years of absence in Gakowa. > Salzburg, Austria a harbor for refugees > > Two eventscontributed to the demise and tragic developments of the life in the Donauschwabenduring the post war years of World War II. They were 1) the agreement at Potsdam by the allied Nations, which allowed the expulsionof all Germans from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslaviaand Hungary.It was done without regard to the fact that the Germans were citizens of thesenations whose ancestors had been living in these countries anywhere from 200 to800 years and in some cases even longer. 2) The decision made by the rebelgroup of the communist partisan’s lead by Tito on November 29, 1943 in Jajce, Bosnia regarding theGerman population. > > The result of these treaties was devastating, primarily for thosecitizens of German descent in Yugoslavia.It denied them the rights of their citizenship, which they received after theFirst World War when Yugoslaviawas formed. The treaty permitted the confiscation of the property of the Donauschwaben,expulsion from their homes, deporting young men and women in their prime tolabor camps in Russia andtaking teenagers, the older men and women force them to work in slave laborcamps throughout Yugoslavia.The Partisans lead by Tito also took the privilege to brutalize murder andstarve to death tens of thousands of innocent Donauschwaben. Thousands of Donauschwaben,who managed to escape Yugoslavia,reached Austria and Germany invarious ways. Once there, they were temporarily housed in old German armybarracks, since no other housing was available at the end of the war. ByOctober 1949, 305,326 German-speaking refugees lived in Austria. Themajority of the refugees were Donauschwaben from the regions of the formerHabsburg Monarchy. By the end of 1949, 5.4% of the total population of Salzburg was refugees,and of those refugees 60% lived in former army barracks. > > During the earlypostwar years, the refugees of German descent from Eastern Europe weredeliberately excluded from receiving aid given by large help institutions. Thebiggest problems were faced by those families who were separated at the end ofthe war and during the early post war years. The most difficult task was thereunification of living family members. The Church institutions developed asystem to find the separated family members and reunite them. As more and morefamilies were reunited, clear directions had to be found for them. They werehomeless and without means of financial support. > > Austria became aharbor for the refugees. This was true especially in Salzburg, center of the American Zone. Salzburg became a centerfor the German refugees and by 1951 there were 235,000 refugees living in theAmerican Zone. The Donauschwaben were extremely grateful to the helping handsin Salzburg,which included Archbishop DDr. Andreas Rohrbacher, the governors of SalzburgDr. Josef Klaus and Dipl. Ing. Dr. Hans Lechner, as well as, Major KR. AlfredBäck of the US Army. Two men were instrumental in aiding the refugees. Theywere Pater Josef Stefan and Dr. Hans Schreckeis, as the President of the Donauschwabenin Salzburg.These men worked relentlessly to ease the burden and pain of the refugees andassisted them with their social and cultural realignment. It was Pater (Father)Stefan, head of the “Katholischen Flüchtlings - und Fürsorgestelle” (CatholicRefugees Aid Station) and his counterpart the “Christliche Hilfswerk derEvangelischen und Reformierten Kirche” (The Christian Help Organization for theLutheran and Reformed Church). They helped thousands of their countrymen solvethe difficult problems they confronted during those hopeless years. > > When the allied powers began to trust the German refugees,organizations to benefit the refugees were formed. The refugees also formedorganizations within themselves. In 1948 the “Zentralstelle der Volksdeutschen”(Center for People of German Descent) was formed. During the same year“Neuland” a newspaper, edited by Prof. A. K. Gauss for the Donauschwaben, beganits publication. Under the direction of the honorary Archbishop DDr. AndreasRohracher of Salzburg,the Donauschwaben staged a “Donauschwaben Home Night” on April 4th1948. These actions were taken by the Donauschwaben, with the intent ofbringing their problems to the attention of the public and the world leaders. > > By early 1950, all hope for the German refugees to return homevanished. It was by no means easy to decide where to go. The Donauschwaben hadno other alternative but to look elsewhere to establish new homes and new livesfor themselves. Due to their German heritage, most Donauschwaben could not getpermits to emigrate. Before permits could be obtained good relations had to beestablished with the U.S. Immigration office. One reason for the denial ofpermits was the military past of our men. It was a delicate matterdemonstrating unfair discrimination against the Donauschwaben at the U.S.Immigration Department. In the matter of discrimination, Prof. Pater JosefStefan and Kons. Rat Prof. Josef Haltmayer directed efforts to collectdocuments regarding the so-called “voluntary” enlistment into the Waffen SS.The collection of documents was the basis for a memorandum written by Prof. A.K. Gauss. The memorandum was distributed to various institutions andorganizations concerning the emigration question and the status of the Donauschwaben.The memorandum found recognition at the U.S. Immigration Department and thebarrier of mistrust of the Donauschwaben was broken and new inroads were made. > > In 1950the World Church Conference, whose priority issues were the refugees, tookplace in Salzburg.Prof. A. K. Gauss presented a document entitled “Children in the Shadow” at theconference. He addressed the problems of thousands of our children orphaned andleft to suffer in Yugoslaviawithout parents, grandparents or caring relatives. It was the first time theworld took note of the problem and with the cooperation and the help of theInternational Red Cross, thousands of children were allowed to leave Yugoslavia to be reunited with their families inAustria, Germany, USA and other countries. > > TheGovernor of Salzburg (Landeshauptmann) Dr. Josef Klaus took a leading roleencouraging local communities in Salzburg to become involved with theresettlement of the refugees and to free more land for housing developmentprojects. The land was sold for a low price of 3 Austrian Schilling per squaremeter. One man that must be mentioned is Pater (Father) Warenfried vanStraaten, whose fundraising activities became a fixture in the communities. Hisdonations of food earned him the beloved nickname “Speckpater” (Bacon father).While traveling through the newly built communities he conceived the idea oforganizing the “Baugesellen” (Building fellows). He recruited young men from Belgium, Holland,France, Germany, Austria and other countries todonate their time to build houses, old age homes, orphanages and hostels. Healso extended his work to other countries. > > > On ‎Saturday‎, ‎September‎ ‎02‎, ‎2017‎ ‎04‎:‎23‎:‎37‎ ‎PM‎ ‎EDT, Franz via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: > > After the war, I went to school in the DP Camp in Groedig, Austria, > about 12 Km from Salzburg. We had all ages in a one room classroom, and > we started out using small chalkboards. Paper and pencils were not > available until 1947, and by then, classes were divided into grades one > through three in one group and four through five in the other. Boys and > girls....all together. Our teacher was also a refugee, but lived in a > local farmer's house (also did some farmwork to earn his food and > lodging). In my second and third grade years, our teacher was strict, > and used the 'paddle' when he deemed it necessary to maintain control. I > was never paddled because the thought of a getting a paddling , and then > my mother hearing about it, apart from the shame, it would only lead to > another paddling from mom, kind of a two-for-one-deal. That did not > appeal to me, so I behaved. :-) > On the brighter side, we took many walking class trips into the > surrounding areas, and that was a treat...just to get out of the room, > out of that camp. Once we even visited the nearby German border where we > learned about the 'roten Streich auf der Landkarte'. In class, our > teacher often smoked Pall Mall cigarettes while teaching, and as a > treat, he oftentimes read a Chapter of a Karl Mai American Western > fiction book. Those readings were real treats....it brough dreams of > foreign sights I never knew I'd see....little did I know that I'd wind > up in America one day and see those badlands with my own eyes. When I > was able to attend sixth grade (1951), I had to travel from Groedig to > Salzburg on the train. The last traincar was reserved only for students > because of the noise they made. The conductors never were friendly to us > Lager-students, and it was my first introduction to being considered > 'different'. Once, I forgot my student pass, so the conductor kicked me > off the train and I had to walk 10 KM home...in a snowstorm. (He never > checked for the pass on the trip to school) I never forgot that > trainpass again..never! I saw similar discrimination in the Hauptschule > in Austria, though a few of the teachers were empathetic. However, I was > one of the few Auslaender (foreigners) in that school, and my heart > always felt the pain of being considered 'second class'....not knowing > why, other than I was not Austrian. It was somewhat subtle, a sideways > look, a whispered comment, a mocking laugh at the meager lunch I > brought, always being chosen last for recess play teams, my clothes > were laughed at......quite a hurtful education that has stayed with > me...till today, at age 77! > On 9/2/2017 8:09 AM, Dennis Bauer via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES wrote: >> Cuz...ok to use this in our new club newsletter? Den >> >> Sent from AOL Mobile Mail >> Get the new AOL app: mail.mobile.aol.com >> >> On Thursday, August 31, 2017 Rose Vetter via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: >> I was born in Neusatz (Novi Sad) in the Batschka. I started school in 1942, I think it was in the fall, a time of war and political upheaval. In 1941 Hungary, as a member of the Axis powers, had reclaimed the larger part of the Batschka which they had lost to Yugoslavia after World War I. We were once again in Hungary without having moved! The official language and the bureaucracy became Hungarian, the street signs were changed to Hungarian, etc. I never forget my first days at school. Outfitted with a new schoolbag, a wood-framed slate, slate pencils and an abacus, I was quite excited about my new adventure. My mother walked me to school, and again on the second day. When the third day came around, I was expected to go alone, but I refused; I cried and insisted that Mom to come with me. When I couldn't be persuaded, my father gave me a spanking. That worked. From that day on, I promised myself I would behave, rather than risk getting a spanking again--and I didn't. As for corporal punishment by the teachers, that was accepted in those times. I remember that boys in particular bore the brunt of the teachers' anger by getting the end of the rod. Minor infractions were usually dealt with by a slap on the cheek. I remember getting slapped once and being so humiliated that I tried to hide the red streaks on my cheek from my parents. Those certainly were different times and we've come a long way. I grew up speaking three languages: German at home, and Serbian and Hungarian outside the home and at school. At that time the German Sütterlin or Fraktur script was still taught, but I had to switch to the Latin script once we got to Germany. Our lessons were mainly in Hungarian. I remember being able to sing the whole Hungarian anthem off by heart. When my mother, sister and I packed our bags for our flight in October 1944, I made sure I included my Hungarian schoolbook, which I kept for a long time. Unfortunately, once we were in Germany and I was no longer exposed to the Serbian and Hungarian languages, I for! got them in a short time, which I regret to this day. Unfortunately, my schooling was disrupted by the accelerating war conditions and bombing of the city, so I was not able to attend much school during grade 2. We lived only a block away from the Danube, right across the famous Peterwardein fortress, between the two main bridges which were the constant targets of Allied bombers. I will never forget being awakened by the air raid sirens in the middle of the night and rushing to a nearby air raid shelter. Some nights we didn't bother to get up, but the night our home was turned into a pile of rubble, we had been in the shelter, otherwise I would not be alive today. About a month later we boarded one of the last refugee trains to leave Neusatz. Rose On 29 August 2017 at 22:21, DVHH-L Administrator via DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: > Forwarding to the mailing list. > Darlene > > ----------------------------------------------- > Darlene Dimitrie > DVHH-L Email List Administrator > > On 29 August 2017 at 15:42, Hans Kopp <[email protected]> wrote: > > > We were very unfortunately and had our schooling interrupted by three > > years in Gakowa > > A dead camp were the people were taken to die. I started Kindergarten at > > age 6 because in Yugoslavia children started the school at seven. Now we > > had two age groups in one class. The girl school was located in the nuns > > monastery wile the boys went to the boys school. We were more than 100 > boys > > in the school. The girls so what less and therefore it was necessary to > > take t he July ages of the boys to go with the girls to school. I found > > there was actually no corporal punishments by the nouns. > > When we were deported to Gakowa, several of the priest there attempted to > > hold school in the houses, but the was forbidden and stopped when several > > of the priests were taken out of the camp and some of them were killed > and > > became Mardirers > > When I came to Austria I had lost 3 years of school and had ! to go to > > school with children 3 years younger. Here in Austria we still had > corpora > > punishment, like putting someone over the knee or hitting on the hand > with > > the rulers or standind outside in front of the door. But we grew up to > > become successful citizen of Austria or the USA. I still visit my school > > friends in Austria. I even skied with in 2003. Since than several have > > passed away. Two years ago I did visit my friend I usually stay with to > > celebrate the 60 anniversary of the sports club there I was a founder and > > was honored with several items. I also learned the soccer team I > captioned > > is among the top team in the league and their youth teams have won > several > > championship in their respective leagues. > > > > > > Sent from my iPa > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Aug 28, 2017, at 11:12 AM, DVHH-L Administrator via > > DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > Hello everyone, > > > > > > Conversation on the list has been kind of slow lately. Guess everyone > is > > > busy enjoying summer! > > > > > > Was just thinking about the kids going back to school and wondering > about > > > school back in the old country. My mom went to school from the ages of > > > 7-12, for five grades. She repeated grade 3 because she was very sick > > that > > > year and missed a lot of school. It was a one-room schoolhouse. She > > > really liked watching Little House on the Prairie. The school and life > > > reminded her of home. At some point it was divided into 2 rooms, for > > older > > > and younger kids. > > > Yes, there was someone who stuck her pigtails in the inkwell! They had > > > slates to do their work. One of her "friends" used to change her > answers > > > to incorrect ones so my mom would get in trouble. > > > My uncle has an incredible knowledge of European history. He told me > > that > > > because there was not a lot of books available they had to really learn > > and > > > remember what they had been told, which is why he still rememb! ers all > > this. > > > > > > She learned Serbian, both in Latin and Cyrillic letters and German in > > both > > > Latin and Gothic. She also spoke a smattering of other languages > because > > > of going to two different markets each week to sell farm produce. She > > > really loved working at the markets. > > > She lived in Hrastovac in western Slavonia, a town of about 700-800 > > > residents. She always felt under-educated here in Canada because she > > only > > > went to 5 grades, but I think she was quite intelligent and knew as > much > > as > > > people who went through the whole elementary and secondary school > > systems. > > > Maybe not the calculus and trigonometry, but the languages, everyday > > > mathematics, history and geography and she certainly knew a lot of > > growing > > > crops and raising farm animals and how to fix just about anything. > Very > > > practical life skills! > > > > > > Would anyone like to share stories about school life, especially those > of > > > you who went to school there? When did school start? What months did > it > > > run? Did you get let out at certain times to help in the fields? What > > were > > > your teachers like? Where did they come from? How were things > different > > > in smaller towns and larger towns and cities. > > > > > > Feel free to share any other stories about childhood life during the > good > > > times. > > > > > > Darlene > > > > > > > > > ----------------------------------------------- > > > Darlene Dimitrie > > > DVHH-L Email List Administrator > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -----------! -------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message