I was born in Brooklyn, to parents of German heritage. I have not seen much about German-Americans in Brooklyn on this list. The photos of stores and other buildings on the site are very interesting, but it seems that much of the German-American experience in Brooklyn has been "air-brushed" out -- perhaps it will be added later? For example, the following: "Over the years, however, the community assimilated and dispersed, but not before it left an indelible mark on the city. Since that time, New York has been built up and torn down, both by design and by tragedy, but if you look close enough, you can still find traces of the German immigrant experience hiding throughout the city’s corridors." No mention of the anti-German hysteria and violent acts against German-Americans in Brooklyn in the period preceding WWI! Burning of German-language school and library books, and other attempts to wipe out all things German. My mother (her father from Germany, and her mother, whose parents were from Germany) was born in Bushwick in 1910. She was given poor grades by her teacher, until a visit to the class by her two uncles, who were serving in the US Navy. After that, her grades were high, reflecting her actual school work. Her father, then an American citizen, was arrested, tried, and convicted of being a terrorist, and was sentenced to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Such was the shame that my mother was not told what had happened. Sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage" (Google "liberty cabbage" and you'll come upon American history as is was NOT taught in any school I attended. Here's a sample: " " During World War 1, the persecution of Germans in American society was so pronounced that Germans were forced to abandon their language and customs, at least in public. German books were burned outside numerous libraries, while Beethoven was banned from symphonic repertories. The atmosphere was such that Germans hid the fact they were German and changed their own names-Schmitz to Smith, and so forth. For its part, the public renamed almost every German street and landmark and even altered menus, so that sauerkraut became Liberty Cabbage, and so on." http://www.fff.org/freedom/0995c.asp The New York Times archives of this period reflect some of the emotion of the time, with references to the "dirty huns" and so on. Fold3 (formerly Footnote) also has documents about this period -- I found one in which a friend of the family had been reported as being suspicious, only because he was German, and he was investigated by the authorities. Sort of like what has happened to some Muslims, in the present, is it not? Joan Kappel Altamont, NY ---- [email protected] wrote: > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. great site! German heritage must see ([email protected]) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:10:11 -0500 (EST) > From: [email protected] > Subject: [BKLYN] great site! German heritage must see > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > > In the Daily News today. The site is German Trace NY. > > You can trace by > 1. Layar Augmented Reality on your phone > 2. Mobile Web > 3. Desktop web > > There's also a German Trace Map, with all the areas as pushpins where you > read the description and then can go to an interactive photo that you click > on to hear the history. Very interesting. > > Here's the website description > > > German Traces NYC is mobile, augmented reality experience designed to let > learners explore German cultural heritage in New York City. The application > makes use of archival documents, photographs, and multimedia narratives to > bring to life to this significant thread of New York City and United States > history. > _http://www.germantracesnyc.org/about.php_ > (http://www.germantracesnyc.org/about.php) > > > Have fun exploring > > Nancy > > > > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the NYBROOKLYN list administrator, send an email to > [email protected] > > To post a message to the NYBROOKLYN mailing list, send an email to [email protected] > > __________________________________________________________ > 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 > email with no additional text. > > > End of NYBROOKLYN Digest, Vol 7, Issue 36 > *****************************************

My German ancestors lived in the Bronx during WWI. The Bronx had a high proportion of Germans, and even when my German ancestors first immigrated and settled in the Bronx in the 1850s, there were many Germans there. One g-g-gf owned two German taverns in the Bronx. I remember my grandfather often telling me, when I got him to discuss family history, that this same grandfather of his, forbade his family to speak German in the home. I wish now, that I had asked him for more specifics - like, whether or not that was always the case, or whether something (like the war), caused him to forbid them to speak German, or whether he just felt that they all needed to assimilate and speaking the native tongue would only slow that process. Whatever my g-g-gf's reason, my grandfather spoke German pretty darned well, for being the 2nd generation born here. I don't know whether the family spoke it when his grandfather wasn't around to hear, or whether my grandfather picked it up in the German taverns that his father then took over, in the 19-teens. Judy H -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BKLYN] German Traces site I was born in Brooklyn, to parents of German heritage. I have not seen much about German-Americans in Brooklyn on this list. The photos of stores and other buildings on the site are very interesting, but it seems that much of the German-American experience in Brooklyn has been "air-brushed" out -- perhaps it will be added later? For example, the following: "Over the years, however, the community assimilated and dispersed, but not before it left an indelible mark on the city. Since that time, New York has been built up and torn down, both by design and by tragedy, but if you look close enough, you can still find traces of the German immigrant experience hiding throughout the city’s corridors." No mention of the anti-German hysteria and violent acts against German-Americans in Brooklyn in the period preceding WWI! Burning of German-language school and library books, and other attempts to wipe out all things German. My mother (her father from Germany, and her mother, whose parents were from Germany) was born in Bushwick in 1910. She was given poor grades by her teacher, until a visit to the class by her two uncles, who were serving in the US Navy. After that, her grades were high, reflecting her actual school work. Her father, then an American citizen, was arrested, tried, and convicted of being a terrorist, and was sentenced to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Such was the shame that my mother was not told what had happened. Sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage" (Google "liberty cabbage" and you'll come upon American history as is was NOT taught in any school I attended. Here's a sample: " " During World War 1, the persecution of Germans in American society was so pronounced that Germans were forced to abandon their language and customs, at least in public. German books were burned outside numerous libraries, while Beethoven was banned from symphonic repertories. The atmosphere was such that Germans hid the fact they were German and changed their own names-Schmitz to Smith, and so forth. For its part, the public renamed almost every German street and landmark and even altered menus, so that sauerkraut became Liberty Cabbage, and so on." http://www.fff.org/freedom/0995c.asp The New York Times archives of this period reflect some of the emotion of the time, with references to the "dirty huns" and so on. Fold3 (formerly Footnote) also has documents about this period -- I found one in which a friend of the family had been reported as being suspicious, only because he was German, and he was investigated by the authorities. Sort of like what has happened to some Muslims, in the present, is it not? Joan Kappel Altamont, NY ---- [email protected] wrote: > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. great site! German heritage must see ([email protected]) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:10:11 -0500 (EST) > From: [email protected] > Subject: [BKLYN] great site! German heritage must see > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > > In the Daily News today. The site is German Trace NY. > > You can trace by > 1. Layar Augmented Reality on your phone 2. Mobile Web 3. Desktop web > > There's also a German Trace Map, with all the areas as pushpins where > you read the description and then can go to an interactive photo that > you click on to hear the history. Very interesting. > > Here's the website description > > > German Traces NYC is mobile, augmented reality experience designed to > let learners explore German cultural heritage in New York City. The > application makes use of archival documents, photographs, and > multimedia narratives to bring to life to this significant thread of > New York City and United States history. > _http://www.germantracesnyc.org/about.php_ > (http://www.germantracesnyc.org/about.php) > > > Have fun exploring > > Nancy > > > > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the NYBROOKLYN list administrator, send an email to > [email protected] > > To post a message to the NYBROOKLYN mailing list, send an email to [email protected] > > __________________________________________________________ > 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 > email with no additional text. > > > End of NYBROOKLYN Digest, Vol 7, Issue 36 > ***************************************** ------------------------------- 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

My mother was born in New York City in 1892 of German immigrant parents. Although my grandparents spoke broken English, my mother was fluent in both languages, indicating that German was apparently spoken at home. When I once asked my mother to teach me German, her reply was that I was American and I was to speak English! Hoping to study German in high school (where it had been taught), I was disappointed to learn that German had been discontinued several years before I entered high school in 1944. In the small town on Long Island where I grew up, a large percentage of the population was of German descent; however, anti-German sentiment seemingly existed well into World War II. Dorothy -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of J A Herbert Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 10:52 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [BKLYN] German Traces site My German ancestors lived in the Bronx during WWI. The Bronx had a high proportion of Germans, and even when my German ancestors first immigrated and settled in the Bronx in the 1850s, there were many Germans there. One g-g-gf owned two German taverns in the Bronx. I remember my grandfather often telling me, when I got him to discuss family history, that this same grandfather of his, forbade his family to speak German in the home. I wish now, that I had asked him for more specifics - like, whether or not that was always the case, or whether something (like the war), caused him to forbid them to speak German, or whether he just felt that they all needed to assimilate and speaking the native tongue would only slow that process. Whatever my g-g-gf's reason, my grandfather spoke German pretty darned well, for being the 2nd generation born here. I don't know whether the family spoke it when his grandfather wasn't around to hear, or whether my grandfather picked it up in the German taverns that his father then took over, in the 19-teens. Judy H -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [BKLYN] German Traces site I was born in Brooklyn, to parents of German heritage. I have not seen much about German-Americans in Brooklyn on this list. The photos of stores and other buildings on the site are very interesting, but it seems that much of the German-American experience in Brooklyn has been "air-brushed" out -- perhaps it will be added later? For example, the following: "Over the years, however, the community assimilated and dispersed, but not before it left an indelible mark on the city. Since that time, New York has been built up and torn down, both by design and by tragedy, but if you look close enough, you can still find traces of the German immigrant experience hiding throughout the city's corridors." No mention of the anti-German hysteria and violent acts against German-Americans in Brooklyn in the period preceding WWI! Burning of German-language school and library books, and other attempts to wipe out all things German. My mother (her father from Germany, and her mother, whose parents were from Germany) was born in Bushwick in 1910. She was given poor grades by her teacher, until a visit to the class by her two uncles, who were serving in the US Navy. After that, her grades were high, reflecting her actual school work. Her father, then an American citizen, was arrested, tried, and convicted of being a terrorist, and was sentenced to the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Such was the shame that my mother was not told what had happened. Sauerkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage" (Google "liberty cabbage" and you'll come upon American history as is was NOT taught in any school I attended. Here's a sample: " " During World War 1, the persecution of Germans in American society was so pronounced that Germans were forced to abandon their language and customs, at least in public. German books were burned outside numerous libraries, while Beethoven was banned from symphonic repertories. The atmosphere was such that Germans hid the fact they were German and changed their own names-Schmitz to Smith, and so forth. For its part, the public renamed almost every German street and landmark and even altered menus, so that sauerkraut became Liberty Cabbage, and so on." http://www.fff.org/freedom/0995c.asp The New York Times archives of this period reflect some of the emotion of the time, with references to the "dirty huns" and so on. Fold3 (formerly Footnote) also has documents about this period -- I found one in which a friend of the family had been reported as being suspicious, only because he was German, and he was investigated by the authorities. Sort of like what has happened to some Muslims, in the present, is it not? Joan Kappel Altamont, NY ---- [email protected] wrote: > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. great site! German heritage must see ([email protected]) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:10:11 -0500 (EST) > From: [email protected] > Subject: [BKLYN] great site! German heritage must see > To: [email protected] > Message-ID: <[email protected]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" > > > In the Daily News today. The site is German Trace NY. > > You can trace by > 1. Layar Augmented Reality on your phone 2. Mobile Web 3. Desktop web > > There's also a German Trace Map, with all the areas as pushpins where > you read the description and then can go to an interactive photo that > you click on to hear the history. Very interesting. > > Here's the website description > > > German Traces NYC is mobile, augmented reality experience designed to > let learners explore German cultural heritage in New York City. The > application makes use of archival documents, photographs, and > multimedia narratives to bring to life to this significant thread of > New York City and United States history. > _http://www.germantracesnyc.org/about.php_ > (http://www.germantracesnyc.org/about.php) > > > Have fun exploring > > Nancy > > > > > ------------------------------ > > To contact the NYBROOKLYN list administrator, send an email to > [email protected] > > To post a message to the NYBROOKLYN mailing list, send an email to [email protected] > > __________________________________________________________ > 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 > email with no additional text. > > > End of NYBROOKLYN Digest, Vol 7, Issue 36 > ***************************************** ------------------------------- 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