History of the Village God Bless Our Home Beschka Homeland Book by Peter Lang Translated by Brad Schwebler Table of Contents Linked to translation page Title Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 6                                                     Foreword At the meeting of the homeland committee in May 1967 we were agreed that an "Ortsmonographie" of our former homeland community should be written.  Because I was already in retirement at the time I gladly took on this task although I had no documents.  I got the courage to obtain about four pages of Friedrich Scherer's memories.  I had already written about 200 pages without documents when by chance I came across the preserved Krtschediner homeland book by Friedrich Renz.  Because Beschka was the parent community of Krtschedin, I received this book as a gift from God because in it it described the history of the people of Beschka.  References for further written documents (Bierbrunner and Pindor) I received from Rev. Peter but these books disappeared as souvenoirs from the Germans Abroad Institute during the occupation time.  Again by chance I learned from Director Friedrich Lotz that he had the Bierbrunner papers and he soon also sent me a handwritten excerpt as far as it concerns the book Beschka.  I was naturally very lucky that I now had papers for the first 40 years.  The Pindor papers I obtained through a friend from the Budapest bishop's office.  The present Serbian pastor in Beschka also sent me the most important papers from Beschka from 1702 to the present. As suggested through the Krtschedin homeland book with its register of births, deaths, and marriages I decided to record the people of Beschka in such a way also, because our church books were not at our disposal or that of our descendants either.  I printed a questionaire and distributed it to the countrymen at the fourth village meeting in 1968 in Echterdingen.  But it took three months for the first questionaire to come back.  I already thought the plan failed because of lack of interest, but gave up and reported in the refugee newspapers in which many questionaires are already entered.  (Many and few is a relative term and I deliberatively chose the word "many", knowing very well that it is psychologically better because "Where there are many pigeons, many more come besides, and where there are few, fewer fly from it.")  This propoganda worked amazingly and from the further reports I was already clearer and cited "more than 200 questionaires."  In the spring of 1970 there were already almost 1000 questionaires and I wrote the remaining families from the federal settlement office. In August 1970 I sent invitations to about 800 addresses for the fifth village meeting, together with the request for the advance order and advance payment for the books.  That way I could be assured that the minimum would be printed up before the meeting in October. Now nothing more stood in the way of distributing the book.  The completion of the book took more than three months because I was very short of material.  It was not easy for me to make the choice, because he who has the choice, also has the torment.  Selecting the illustrations was especially difficult because I had to leave many pictures out because of the question of cost.  I have given preference towards group photographs of families.  Individual photographs I only chose when there was a special reason, such as traditional costumes, to show them. For the selection of the text I also dealt with the relationships to the parent communities, because the people of Beschka came from them.  Preference belonged not to our parent community, but to the social product and tax relationship in favor of allowing our parent community to be correct.  As source materials besides the writings mentioned I also used: Hudjetz-Rometsch "Neupasua", especially the register of births, deaths, and marriages; Peter Wack's "Torschau"; Konrad Blum's "Liebling", and Heinrich Schmidt's "Jarek".  The memories of Friedrich Scherer, Jakob Philippi, Andreas Scherer, Peter Ewinger, and Anton Bobosch were very useful to me. I thank everyone who helped in some way, especially the refugee newspapers in the following order of their appearance from west to east: "Mitteilungen" (Communications), 7500 Karlsruhe, Kaiserallee 8/2; "Der Donauschwabe", 7080 Aalen and "Das Neuland", 8228 Freilassing.  Last but not least I would also like to thank the Leuchter Publishing Company for the favorable price offer, especially for the illustrations. Marbach/Neckar, 28th of June, 1971 Peter Lang   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 11                                                                       Geography of Our Homeland Community of Beschka      For our descendants it will not be natural to know where our homeland community of Beschka is.  It lies in Yugoslavia, about 55 km north of Belgrade, about 5 km south of the Danube River, and about 1 km east of the 20th longitude.  Beschka is no longer our homeland community, but it was for 84 years, from 1860 to 1944.  Before that our homeland was north of the Danube in the Batschka, in nine so-called parent communities, from them to other communities still to be reported.  Before 1784 our home was in Germany which I will be describing as our original home in the following, from which region I was from, in which our forefathers and we lived from 1860 to 1944, was described as our homeland.      The name Beschka comes from the Turksand means "Five-Hour-Way" in English, probably from the old Peterwardein Fortress, which is found 25 km northwest of Beschka.  But possibly the name also means "Bird flight."  It is certain that the first syllable "Besch" means five.  From my memory the name was interpreted in Beschka's school chronicle as the "Twelve-Hour-Way."  But Five-Hour-Way may be right.      The ground around Beschka consists of clay which is about 1 m thick and occasionally also a thick layer of humous which was very fertile.  The land was very uneven.  Young strong people could climb almost all the slopes with the bicycle.  Only the Franken Mountains which stretch along the Danube River not far from Beschka, were considerably high up.  Beschka was 126 meters above sea level by the Reformed church and the land had a moderate gradient toward the east.      The streams from the surrounding area of Beschka flowed into the Danube River.  North of the settlement there was a small creek without a name.  North of the Long Street there was a dry valley, that only once, it was about the year 1935 in the area of house number 30 up to 6 water ran, during it from house number 6 up to the brick oven in the east water also ran in dry seasons which merged there with a creek from the south.  The last creek came from the Banstol, a farmland region west of Beschka. (Banstol comes from Ban = higher administrative office, and from Stol = slate, table).  So much water flowed in this creek each season that a mill could be operated with it which had a capacity of almost exactly 1400 watts, which amounts to about 2 PS.  The mill originally belonged to Johann? Hemmler (vgl. reg. number 980) and was still in operation around 1930.  The later owner, Ph. Kniesel (vgl. reg. number 1041) directed the mill to the private power supply in 1944 with a direct current dynamo because the water main was broken down at the time.  German soldiers who guarded the train bridge built a dam in the creek by the train bridge towards Maradik during World War II.  The spa that was created was an attraction for the youth - also the Serbs who affectionately cared for the soldiers.  My son Otmar, 4 years old at the time was brought swimming by the soldiers.  At the end of Peter-Deringer Street by house number 29 the creek mentioned merged with a smaller one only ran in the lower reaches.  All of these creeks took care of the water removal.  They swelled up from the heavy rains.  In the east, at the end of the village, there was a shallow lake 100 meters wide and long.  From here the landlord and the Fleischhacker (butcher?) fetched ice for the ice pit, because there were still not many refrigerators.  About 1000 to 1500 meters farther east from the lake there was another water mill which had already been still for some time.  It belonged to the Serbian Joca Varicak, 5 Long Street.  The creek there already had a name, namely Patka (Serbian for duck).      There were no woods in Beschka.  The only thing that belonged to Beschka was a Danube island with willows growing on it.  It was also generally used as pasture by individual owners.  Very little attention was paid to the land on the island.  It happened that a yoke of land was sold there for a liter of wine.  Of special interest however were the island rights during World War II.  At the time the island belonged to Hungary for three years.  The bearer of island rights therefore easily kept a pass for Hungary.  Also in later "Lastenausgleich" (compensation paid to individuals for damages and losses during and immediately after the Second World War), the island rights worked out favorably so that the bearer was relatively well compensated.      Mineral deposits besides clay did not exist in Beschka.  The nearest quarry was by Krtschedin on the Danube.  However this was unfavorable for traffic to Beschka.  The stones had to be transported from a distance of 25 km by train.  Because of this street construction was very expensive and the streets were bad.      Beschka is dominated by a continental climate.  The summer is very hot and dry.  In July and August it doesn't even rain for six to eight weeks.  The farmers resisted the drought by breaking up the ground.  Under the fruit trees no grass was allowed to grow.  A Serbian proverb said: "Ko u sljiviku seno kose, zimi rakije prosi." (Whoever mows hay in the quetsch garden, begs for schnaps in the winter.)  When it rains in Beschka, there is a powerful cloudburst.  At one such cloud burst  in Mohacs in 1526 the Hungarian king drowned in the battle with the Turks.  The transition from rain to beautiful weather does not last long.  In summer it seldom rains more than an hour, usually shorter.  The bad weather in the summer brought a pleasant cooling off.  In the summer the temperature was constantly about 35 degrees Celsius throughout the day for a week.  Also during the night from July to mid-August the temperature seldom fell under 30 degrees Celsius and so people only covered themselves with a linen cloth to protect themselves from the flies while sleeping.  The winter was very cold with temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius.  In the spring a southeast wind blew called "Koschawa", which as a rule persisted for three days.  In May the "scheduled cold ice men" came.  The first night frost was expected about the 15th of October.  The months of September and October were often rainy, so that the farmers with the harvest and the winter sowing frequently advised the need for time.      The name Srem (Syrmien) came from Roman times.  This described the land between the Danube and the Save Rivers, about 80 km long and 50 km wide.  The Batschka is the region between the Danube and the Theiß Rivers, about 100 km long and 80 km wide.  The Banat lies east of the Theiß and the Danube and stretches up into the present day Romania.  Srem and the Batschka were for a long time two independant administrative units with an "Obergespan" (overseer?) in Zombor (Sombor) or rather Vakowar (Wolfsburg) at the top.  The Banat had two Comitat, namely the Torontaler (Toron Valley) and Temeschburger.  Srem, Batschka, Banat, Baranya and northern Serbia without Belgrade were united about 1930 in the Danube "Banschaft?"  At the top stood the Banus.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 14 The Prehistory of the Region Around Beschka Beschka lies in the area of old cultures.  I would like to stress the history of this area.      Alexander the Great already watered his horse in the lower Danube 336 years before Christ's birth which at the time was called the Istar.  At the time the Celts lived from the Black Sea to England.  From them came for example the name Danube (Roman name was Danubia), Theiß, Kreisch (Hungarian name is Körös), Drau and Sau (Serbian names are Drava and Sava).  In the year 9 B.C. the Roamns also ruled the land south of the Danube and with it the land around Beschka.  The region from Vienna to Belgrade was called Pannonia at the time.  The land east of the Theiß and north of the Danube was called Dacia.  It corresponded with today's Banat and Transylvania.  Between the Danube and the Theiß Rivers lived the Jzygen during Roman times which the Romans found difficult to rule.  In the Batschka the Romans built the special so-called Roman trenches.  Today these are so deep that a rider can get stuck in them.  The Romans gave our region the name Syrmia (Srem).  The city that was called Sirmium at the time is called Mitrovica today after the goddess Demeter.  The seat of several Roman emperors was there.  The city of Sirmium already had 200,000 inhabitants at the time.  Also in the neighborhood of Beschka are found Roman villages such as Acuminikum - the seat of the Roman headquarters in the province of Pannonia, which today is called Slankamen.  Other important Roman cities in the neighborhood of Beschka were Burgal, today known as Banovci; Ritium, today known as Surduk; and Kusum, today known as Karlovitz.  In Beschka one of my students found a copper Roman coin from the 3rd Century.  In the year 1942 Vlada Jovanovic, known as Vuletic, 21 Long Street, stumbled upon an old pottery oven by the side of a pathway in his yard which was still full of pots.  It is possible, that this oven came from before Roman times.  Roman rule was also broken during the migration of people into the region around Beschka.  Goths, Huns, "Awaren", and many other people moved through the land and destroyed all the cultural memorials.      The Croatians settled in today's Croatia in the 7th Century and later chose the Hungarian king as their own king.  This condition lasted until World War I.  But notice also that the Hungarians had no national king since 1526.  What's more is that the Habsburgs at the time were king of Hungary and Croatia.  The Serbs migrated to today's Serbia in the 7th century.  At first they were dependant on the Byzantines, up to the 12th century they were independant, up to the 15th century they were under Turkish rule, and were first completely free in 1912.  The apostles Cyril and Method converted the Serbs to Christianity.  Both apostles were canonized.  Cyril is the creator of the Cyrillic alphapet which the Russians, Serbs, and Bulgarians of today still use.  The Croatians ,on the other hand, use the Roman alphabet which goes together with their religion because they are in contrast with the orthodox Catholic Serbs.  The difference in beliefs and the historical development caused a deep rift between the brotherly Serbs and Croatians.  The Serbs, Croatians, and Slovenians first united in 1918, then in the kingdom of Jugoslavia (Jug=south).  This name has remained.  What has changed is the form of state because Jugoslavia is no longer a federal socialistic republic.      It should also be mentioned that the French under Charlemagne also ruled our homeland, the former Roman Pannonia.  Karlovitz has kept the name of Charlemagneand the name Frankengebirge (French Mountains) (Serbian name is Fruschka Gora (Frug=French) which also refers to the French history.      In the year 895 the great Prince Arpad led the Magyars into Hungary, whose borders at the time were determined to run through the Carpathians from Preßburg to Orschowa.  In the west the border went almost exactly south to the Mur-Drau-Danube and to Orschowa.  In 975 began the Christianizing of Hungary and with it also the migration of the German monks, priests, officials, and craftsmen.  In greater numbers came the Transylvanians and Zipser Sachsen (Saxons) in the 12th century to Hungary.  The Zipser and the Transylvanian Saxons survived the Tatar and Turkish times and could accept the Evangelical belief under the Turks.  In Turkish times there were many Calvanist Hungarians.      After the expulsion of the Turks about 300,000 Serbs came from Serbia under the leadership of patriarch Cernojevic in the Batschka and the Banat because as imperial collaborators they had to flee the revenge of the Turks.  Also German soldiers settled in the devastated region.  Later under Emperor Leopold and Maria Theresia German Catholic farmers came to settle little by little.  For the time being the Protestants were not tolerated.  Emperor Josef II first issued the Tolerance Act for Protestants and a year after that followed the Settlement Patent.  The homeland history researcher Director Friedrich Lotz established that Emperor Josef did not issue this Settlement Patent and what's more is he entrusted high officials of his to be permitted to advertise that it would be issued in his name.  But it was certain that Emperor Josef would keep all promises in the Settlement Patent.  The emperor was way ahead of his time.  He was often called Josef the German but he was also very tolerant towards other people.  French, Spaniards, and Italians were also settled.  It was not clear why the Germans were not preferred that the "separation" was only approved with the consent of the Serbs (for further reference see "Eimann").  French, Spaniards, and Italians were assimilated without obligation by the Germans.  The name Gabert in Beschka may have come from the French name Chabert.  Other names: Fakundini, Knefely, Balanger, Castelli, Massong, and so on.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 16 The So-called Settlement Patent (Ref. Eimann, page 48) "was essential for the development of the parent community" It reads word for word:    We the people of Josef the Second, chosen Roman Emperor  by his gracious God, through all times in the majority of the Empire, king of Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia, and Lodomeria, do (thun) herewith (Jedermänniglich kund) that we in our kingdom of Hungary, Galicia, and Lodomeria possessed many unoccupied, empty, and desolate lands which we thought to settle with German members of the Empire, especially from the upper Rhine region.  In the end we promise, by our drilled-in imperial royal slogan to all of our migrating families of the Empire, which we are in need of many thousand of farm families and professionals: First: A perfect conscience and religious freedom (Freyheit) as each religious party (Partey) is provided the most completely needed clergy and teachers belonging to it. Second: Each family was provided with a respectable new roomy country house with a garden beside it. Third: The field hands with each family were presented with the necessary ground in existing good fields and meadows as well as the necessary draft and breed livestock, then field and home implements. Fourth: The professionals and day workers on the other hand merely had those appliances in the landlord’s house to enjoy but the professionals are paid 50 Rhine Guilders to acquire their craftsman’s implements. Fifth: The oldest son of each family is and remains free from military recruitment. Sixth: Each family received free transportation from Vienna to the village and place of settlement where the necessary travel money was paid.  After that they were provided for just so long until the family is settled and can provide for themselves.  But after a period of support one family or the other has three years to refund all advances to get out of debt. Seventh: If the new arrivals became sick because of the climate or the trip, they were put up in a hospital and cared for free of charge to return them to their previously healthy condition. Eighth: Finally these immigrants from the Empire were promised to be completely free and remain free from land and government taxes for ten years (Abgabe und Lasten as they called them).  But after the course of these ten years they are obligated to pay the usual reasonable tax like other landowners. Which decision and opinion (Willensmeinung) we acknowledge the truth with this certificate sealed by our K.K. pressed on the secretary's insignia for confirmation.  So it was presented to Vienna on the 21st of September in the year 1782.  Our Roman Empire in the 90's, the Hungarian and Bohemian on the second (zweyten). Joseph.  (L.S.) Ad Mandatum Sacrae ut R.Prince      Caesarea  Majestatis  Colloredo mppria  proprium. Ign. v. Hoffmann   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 18   The Recruitment of Colonists in Germany At the start of the year 1783 imperial advertising was spread to all the market spots and villages of the Rhine region and southwest Germany of the imperial settlement patent.  At first the imperial princes tolerated the emigration, however many reported that some princes had difficulties with the emigration and gave no passes.  Also "Winkelpässe" (angle passes - waves) and all sorts of notes had to be (seyn) good for it." (ref. Eimann) So once the emigrant came to Regensberg there was no danger of them turning away anyone.  Here they received the proper passes.  In Vienna they had to report to the Hungarian court chancellery.  There they were registered and with 2 Guilders travel expenses per person they were directed to go to the "highly praised court chamber" in Ofen (Buda, western part of Budapest).  In Ofen the settlers were assigned to the separate comitats (large administrative districts). Those colonists assigned to the Bacser (Batschka) Comitat had to report the settlement rent (pension) office in Zombor (Serbian=Sombor).  For the travel from Ofen to Zombor each person received another 2 Guilders.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 19 Furnishings of the Families  On the strength the Settlement Patent each family received from the Settlement Rent Office: one cow or 18 Guilders, one bed (statt), one straw sack, one rug, 6 sacks, one backing (molter?), one axe, one wide pick, one ditch shovel (spade), one manure (pitch) fork, one spinning wheel, one flour sieve, one bread kiln (Schießer) (backing kiln), one water tub, one milk bucket, and one butter tub. Only the farmers received in addition: Four horses or 88 Guilders, one short bridle, one long bridle (field bridle), four halters, eight draft (Zug) ropes, two harness ropes (wagon ropes for sheaf and hay carrying), a wagon without metal fittings, a plow together with accessories, a bow (thorn bow?), a hatchet, a pole pick, a throw shovel, a wooden fork (for hay), a scythe with whetstone, two sickles, a (Tengel?) harness, two drills, a cutting knife (a wagon maker's working tool), a hand saw and a wagon rope.  Beyond that each farmer kept one quarter to one half of a session with winter and summer fruit cultivated field with the wheat belonging to them.  The seeds had to be sowed back in.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents  pg 19 The Encouragements for the Community on the Strength of the Settlement Patent In each village a prayer house was erected without consideration of the religion.  The communities received a bell, a pulpit, an altar, a gold-plated goblet, a gold-plated plate for the hosts, a pewter baptismal bowl together with a jug, a host iron, a crucifix together with all the church clothes and shawls provided they were necessary and needed.  In the same way they got a schoolhouse ready in each village with tables, chairs, benches, and blackboards.  As soon as possible a temporary (interimale) parsonage was provided. The pastor received one session of "Urbariallasten" (uncultivated?) field, another 200 Guilders for each of ten years (the communities gave 200 Guilders a year themselves in addition!) and for three years 12 fathoms each (48 cubic meters) of firewood. The schoolteacher "as always" received a half session of free (freyes) field (tax free) for ten years (after ten years the community had to come up with it themselves), 75 Guilders a year in cash, 24 Preßburger Metzen of "half" fruit (rye and wheat mixed) and three such Metzen of "Kukuruz" (corn). Each village received one whole session and the community notary received one half session of field.  As fire equipment each community received a six bucket barrel on a wagon, two ladders, four picks (Haken?), twelve leather and six wooden buckets.  What's more is the Rent? office announced that each new settler would be free of taxes for ten years. Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents pg 20 The Kameral Settlement Construction Office      This office was our idea today of a competent administrative authority.  His task is described in the following citation:      "This office stood for (stunde vor) Mr. Joseph Kiss, as building director, and had the obligation to keep track of several accounts for the settlement construction, such as:    1. That the new villages were laid out orderly and systematically, the house plots  and grounds were properly measured, and the required building materials were brought to the right place (auf Ort und Stelle).    2. That the building contractor measured correctly each house 11 fathoms long, 3 fathoms wide, and 8 "shoes" (feet) high from the stamped earth, with one room, one kitchen, one chamber, and one stable, then a staggered thatched roof and all of the remainder well made.    3. That each house have proper inner and outer living space (Extra-Villan-Gründ= One family homes) and be neat and measured. (Anm. L.)    4. That for every ten homes an authentic well (guaranteed wells, Anm. l.) with all of them built entirely from stone.  It is strongly encouraged  that the wells be constructed at the start of establishing a new village.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 21 What a Colonial House Cost  (Quotation from Eimann) "Being able to make a rough estimate and contract, the building contractor was able to make a house in Cservenka, which can serve as an example for all villages (also in Liebling, Banat, Anm. L.) the following payments: For the stamping: 16 fl. - xr. (fl.=Florentine Guilders, xr.=Kreuzer which at the time was a 60th part of a Guilder, Anm. L.), Grease and plaster: 19 Fl.., 15 Kr., to make the chimney: 3 Fl., 12 Kr., stove (de---): 30 Kr., 2 oven bases (detto a---): 12 Kr.=24 Kr., 2 gables for 2 Fl., 4 door beams inset for 2 Fl., 24 Kr., 4 window beams for 1 Fl., 12 Kr., the upper floor n--- covered with boards for 2 Fl., 30 Kr., the same to transfer 7 --- with a loft to make the roof (stuhl?) for 14 Fl., 17 Kr., the same to put up 2 --- thatch coverings for 6 Fl., 50 Kr., 4 simple doors (Thüren) together with materials for 3 Fl., 44 Kr., 3 windows for 3 Fl.    Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 22 Josef's settlements in the Batschka and Syrmia   On the grounds of the settlement patent the following newly established villages came to the Batschka (Eimann: “Der Deutsche Kolonist” (the German colonist): YEAR       NAME         HOMES    RELIGION OF SETTLERS   1784        Torschau          250       Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist   1785        Tscherwenka    500       Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist   1785        Neuwerbaß        310       Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist   1786        Kleinker             230       Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist   1786        Sekitsch            230      Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist   1786        Bulkes               230        Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist   1786        Jarek                  80        Ev. Lutheran & Calvinist                       (first winter spent in Ruma)    Altogether 7 new villages and 1,830 homes. – Partly on the strength of the settlement patent the migrating settlers also settled in already existing villages.  The following old villages are listed here:   1785        Palanka             200                Roman Catholic   1786        Neusiwatz          135               Calvinist (Ref.)   1786        Neuschowe          80               Calvinist (Ref.)   1786        Kula                    60               Catholic   1786        Parabutt             100              Catholic   1786        Ratz-Milititsch      100              Catholic   1786        Brestowatz          150              Catholic   1786        Weprowatz          160              Catholic   1786        Kernei                 100              Catholic   1786        Tschonopl            100              Catholic   1786        Bezdan                  85              Catholic   1786        Stanischitsch        100              Catholic   1786        Almasch               100              Catholic    Altogether in 12 old (Maria-Theresia) settlements there were 1,255 Catholic and 215 Reformed homes. – IN SYRMIA:   1791           Neupasua            Ev. Lutheran   ????            Neudorf              Ev. Lutheran    The Protestant settlers were settled essentially only in the newly established villages.  Of the already existing villages only Siwatz and Schowe were settled by Protestants.  However, those who settled there established a new part of the village, Neusiwatz and Neuschowe.  Later they tried to separate the Reformed from the Lutheran in the new villages.  The attempt did not last as nobody wanted to change.  In Torschau they also attempted to build a common church and indeed, first there was a laying of the foundation stone.  As a result two churches were built where each church was as large as the church originally intended for the total community.  They didn’t want one congregation to be inferior to the other.  This proved advantageous so the churches could also reach out to the communities which would be larger later.  The churches of the Protestants built in the Josef’s communities between 1811 and 1820 were erected in the same style, the Baroque style.  I believe the churches were for us old people of Beschka the most beautiful.  The first priests in Josef’s villages were predominantly Slovakian for the Lutherans and predominantly Hungarian for the Calvinists.  The ancestors of these priests were already settled in Hungary during the Turkish rule and were tolerated after the collapse of Turkish rule by the Hapsburgs.  Each priest mastered the German language and held the church service in the German language.  The German settlers only seldom needed a pastor from their original homeland with (Bulkes).    Of the Josef’s villages listed the nine Protestant villages would be the so-called mother communities (parent communities) of the descending village of Beschka and many other daughter communities.  Beschka also received, however, influxes from other communities of the Batschka.  The most important of these communities are Feketitsch, Altwerbaß, Altker, Kutzura, Katsch, Budisawa (Waldneudorf), Sentivan (Schajkaschsentiwan), and Titel.  Beschka received little influx from the Catholic communities because there were few mixed couples.  The cultural cooperation of the Protestants and Catholics was very sincere and useful for both parties.  The ratio of Catholics and Protestants in Beschka was approximately 2 to 1, 3 to 1 in all of Yugoslavia, because the Catholics were already settled there earlier than the Protestants, especially under Maria-Theresia.  In all of Yugoslavia there were about 500,000 Germans, in all of Hungary with Transylvania (Siebenbürger) and Zipser Sachsen there were about 2 million in 1918.  The Saxons were already sent for in the 12th century by the national Hungarian king of the land and they took on the Evangelical-Lutheran beliefs in Turkish times.  So they were there before the Tolerance Act and they were tolerated.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 24 Rev. Weber, a Forerunner for the Protestant Daughter Communities in Croatia      Rev. Weber was born in Bulkes in 1799.  He studied theology in Germany.  First he was chosen to be pastor in Sekitsch.  However this election by the Senior was not confirmed.  (Gleich darauf).  In the same way in 1827 he was chosen to be pastor in Neupasua.  However this election by the Senior also was not confirmed, but this time the confirmation was favored by the bishop in Budapest.  Up to the year 1882 he served here.  He achieved his greatest reward when he was honored with the golden Merit Cross by Emperor Franz Joseph.  From 1860 on he was also responsible for Beschka.  He died in Neupasua in 1883.  His merit from the branch communities in Croatia gained for him in his battle for the acceptance of the Protestants.  Croatia is not mentioned in the Settlement Patent, so this land was not open for settlement by the Protestants.  Also to allow for the settlement of the Protestants in Croatia, there were heated political arguments, the first of which was successful with the Protestant Law under Emperor Franz Joseph in 1859.  This law was prepared by the Synod in 1791 and was extended to include the Evangelical and the Reformed churches.  About the year 1855 the petitions to the emperor were always more urgent.  The Hungarian Reformed church chose a real energetic tone.  Admittedly they asked "most subserviently", but the change "we are very bitter" did not sound exactly "most subservient".  The Hungarian Reformed church, which at the time possessed great political influence above all others in Hungary, demanded the release of all rebelling pastors who had languished in dungeons since 1849.  In these arguments the settlers of Pasua who had settled there in 1791, simply to be driven out with military strength.  The colonel also succeeded in impudently calling himself on imperial command when it was not to be Rev. Weber.  This was noticed by General Lontscharevitsch in Peterwardein that the colonel had no imperial order.  The people of Pasua were allowed to stay but new colonists were allowed to come to Pasua from Croatia from 1859 on.  The Slovakians there at the time in Old Pasua were not bothered.  It can be accepted that measures were taken against the Germans and not the Protestants.  Rev. Weber was accused by his office brothers that he only put in for Protestants to be Senior.  A truly shabby reproach.  Rev. Weber was a fighter for freedom and justice.  He also protected the sects in Pasua.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 25-28 The History of Beschka, Before the German Settlers Came & The Immigrant list of the First Germans in Beschka   Already it is clear that since the name Beschka comes from Turkish, that the village already existed during Turkish times.  On maps from the 15th and 17th century, which I inspected in the National Library in Vienna, the name Beschka is not listed.  The present day Serbian pastor of Beschka shared with me that the village was established in the year 1702. Immigrant List On the strength of the data by Friedrich Scherer (in the year 1878) I could put together the following immigrant list: From 1860 to 1863 the following immigrated to Beschka: Name                     Reg. No.             Busch, Andreas       282 Leopold, Jakob        1206? Urschel, Heinrich      2091 Leopold, Nikolaus     ? Urschel, Philipp        2090 Klein, Peter             980.1 Urschel, Jakob          ?  Wohl, Philipp            2273 Beck, Jakob             ? Butscher, Jakob        290 Beck, Fritz               ? Klerner, Christian       ? Beck, Jakob              ? Wagner, 5-6 sons      2118 Weiß, Johann            2193 Heidt, Wilhelm           745 Gabert, Daniel           589 Kniesel, Peter           1009 Gabert, Johann          590/588? Kniesel, Franz            1008? Strecker                   1958? Kniesel, Philipp           1007? Ziegler, Peter             ? Kniesel, Philipp           1004 In the later 60's the following came: Nehlich, Adam      ? Dörr, Jakob          ? Betsch, Philipp     147 Walter, Daniel      2134? Albrecht, Philipp   7? Weber, Nikolaus    ? Kappes, Heinrich   ? Spieß family         ? In the 70's the following came: Wick, Michael          2256 Filippi, Jakob           535?   Kniesel, Nikolaus,     1011? Bubenheimer family   257? In 1882 the following came: Henn, Adam                                  783/784? Blasius, Heinrich                             196 Henn, Philipp                                 785 Nonnenmacher, Peter                      1412 Henn, Adam                                  784 Mahler, Georg                                1250 Kappes, Heinrich                             ?  Ewinger, Georg (Cousin of the above)  449 The data from Friedrich Scherer must not be absolutely complete, but at least it gives an almost complete overview. Up to the fleeing from Beschka in 1944 there were still additions (Zuzüge) of course.  But these were not counted as "settlers."   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 29 Beschka and Krtschedin Form an Evangelical Parent Community      About the development of Beschka after the arrival of the first Germans the following reference is quoted word for word from the Krtschedin homeland book by Zmaila, in which I have inserted some of my own remarks in brackets:      "In the year 1869 on the 5th of April they now came fighting with all the urges but from religious zeal penetrated community members in Beschka and were guided and kept together under the chairmanship of the reverend Andreas Weber, pastor of Neupasua and by the Oberlieutenant Daniel Markovic representing the military authority. (In the military border all of the civilian administration was subject to the military authority.) In this meeting the following subjects were discussed: 1. The proposal was discussed that both branch communities, Beschka and Krtschedin, would like to form an independent community, which had to elect its own pastor together, who was also obliged to instruct the children of the Beschka Evangelical school. 2. To support their pastor both communities were prepared to pay the following fees:    a. 240 fl. in cash (Florentine Guilders).    b. 60 Metzen of well cleaned fruit (wheat).    c. three fathoms of hard firewood.    d. four fathoms of wood for heating    e. free apartment and a "Stola?" (stipend).   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 31 From the Monograph of the Batsch-Syrmian Seniorats of Bierbrunner by Bierbrunner    Some remarks cited are enclosed with a paper clip – page 177 of Beska – translated from Hungarian.    “Beschka lies not far from Karlowitz in Syrmia.  It began in 1859 (with a field purchase) and in the 1860’s when 54 people settled here.  The Hungarian  provincial parliament law of 1790/91, after which the Evangelicals were not allowed to settle in the military border, was no longer in force through the patent in 1859 after which the migration to Beschka, Krtschedin, and other communities in Syrmia began immediately.  The greater part of the immigrants were Evangelicals of the Augsburg denomination and the smaller part were Reformed (Calvinists).  The people of Beschka have Neupsua as their daughter community.  Their fist teacher was Phlipp Lautenbach (1861), who worked here for two years.  )According to the Krtschedin homeland book Samuel Freibs followed him for a few months.  In 1863 Friedrich Steinmetz came for his position as teacher and Levit.  He remained here in his office for six years.  (According to the Krtschedin homeland book he led a second Matrikel? Next to Neupasua.)  After he left (to Schowe according to the Krtschedin homeland book – a teacher in Zsablya until his retirement in 1910 according to my memory) the Reformed separated from the Evangelicals and attached themselves to the Reformed mother community in Neusatz.  In 1870 the Evangelicals assigned Vicar Paul Polerezcky as pastor and teacher.  In 1872 on the recommendation of Eduard Skultety (Batschka Senior?) and Gustav Bierbrunner, pastor in Altker, and the community of Beschka applied to the mother community for approval.  The application was approved by Bishop Dr. Josef Szekacs on the 28th of November 1872.  On the 6th of April 1873 Vicar Paul Polerezcky was chosen to be the first pastor in Beschka.  During the canonical visitation in 1874 Polerezcky was in office.  The number of Evangelicals at the time amounted to 365.    In 1861 the Evangelical community had 9 Guilders of Viennese currency input and output. 1872     Income:   462.69 Guilders  , Expenses:   377.45 Guilders 1899  Income: 4480.53 Guilders,   Expenses: 4200.20 Guilders These numbers are evidence at best of the gratifying and relatively quick development of the Evangelical congregation in Beschka.  Since the canonical visitation in 1874 Beschka went through several important changes.  Its first pastor went to Katsch.  His successor in 1878 was Rev. Samuel J. Gretzmacher who held the church services in a very small room and lived in a very small apartment (in the last bell ringer’s apartment).  In 1884 the prayer room was enlarged with a clay floor.  In 1895 a beautiful new prayer house was built from stone with a bell tower for about 6000 Guilders.  In 1899 a decorative, pretty (csinos) organ was purchased from the Rieger brothers of Jägerndorf (Tschechei).  The Croatian government gave 1166.18 Guilders towards it and the wealthy community in Mitrowitza provided 700 Guilders in financial aid.  In 1900 the neighboring farmhouse was purchased for a parsonage for about 2250 Guilders (according to Scherer – from Beintner).  This house was demolished in 1926 and a new one was built.  The new one cost 260,000 Dinar and was planned by contractor Fritz Beck (vgl. Reg. No. 297).  Nobody should believe that the faithful would be burdened with high church taxes.  By no means.  The married couple paid 4 Guilders and 10 percent of the state wealth tax.  As a result of the good economy and their religious beliefs (buzgosag) they were able to go through this.  (Certainly much of the church construction was accomplished free of charge.)  A great help was the church fortune of 57 yokes of field that the political community allocated to the Evangelical congregation in 1890.    For the first time in 1895 the Evangelical teacher was employed by the community school, who also served as organist for the congregation for about 150 Guilders per year.  (That was Michael Gesell, vgl. Reg. No. 612).  The salary of the pastor also consisted of a free apartment (and firewood) and 600 Guilders of Stolarien (stipend?) per year.    The community seal had an inscription:”Evangelical congregation of Bescka”.  In the middle was an open Bible with the I. Corinthians letter, verse 13 visible.    The congregation had two bells from the Bochumer (Westphalen) Steelworks, both weighed 7 double hundred and cost 410 Guilders.  The inscription on the larger is: “Honor God in the Highest”, and on the smaller: “Peace on Earth”.  Also in addition on both reads: “Evangelical Congregation A.C. to Beska 1874”.  (So the bells are older than the church, and they were formerly hung in a wooden belfry in front of the old prayer house).  The present pastor, Samuel Gretzmacher, was born in Ruszkin, one of the 16 Zipser? cities, on the 26th of September 1841.  His parents were the middle-class furrier Johann Gretzmacher and Anna Maria nee Wolf.  He attended public school in his birth city.  The lower four grades of grade school were in Leutschau at what was at the time “Staatlichen-Evangelischen Gymnasium”, where he took his A level exams.  He studied theology for three years in Eperjes and was ordained as pastor by superintendent Karl Maday.  At first he worked in the house of Triedon Pfannschmidt as a private tutor in Leutschau.  Later he was hired in the same capacity by the Banat large landowners Gaffay Kalman and Alexander Kaiser.  In 1870 he went to Jena (not in the same capacity) and there he was appointed to Andreas Sztehlo as chaplain, and in the same year he was appointed to Senior Michael Lang in Pest (the eastern part of the city of Budapest).  In 1876 he married Berta von Scholz who died in 1898 and left behind four orphans (further details in the register).    The present teacher in Beschka, Michael Gesell, was born in Oberschützen, Burgenland (Austria), where he also spent his study time and received his diploma in 1890.  He was in Udvari, Tolnau for two years, and two years in Rackozar, Baranya as an assistant teacher.  In 1900 teacher Gesell was a music professor at the teacher training institute in Oberschützen where he was a student ten years before (further details in vgl. Register).  His successor was Samuel Schumacher who had his education in Essegg.” (further details in register) – end of citation.     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 33 Josef Pindor About Beschka   We also learned interesting facts about Beschka from the book by Josef Pindor.  “The Evangelical Church Croations, Slovenians in Past and Present,” Essegg 1902.  From this book I would like to cite the following where I have included some of my own remarks in brackets in this citation:    “In Beschka 24 German families of both beliefs already purchased together vacant house lots and neglected vineyards in the patent year 1859.  They were connected to Neupasua for church matters and already appointed Philipp Lautenbach as their own teacher in 1860 who assembled the children in a rented room.  After this Friedrich Steinmetz followed (1863 to 1869).  Also Rev. Weber strongly accepted the young colony.  Unfortunately the Reformed detached themselves here in 1869 and at first connected themselves as the daughter community to Neusatz, to an independent parish in 1878.  There the migration continued uninterrupted, the Lutherans already purchased a house lying in the center of the village and erected a school and prayer house.  At the same time Vicar Paul Polereczky agreed as administrator to move Rev. Weber to Beschka where he cared for the congregation there.  As salary he received 240 florints, 60 Metzen of fruit (wheat), 4 fathoms of straw, 3 fathoms of wood, and free quarters placed in view on the condition that one third of his earnings besides that (Stolarien?) Rev. Weber had to pay out to the independent community.  The military border command in Agram found that the salary was much too small and uncertain and agreed to leave the community 56 yokes of horse and school? field and besides that the 10 year use and consumption of 100 yokes of Hutweide (meadow) for the formation of the church fund. This rare generosity was greeted with jubilation in the widest circles of the Evangelical  church, but the happy community brought the church authorities the independent agreement.  Polereczky was chosen to be the pastor and remained there until 1878.  In 1874 the community acquired two cast steel bells from Bochum for 600 florints.     Unfortunately the two parties were enemies from the very beginning and sadly endless friction followed, that the border authorities did not keep their promise, the religious school was converted into a local public school and Polereczky received an appointment to Katy (also called Kaatsch), Hungary (today Yugoslavia), and the old prayer house was put up for auction because of debts owed.    In Polereczky’s place in the same year Samuel Gretzmacher was appointed who is still working there now (1902).  He restored peace again, ended the process against the prayer house (it did not actually go to auction), it was renovated and extended about 2 fathoms.  At the same time the political community placed 30 yokes at the disposal of both sister communities (Lutheran and Calvinist) and yet another 57 yokes in 1885.  The entrance of the Reformed (split in 1870) was made possible through new settlements, so that the Lutheran community already numbered 800 souls in 1879.    This brought out with the division of each 87 yokes new quarrels between the Lutheran and the Reformed, which after a lot of tugging and pulling, Recurieren?, and protesting through the national government (from Croatia in Zagreb = Agram) it was finally decided that the Lutheran community would receive 53 yokes, and the Reformed would receive 34 yokes.  After that the Lutheran community was restored, a house adjoining the prayer house was purchased (in 1890) and in 1895 a beautiful church to perform in and equipped with a new organ (in 1899).  Also there was a school again (in 1893) with the Evangelical teacher Michael Gesell, and after his departure (in 1901) it was occupied by Samuel Schumacher.  The number of people in this community amounted to about 1000.  (The book cited was printed in 1902 and probably written from 1900 to 1902.)  Through the independent agreement Beschka was released from the Neupasua community, which grew into new problems for the Semlin district.  The cheap ground and the favorable work relationship had already lured individual families here since the beginning of the 19th century.  However as a result of the imperial patent the migration was accepted to such a strong extent that several gathering points formed here and some schools established such as Boljewzi, Beschanija (1865), Surtschin (1869), Dobanovci (1875), Obresch (1882).  Ministerial service was performed by the Germans (Lutherans) from Neupasua, the Slovakians of Altpasua, besides the teacher/Levit service.  The schools served at the same time as church service places.” – end of citation. Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 36 The Evangelical Church & School in Beschka After 1900       For the treatment of the subject we must depend to a large extent on the memories of Friedrich Scherer.  But his memories were partially confirmed by the Krtschedin homeland book.    There where the Evangelical church stood there was formerly a low “Quer” (horizontal?) house, in the type like the old parsonage.  This Quer-house was erected by Christian Klerner and then was purchased by the Evangelical community.  It was a prayer house.  On the street over the water ditch the Evangelical congregation erected a belfry from massive oak wood which was presented by the “Imovina”, the wealthy community in Mitrowitza. (The “Imovina” managed all forests which had belonged to the military border, and continued to do so after the dissolution of the military border.)  During this time the Evangelical congregation still had no parsonage, the pastor still lived in the bell ringer’s house, in the front part in which there was later a school and towards 1932 the Luther Hall was constructed.  In the back part which had the cellar underneath and therefore the higher part of the bell ringer’s house lived the bell ringer.  The parsonage was later built Heinrich Kappes and these were sold to the Evangelical congregation.  Rev. Samuel Gretzmacher, married to Berta von Scholz, came to Beschka on the 5th of May 1878.  His wife died in 1898 near their daughter in Pantschewo.  Rev. Gretzmacher died in 1916.  Both are buried in Beschka.  After Rev. Gretzmacher the pastor from Krtschedin, Rev. Adam Veres was chosen to come to Beschka.  He remained until 1921 and then went to Ilok.  In 1929 he was chosen to be the first Slovakian bishop after the separation of the German Evangelical church and the Slovakian Evangelical church.  About the same time Dr. Philipp Popp was elected to be the first German Evangelical bishop.  In 1946 he was condemned to death besides others because during the war he contacted German officers.  The Titoists later regretted this execution.    After Veres the Rev. Müller was chosen to be pastor in Beschka.  He died shortly after that, so that after him Rev. Ellenberger held the pastor’s position as administrator.  In 1924 Rev. Karl Peter was appointed to be pastor.  He entered into his service on the second Christmas day in 1924.  The church inspector at the time was Johann Haipp (Heib).  A short time after that Georg Sehne was church inspector.    Already in 1926 the old parsonage was leveled and a larger and more beautiful one was built in its place.  It had an office towards the street with an ante-room with its own entrance, salon, bedroom, living room, and a bath with enclosed glass entrance, a guest bedroom in the back, kitchen, dining room, and summer kitchen with a roomy long entrance.  The toilet was also reached through the covered entrance.  On the strength og the community plan one can still calculate that the total roof covered surface amounted to well over 300 square meters.  It was planned and built at the time with the newest technological advances by building contractor Fritz Beck.  It cost 260,000 Dinar.    In 1927 Fritz Beck purchased the house at 24 Lange Street as the choirmaster apartment for exactly 100,000 Dinar.  In 1929 the organ pipes which were requisitioned during World War I were replaced.  The cost was 10,000 Dinar.  Furthermore a church which was built in 1895 was painted with imitation marble tiles by Johann Röder, and a new carpet was placed in front of the altar.  Everything was completed for the Kirchweih (church festival).  The first church service was similar to a new consecration.  The “Vox Celleste” (organ) belted (aired) with “Salicional” and the chorus sang “Christ, Lamb of God”” from Psalms as the Lords Prayer was discreetly said before and after, had deeply moved men such as Andreas Scherer at the time.  I must say that the organ was a masterpiece of the Rieger Company from Jägerndorf (Opus 705, if I remember correctly).  Bierbrunner called it “Csinos orgona”.  The fact that Beschka had decided on such a precious organ in 1899 may lead back to the influence of the teacher at the time and later music professor, Michael Gesell.  I cannot leave unmentioned that besides the printed hymnbooks at the organ I also found a handwritten hymnbook, that could serve as a model for good harmonies.  I preferred to use it rather than the printed books.  The composition was most likely by Michael Gesell.  Not important, but it may still be interesting, because I reflect on the real technical wonder of the organ at the time and still so today.  As the “Graf Zeppelin” flew over Beschka I heard the low rumble of the machines for a long time and as I arrived in church organist Stadler from Neustadt just sounded the deepest pipes, thereby we both established that the lowest C sub-bass 16 foot exactly corresponded to the tones of the proud zeppelin.    We Germans were naturally proud of the technical wonder and as a German asked a Serb from Prince Eugen Street in Serbian what he had thought as he saw the zeppelin, the Serb said spontaneously and without envy, “Germany, Germany, over everything.”  I believe that is a good example that the relationship between the Serbs and the Germans was good.     I believe in the year 1934, in the time of the worst economic crisis, the Evangelicals built the Luther Hall next to the bell ringer’s apartment where there was a school before that and formerly a parsonage.  Bible study hours were held in the Luther Hall on weekday evenings.  Singing and the new tunes were practiced by the adults in the Luther Hall in 1938, so the community could soon sing the new tunes in the church service.  The women also found intimate accommodation in the Luther Hall on certain evenings.  Also, educational films, such as about infant care, were shown there.  Religious and confirmation instruction were also given in the Luther Hall which relieved the school rooms.  Several church choirs also practiced in the Luther Hall. Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 38 Teacher and Pastor in Beschka (also under schools)       In the Krtschedin homeland book it was also reported by Michael Medel, who came from Beschka to Krtschedin in 1907.  How long he was in Beschka I could not determine.  The same Michael Medel was in Neupasua from 1917 to 1920 and after that he was in Krtschedin again where he retired in 1921.  But before all this happened Beschka had an Evangelical and a Reformed teacher at the same time around the turn of the century.  From World War I until 1926 there was not a single German teacher.  Until 1927 the Slovakian Karl Lilge instructed in German.  He was also the Evangelical organist.  Rev. Karl Peter and the church inspector Georg Sehne made numerous trips to Belgrade to receive a German teacher.  Their efforts showed its first success when teacher Heinrich Bächer was named to be teacher in the fall of 1926.    He came from the teachers’ learning institute of Werschetz in the Banat.  He attended the grade school in Neuwerbaß (further information in the personnel register).  A year after that he went to Altpasua and was replaced by Karl Lilge.  Rev. Peter and inspector Sehne were again frequent visitors in the Belgrade Cultural Ministry, where they thought of the proposal of carrying out a transfer from Tscherwenka to Beschka.  At first I received a refusal, and while I was at the weapons practice my appointment to Beschka came as a complete surprise.  Two scant weeks after I entered service I was surprised by the revocation and transfer back to Tscherwenka.  The revocation came without my hearing something about the transfer back.  My transfer back succeeded because the government candidate in the parliament election on 11 September 1927 did not receive enough votes from the Germans of Beschka.  So it looked like democracy at the time.    Rev. Peter also did not remain idle in the future.  He undertook steps constantly, this time with Anton Bobosch, to receive another German teacher.  They first succeeded in 1938.  In the fall of 1938 the teacher Friedrich Kühbauch came as the third German teacher to Beschka.  Teacher Kühbauch remained until the fall of 1941 and was then a partner in the “Office of German School Ways” in Essegg.  Teachers Bächer and Lang remained until the people fled.    Rev. Peter was Consenior after Senior Keitenbach died and outgoing Consenior Binder was made Senior (Dean) in Syrmia.  As Binder was chosen after Altker, the Syrmians chose Rev. Karl Peter to be Senior in 1937.   He now became a Seniorats vicar, at the time pastor in 8852 Rain/Lech, and Heinrich Bubenheimer from Beschka until shortly before World War II.  He was chosen as pastor to Schajkasch Sentivan around 1940.  At this time he is pastor in Steinsfeld near Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  After Rev. Bubenheimer, Johannes Poglitsch came from Franzfeld to Beschka as vicar.  He remained true to us until the end of 1942.  From 1941 on he was also an excellent German teacher at the trade school in our village.    After Poglitsch, Vicar Peter Groß came from Beschka.  He remained until the people fled.    Rev. Peter was the best helper and protector of the public and Evangelical interests besides Rev. Weber and Rev. Gretzmacher.  Rev. Weber served 14 years for Beschka, Gretzmacher served 38 years, and Peter served 20 years.  These three should be praised, but the others are not named because they served too short a time.  Polereczky still stood in the shadow of the powerful Weber.  Both teachers Gesell and Schumacher were well known.  Gesell oversaw the training of many teachers and was finally a representative in the Burgenland parliament.  Schumacher was later a pastor in Semlin, Senior in Syrmia, and a “Skupstina” representative in Belgrade.  (further information in the personnel register).    It must also be briefly mentioned that the teacher was also an organist and choir leader.  But from 1942 on Miss Katharina Filippi, the organist took over, which was after she had already led several church choirs from 1931 on.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 40 The Course of Life of Reverend Karl Peter He was born on the 20th of November 1894 as the oldest son of two children from a respectable locksmith family.  (Reg. No. 1461)  The parents let both children study and both were pastors.  After public school in Tscherwenka he attended grammar school in Halas where he graduated cum laude (with praise).  He frequented the universities in Preßburg and Leipzig where he studied theology.  He spent his time as vicar in Bösing near Preßburg and in his homeland community of Tscherwenka under the venerable Rev. Johannes Stiegelmar.  From Tscherwenka he went in 1921 to look after the orphaned community in Sombor where I had the luck to be a student of the Serbian teacher's seminar and got to know him.  It was a dreadful time for me because I had to convert from Hungarian (in Baja) to Serbian.  The kind of young vicars at the time associated with the youth, which was encouraged by my little fellow German students.  I don't want to leave unmentioned his work in Beschka and in the Syrmian Seniorat after the people fled.  In Bavaria he next looked after a Hungarian prison camp where he was under the highest Hungarian government members and generals.  Then he gathered the Evangelical refugees in Riedenburg and surrounding area and established a new Evangelical community.  Again he showed his organizational abilities and built an adorned church, a parsonage and a youth home.  Finally he also built his own home. Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 41 The Reformed Church Community of Beschka  Memories by Franz Kniesel (vgl. Reg. No. 1033) and Philipp Ewinger (vgl. Reg. No. 456).  Statements by Bierbrunner, Pindor and by the Reformed bishops’ office in Budapest, as well as some memories.    In the first years after 1860 the Reformed let their children be baptized in the Orthodox church of Rev. Boshovic.  From 1863 to 1869, in the time of teacher Friedrich Steinmetz, who was also the “Levit”, the Reformed had their school and church affairs looked after by him.  However, as the Beschka Evangelicals applied for the establishment of an Evangelical mother community together with the Krtschedin Evangelicals in Beschka, the Reformed joined as the daughter community to the mother community in Neusatz.  (Neusatz, lying 25 km northwest across the Danube, may have led to unforeseen difficulties in the winter).    The case of this teacher should be identical to the Neupasua teacher Ferdinand Spaniel since he first came to Beschka in 1896.  In any case Spaniel was a trade school teacher at the turn of the century.  He was also an organist for the Reformed church.  His successor was Josef Zert, the father-in-law of Johann Röder.  Zert was already dead before 1927.  This statement I can make about him because I knew his widow.  Now back to the year 1874.  In this year the Rev. Sigismund Draschkowitsch became the administrator of the Beschka Reformed church.  He was originally a Catholic priest and was also named as vicar in the Siwatz homeland book.  He was born in 1796.  Rev. Draschkowitsch probably bought the parsonage and the prayer house by the “military border” or received them as a gift.  Like all military buildings this house was also built very solidly.  Half of the house was the parsonage and remained unchanged until the people fled.  The other half received a belfry at first on the roof.  In 1932 it was built up and supported with a beautiful tower.  Until the prayer house was enlarged to a church with a tower the belfry was in the middle of the roof and over the overhang, the so-called dry entrance (Einfuhr – Einfahrt).  Just when this belfry was erected and the bell was purchased I could not determine.  Perhaps someone could learn something about it from the Reformed bishop’s office in Budapest.  Yet I could not find out because my connection there died.    Franz Kniesel has kept a note about the cost of the consecration of the belfry.  It was written word-for-word, partly in the dialect – and this document is still a valuable and agreeable piece written as follows:    Statements for the bell’s debt (Gloenschult) 1.     Paid for two (zwey) columns …………………………….7 fl. 2.     Paid for iron (Eissen)……………………………………. 3 fl. 3.     3 Guilders for 5 loaves of bread (Leb)…………………... 3 fl. 4.     2 Guilders for nails (Negel)………………………………2 fl. 5.     5 Guilders for the star…………………………………….5 fl. 6.     Paid for the calf…………………………………………...5 fl. 7.     Paid to make the belfry (Kluchn Stuhl)………………….19 fl. 8.     Paid for powder (Bulfer) in Neusatz……………………...2 fl. 9.     Paid for the lock…………………………………………..1 fl. 10. Paid to have music (Mussik)……………………………..10 fl. 11. Paid for nails, coffee (Kafeh), and other things (antere Sachn)……………………………………………………4 fl. 65 x 12. Paid for wood (Hols) and iron……………………………22 fl. 22 x 13. Paid for ribbons (Benner) in the front…………………………30 x 14. Paid for a half pail of beer……………………………….2 fl. 75 x 15. Paid for a half pail of wine………………………………3 fl. 16. Paid for 50 pieces (Stik) of board and 500 nails………...9 fl. 17. Paid for iron and hooks / pegs…………………………...1 fl. 26 x (Klamhogen, Klamhaken, Zimmermannsklammer) 18. Paid for paint and linseed oil (Ferneus)………………….1 fl. 9 x 19. Paid for oil per pound (Pufut)……………………………...fl. 32 x 20. Paid for ribbons (Bänner) for the music? (Mussig)…………..40 x 21. Paid for boards…………………………………………..12 fl. 25 x 22. Paid to the smith for making it………………………       4 fl.              78 fl. 87 x                                                                                                    12 fl. 50 x       91 fl. 37x    After the handwriting was judged, the pastor at the time added to it.  Certainly the note served as a clean copy for the cashier’s book.    On the 25th of October 1878 the Rev. Paul Schneider came, so remembers Friedrich Scherer, after the administrator Draschkowitsch, as the first Reformed minister of Beschka.  He worked here as pastor until his death in February 1923, after serving for 45 years.  His wife Maria was born a Füstös (pronounced Füschtösch).  She was a Hungarian Catholic who converted to the Reformed belief.  She died in 1926.  Both of the couple were buried in the Protestant cemetery in Beschka.  Unfortunately I (Lang) don’t know much about the work of Rev. Schneider.  I could not determine with certainty who purchased the parsonage, prayer house, and belfry or had obtained as a gift.  It is accepted that much later after the dissolution of the “military border” in 1871the Reformed church gave up ownership of the house.  Whoever acquired the house did well because it was a very solidly built beautiful brick building.  It was unanimously reported that he has been a strict private tutor.  His barber said that Rev. Schneider waited for him with clock in hand and if he came early the pastor went for another walk, but if he came late, the pastor gave him a lecture.    Up to World War I the settlement of Moja Volja southwest of Beschka on the India boundary also belonged to the Reformed mother community of Beschka.  This settlement lay on the property of Count Pejacevic.  His farm hands were predominantly Reformed Hungarians.  On the general staff card of Philipp Ewinger I counted 16 dwellings in Moja Volja and in Pusta Gladnos (Gladnosch) west of Beschka there were another 15 dwellings where Reformed Hungarians lived.  They were all on best terms with Rev. Schneider.  In total 501 people, German and Hungarian, belonged to the Reformed community in 1904.  The Hungarians did not take to giving a serenade to their pastor all year to Names Day.  They played other Hungarian hymns instead.    The successor of Rev. Schneider was Rev. Johannes Stieb.  Already in 1925 Rev. Peter was the administrator, and remained so until the election of Rev. Christian Jung.  According to the Torschau homeland book he was born in Tscherwenka in 1897.  After he attended the public school in Tscherwenka he went to the grammar school in Neuwerbaß for one year and finally to Debreczen, Hungary where he graduated.  In World War I he was a lieutenant of the 6th Honved Regiment and spent 23 months in Siberia as a prisoner of war.  In 1920 he also completed his theological studies in Debreczen.  From 1920 on he was administrator and after 1922 he was a respectable pastor in Feketitsch.  On the 11th of October 1925 he was employed as pastor of the Bechka community where it was given to him, a beautiful church under many strains, struggling, and prayers to build to their honored God.    From Beschka he got the Torschau community, where on the 28th of September 1933 he took over the leadership of his new community.  After the people fled he was pastor in Württemberg and died after his retirement in December 1969.  His wife Margarethe who was born Welsh, came from Tscherwenka and died ahead of him.  She had the children Henriette and Ernst.  The last is a veterinarian in Gammertingen.  Rev. Jung was the one who warned the members of the German Reading Club with their extraordinary collection very convincingly against a merger with their fellow Serbian citizens.  That was shortly before his departure to Torschau.      The Reformed prayer house was built up in 1932, that is, during Rev. Jung’s time of service.  The roof and the ceiling of the prayer house were leveled.  After that the masons raised a concrete wreath some meters and on it a stone tower was created.  On a beautiful sunny afternoon the star was placed on it ceremoniously by carpenter Johann Pfaff (The Reformed have no cross and no cock for the steeple, but a golden star instead.)  Teacher Karl Kniesel spontaneously sang this song with it, “How Beautiful the Morning Star Shines on Us”.  The 100 assembled people happily and proudly sang along.  The consecration of the new church was the same as the old one, on the first Sunday after All Saints Day.  On the day the Evangelicals also celebrated their church festival.  So this was on the 2nd of November at the earliest and on the 8th of November at the latest.    After Rev. Jung, Karl Kniesel was the “Levit” in Beschka at least until 1936.  His descent is apparent from the personnel register under Reg. No. 1029.    He was probably a teacher in Tscherenka before World War I and after that he was director of the India Branch Bank in Beschka.  The bank was in his house at No. 11 Lange Street, and was until 1932.  In this year with the general world economic crisis the branch bank was given up, and the businesses in India were exploited after that.  Karl Kniesel was from here on the book keeper in the Kniesel Mill.    After the election of Rev. Bellmann he was the religious teacher in Torschau.  Karl Kniesel was the “Grand-seigneur” and a good supporter who knew all the folk songs by heart.  Besides German he also mastered Hungarian, Serbian, and Croatian perfectly.  After 1931 he was for some years the head of the German Reading Club of which he was one of its co-founders.  He was also a member of other German clubs.  After the people fled he was a religious teacher in Waiblingen.  About 1950 he went into retirement.  Shortly after that he died in Kleinheppach, in the area of Waiblingen, where he is also buried.    In 1936 Philipp Bellmann came as pastor to Beschka.  He was born in Feketitsch on the 22nd of February 1904.  After the public school in the birth village he attended the grammar school in Neuwerbaß and took his A levels locally in 1923.  He studied theology in Zürich and Vienna.  The conclusion of his studies took place in Vienna in 1928.  He was vicar in Siwatz and Feketitsch and from 1930 to 1936 he was pastor in Schidski Banovci.  As the young German teachers were inducted in the war in the Fall of 1941, he voluntarily took over a teacher commission with love at the Beschka public school and yet he took the first service examination at the German teaching institute in Essegg.  He did not have to do that, but he apparently wanted to do his best for the school.  After the people fled at first he actively helped out as pastor in Dörna.  In March 1946 he was the scheduled pastor in Windeburg / Thüringen, where he officiated for 12 years.  In May 1958 he resettled in Görmar near Mühlhausen where he worked until his death on the 3rd of December 1963.  In the cemetery at the old church in Görmar he received his final resting place between two colleagues who have been buried there for a century.  He has left behind a son and a daughter.  The son studied physics and already has a position at the Energy Institute in Leipzig.  The daughter is a teacher and is married to a guidance counselor.  She lives in her own home in Wertheim.  The widow Bellmann worked at the homeland museum in Mühlhausen – Address: 57 Mühlhausen / DDR, Ziegelstraße 45.     Since teacher Zert, who either died or went into retirement in 1920, the Reformed have had no teacher.  The choir service was provided by master carpenter Johann Pfaff (Reg. No. 1415) after World War I, assisted by the mill owner Franz Kniesel (Reg. No. 1033) and Ms. Theresia Pill (Reg. No. 1501).  Franz Kniesel was also leader of the church choir.  A high point of this choir was when he performed an oratorio accompanied by the artistic couple Peter Freund (on violin) and Theresia Freund (on harmonium).  That was about in the year 1931.  Who was on the church committees is unknown to me.  However Franz Kniesel certainly played an important role in the church life.  He was also to thank for his quality education in the camp, as there was much to do.    In 1931 there were about 500 Reformed Germans in Beschka.  In the year 1885 a fourth of the community funds of the Reformed church (Közalap) was spent for mission work.  The pastor of Beschka (Paul Schneider) received 300 Guilders in financial aid.  The teachers in Betschmen and Dobanovci received about 150 Guilders.    Under point 97 of the protocol from the academic staff of the mission committee it was laid down that in the Beschka mission circle three teachers would receive financial aid: the teachers in Betschmen, Dobanovci, and Moja Volja.  So Beschka was not only the mother community of Moja Volja, but for the whole mission district of East Syrmia.  So it was of the same importance to the Reformed as Neupasua was for the Evangelicals.  The schools in Dobanovci, Betschmen, Moja Volja were Reformed denominational schools, in which religious services were held by the teachers (Levits).  The people of Dobanovci have built there own school, for which they received 200 Guilders in financial aid.    From 1892 to 1904 the following belonged to the Beschka Reformed community : Krtschedin, Maradik, Nikinci, Belegisch, Beocin (cement factory), Bukovatz, Cortanovci, India, Kamenica, Karlowitz, Ledinci, Altbanovci (Old Banovci), Altpasua (Old Pasua), Altslankamen (Old Slankamen), Peterwardein, Surduk, Neupasua (New Pasua), Neubanovci (New Banovci), Neukarlowitz / Sassa, Neuslankamen (New Slankamen), and Vojka.  All of these communities were lokked after by Rev. Schneider.  His achievement deserves attention.    In 1864 an assembly of the South Baranya Reformed Seniorats took place.  The assembly commissioned the Rev. Kelecsenyi Mihaly and Manyoki Imre to inspect the schools.  From these drawn up by the two pastors it was determined that there were 112 Reformed Germans in Neubanovci, of which 45 took Holy Communion.  In Neubanovci the Reformed had a caretaker, besides the teacher Franz Krob and a denominational school.    In 1880 the Agram pastor, Rev. Kolatsek Gyula, formed a common diocese for all Protestants in Croatia and Slovenia with Syrmia by the government in Agram.  However this proposal was not successful.  It all remained in Budapest.  After World War I there was a Slovakian-Evangelical bishop (Bishop Veres), a German Evangelical bishop (Bishop Philipp Popp), and a Reformed diocese (Bishop Agoston in Feketitsch).    At the conclusion of the report about the Reformed community in Beschka I would also like to also share the following statistical data: In the year 1911:    477 Reformed (with Hungarians), 15 cases of death, 15 births, 5 marriages. In the year 1912:    44 births, 11 cases of death, 11 marriages, 24 confirmations, 96 students.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 43 An Expense Account of the Reformed     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 48 The History of the Whitsun Community     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 51 The Nazarenes    I could not receive adequate information about the Nazarenes in Beschka from the followers of that time although I tried.  I cannot say myself what the essential differences between their religious views and the so-called acknowledged Christian churches were.  For me the main feature was that they were against military service.  For this reason they kept it for the purpose of saying they were doing military service and then the Nazarenes were passed over.  This went well so long as there was no war or no change of ruler.  They saw that it was necessary to grab the weapons or in the case of a change of ruler to show their allegiance to the ruler.  They received a lot of pressure over it.  They either had to go against their conscience, which was demanded, or suffer imprisonment.  During a war the death sentence could also be pronounced.  It was not demanded of them to carry weapons in the local guard during World War II, but as a participant next to another carrying a weapon they still served loyally and conscientiously.  Consequently, because they refused military service, they did not flee in 1944 and remained at least in Beschka all undisturbed, but they finally came to Germany.  Most Nazarenes in Beschka swore their allegiance to King Peter I, King Alexander, and King Peter II.    During the war the Nazarenes in Beschka were split.  The old, who were not called up, remained conservative.  The young, who did not want to be locked up, split off and formed a second group of Nazarenes.  They had their assemblies at No. 2 Peter Deringer Street: the owner on the books for this house was Christian Zelenjak? (Reg. No. 629, alias Gruen (Grünschuster / alias Green).  Just like the Whitsuns, the Nazarenes in Syrmia also had to belong to an acknowledged church and to pay these taxes.  They had to let their children be baptized and confirmed by them, married themselves, and were buried by the pastor who was also the state official.  In the Batschka there was already a state official for it at the turn of the century, which is why membership to an acknowledged church was not necessary.    Another feature of the Nazarenes is that they did not go into the inn and smoke.  (Lately the remaining Whitsuns have not either.)  The number of both Nazarene groups is unknown to me.    They also accepted Serbs in their community.  For this reason there were mixed nationalities under them.  (Kolaric – vgl. Reg. No. 1073)     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 52 The Catholics in Beschka      In Beschka only a few German families living there were Catholic.  I can only remember the Thomann, Hoffmann, and Pill families.  Besides them there were also some Catholic wives who were married to Evangelical men.  The Thomann and Hoffmann families later converted to the Evangelical faith.  Thomann was even an Evangelical presbyter (elder).  The Pill family remained Catholic.  Altogether there were about 350 inhabitants of the Catholic church in Beschka in 1931.  Most Catholics, however, were of Hungarian or Croatian nationalities.  They were looked after by the church from India to Maradik.  Their prayer house, equipped with a small bell, was at No. 90 Prince Eugen Street.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 53 The Serbian-Pravoslavic church in Beschka from 1860-1968    Possibly from January 1st, 1872 on, from 1876 on at the latest, the community was no longer administered by the military.  From then on the “judge” stood at the pinnacle of the community (Serbian Knez = prince).  He was elected.  To the side of him stood the community committee (community council), such as for example the justice of the peace for minor cases (and individual functionaries from the ranks of the community council.  For damages in the field the jurors had to estimate the damages.  The community committee posted the house keeping plan of the community and cared for the payment of the community services, for roads and bridges, for community cattle and boars, for schools, police, field guards, and so forth.    The community notary was an administrative specialist and cared for the observance of the laws.  He was nevertheless under the community judge, but thanks to his knowledge he was still put over him.  He exploited this superiority often to get his own way.  His pay was very good and the notary position was very desired.  Besides the notary there was a second notary or community cashier.  His position was also well paid and desired.  In tax calculations, especially with the business people, he had great influence in the matter of discretion, so he was feared.  The farmers paid their taxes after the last registry net profits, so that they were not dependant on him.  Besides the office bearers named there was also a community writer and also some police and field guards for maintaining order.  Formerly the field guards were liable for the field damages themselves.  But field damages, including theft, were rare.  Horse theft occurred often around 1850, but this bad habit was really fought with the introduction of livestock passes for horses, cows, and swine.  For small livestock there were no passes.  Small livestock were sometimes stolen for fun and the owner was invited to consume it.  Burglaries happened more often in Krtschedin.  That may have been because the company had its seat far away in Beschka.  There were a half dozen murders and manslaughters from 1927 to 1941.  The motives were: robbery once, once under the influence, once crossing the power in office, once from injured vanity, and two cases unexplained.    During the time, when the Save and the Danube Rivers formed the border of the Turkish ruling district, the Turks invaded the realm of the Hapsburgs again and again.  To resist these invasions a strip about 50 kilometers wide known as the so-called military border was created under Maria Theresia along the Save and Danube Rivers.  It was also a protective rampart against epidemics.  During certain times the military border not only consisted of the 50 kilometer wide strip, but also stretched further to the north, for example up to Mariatheresiaopel (Szabadka, Subotica) and reached from the Adriatic up to the Carpathians.  Enough said here, that Beschka lies in the region of the military border, so that its development was decided by the peculiarities of the region.  The inhabitant of the military border, the Grenzer (borderer), was obligated to protect the land against surprise raids and looting attacks by the Turks.  They were therefore subject to and obligated for a permanent state of readiness to take part in certain military exercises.  The meaning of these duties is expressed in the Serbian proverb: “Vojna krajina, krvava haljina” (“military border is a bloody dress”).  The borderers, who were essentially farmers, had to serve as guards.  Here they had to carry their equipment, food, and quarters themselves.  The military character of the military border does not only have the military breeding of its inhabitants to follow, but meant that the total administration and jurisdiction were military.  The whole military border was divided into four “Generalate” (districts).  Beschka belonged to the Peterwardein district, one old fortress on the Danube, which was probably built by the crusader Peter of Amiens in the 11th and 12th centuries.  Until December 31st, 1871, that is until the dissolution of the military border the districts of Titel and Zsablya also belonged to the Peterwardein Generalat.  The regiment for this Generalat was in Mitrowitza.  The 12th company was in Beschka.  The guard farmers were not only commanded to guard service, but were urged on to reforest the large forests.  The borderers had use of it and so did we people of Beschka until World War II, which each old border house and the communities, including the church congregations, received firewood.  Until 1918 cheap salt (only the freight) and tobacco were kept.  Ms. Hubler (vgl. Reg. No. 854A) also explained to me that the work-shy farmers who sat around on the street during the main work time were driven to work by the sergeants with their clubs.  (A parallel to this was when Frederick the Great forced the farmers to the potato fields with his cane.)    The official language in the military border was German, but the officers and sergeants were mainly Croatian or Serbian.  The general in Peterwardein was called, for example, Loncarevic = Häfner.  All sergeants who are named as authors of purchasing contracts or witnesses in the Krtschedin and Jarek homeland books, had Slavic surnames.  I only found one name in the Jarek homeland book (von Gregus), whose bearer could have been German.  There can be no question that there was a Germanization in the military border.  The German official language in the military border also had an effect on the surrounding languages of the Serbs and Croats.  Here is an example: “Kad sam presla preko Bruckn, tako mi je bilo ibl, a kad sam malo aine movale, odmah sam se bolje filovala.”  (As I went over the bridge, I was so sick, but as I went a little farther, I felt better.)     At the immediate border (cordon) the guards stood in airy summer house type guard houses, which were called the Tschardak (Turkish summerhouse).   (This was also the description of the corn barns, a framework of slats 2 x 2 meters and as long as one liked.  Also the Germans took over this name.)  When danger threatened anywhere the guards ignited a straw bundle on a high pole.  In the old days this was the quickest way to transmit the news.    In Beschka the 12th Company was put up in the house with the large stalls at 71 Reiter Square.  The city hall was in house number 69 and there may have been living quarters in house number 40.  All of these buildings may have been built in the time under Maria Theresia. They were made of first class materials.  The walls were made of fired bricks, the roof covered with tiles, and the timbers of very strong oak.  The Reiter Square in Beschka served, as its name already implies, for riding exercises.  The main road from Peterwardein to Semlin did not go through India at the time, but through  Beschka and Sasse (Novi Karlovci) instead.  Reiter Square was in the center of Beschka at the time.  House number 71 was probably rebuilt as a school after the military border was abolished in 1871.  House number 40 was the Reformed church and parsonage.  As the new community house (city hall) was built, building number 69 was also passed over to school ownership.  In the military border there were other laws which were also valid as in the Beschka.  Because of ignorance of these differences some colonists in Krtschedin were deceived by the purchase of the land holdings.  In Beschka this may have also happened.    For the collars of parts of the uniform (Krap?) red was grown between the railroad tracks and Prinz Eugen Street.  Because they attached the fruit of Krapp to the clothing themselves, one called it Pappgras (pappen – kleben – dicht) (stick – stick – thick).  The red color was taken from the roots.  When alzarin red was later chemically manufactured, this Pappgras was a troublesome weed for Beschka.  Only the old people knew of its former use.  There where the Pappgras was planted was also the shooting place during the time of the military border.    After the Berlin Congress of 1878 the Turks were completely forced out of the Austro-Hungarian border, so that the military border was dissolved overall.  I should still mention that during the time of the military border all men assembled in front of the city hall after church service to receive orders.  This custom was kept in some villages that people assembled in front of the city hall after church service to take notice of the publications until the people fled.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 54 The Schools    The German schools in the beginning were probably commonly Evangelical-Reformed denominational schools but from 1878 on changed over to communal schools.  The teachers were paid by the political community for it and also supervised on the secular side.  A disadvantage of this existed in the danger of slavicizing the German.  But actually the Germans were not slavicized, because the following principles were influential for school politics. A successful instruction can only be given in the mother tongue. Each person should master the language of the land in their own interests in writing and speech. Whichever point of view takes precedence, those affected must remain unaffected.    The Germans of Beschka gave the first principles the point of view, but did not completely realize them.  So they could nevertheless keep their mother tongue, it was principally used by the family in the workplace and the church service was always conducted in the German language.  In school the first two grades of instruction were always given in the mother tongue.  In the first school year Gothic writing was taught and in the second year Latin writing was taught.  In the third year Cyrillic writing was taught as well as and the Serbo-Croatian language was adapted to Latin writing.  The adapted Latin writing had disastrous consequences with several deviations on correct writing (c = z, s = silent s, s with a hook = sch, z = voiced s as for example in the word Rose, z with a hook = voiced sch as for example in the word Gendarm).  No wonder the children, for example, wrote Roze instead of Rose, Ros instead of Roß, and Suh instead of Schuh.  For this reason it was advantageous to use predominantly Gothic writing (Fraktur).  In this script considerably fewer mistakes were maded.    In the period of time of 1878, when there were no German teachers in Beschka, the Rev. (Polereczky) was also a teacher.  From 1878 on there was also a Serbian teacher, who mastered German, who was teacher for the German children.  Jakob Filippi (vgl. Reg. No. 536) likes to remember his Serbian female teacher Danica Mandic.  She was in Beschka for many years and she instructed German children exclusively.  She came from Sremska Mitrowitza and behaved very correctly.    The school routine began in the seventh year of life and lasted for four years until the turn of the century.  After the turn of the century school time was lengthened to five years.  From this time on lessons in the fifth year were exclusively Serbian.  Only two hours per week did the German teacher give additional lessons in German.  These hours were paid for by the political community.  Starting in the 1930’s there was a sixth school year and in 1941 a seventh school year was introduced.  Before the introduction of the sixth school year there was also continuing education which all students who had left school had to attend one day per week.  The exception, however, was the apprentice who attended a trade school.  In the continuing education schools the German children were separated from the Serbian children and practiced German and arithmetic.    The German teachers were essentially already named in the report about the church history.  In the time after Schumacher there was only teacher Zert for the Reformed.  For the Evangelists the Slovakian Karl Lilge was the German teacher from about 1910 to 1927, Evangelical organist and choir leader.  From 1927 on, besides Bächer and Lang, teacher Branko Buta also worked as German teacher, who was the son of the Serbian pastor, Rev. Buta, and as he was relieved by Fritz Kühbauch in 1938, Miss Jelka Obradovic was also a German teacher until 1941.  But she also remained in the Serbian department of the school.  Because all German children in the fifth and later in the sixth school year went to the Serbian school, I want to name those names that I can remember: Adam Obradovic, principal until about 1925, whose daughter Jelka Obradovic, then the other daughter Zagarka Obradovic, Djoka Jovanovic, principal after Obradovic until his death in 1931.  His successor was Branko Buta, who was already named as a German teacher, until about 1936.  Velislav Starcevic followed him as principal.  Other Serbian teachers were: Kontesse (Count’s daughter) Olga von Rittberg, Ms. Sophia Buta, Miss Marina Sladakovic, the married couple Katica and Branko Stojadinovic (a very good draftsman), the young teacher Arackie, and still another two or three female teachers whose names I no longer know.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 56 The Course of Life of the Author of This Book      From the statements in the Register No. 1178 comes the following: My father was a master shoemaker until the industrialization.  Then he was a small farmer.  I was the eighth child of nine.  The oldest and youngest brothers died as small children.  One brother perished in a Russian prison.  One sister died when she was 22 years old from the Spanish influenza.  So did my father.  The whole family was sick at times except me.  My oldest memories go back to when I was three years old.  For five years I had scarlet fever.  Since this time I have remained physically behind and because of it my parents had to care for me.  I was teased a lot about it.  My classmates who I helped with their arithmetic protected me.  When I was 12 years old, after the 6th grade in public school, I went to my teacher as a private student and after three months I took the examination at the citizen’s school in Obecse.  Six months of it was the second grade.  In the third grade I was an ordinary student in Obecse.  For the fourth grade I was prepared by Rev. Kund (later in Pantschewo).  From 1919 to 1921 I was in Baja, then in Sombor at the teaching institute, where I graduated in 1923.  My first position was in Tscherwenka where I was also a Reformed choirmaster and organist.  In 1925/26 I took an examination as reserve officer in Sarajevo.  My last rank was as captain.  After this I was still in Tscherwenka for a year, and on the 6th of September 1927 I started service in Beschka.  From 1946 to 1951 I was in Erbstetten and after that in Unterweißach I was active as a teacher.  Since January 1st, 1967 I have been in retirement.     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 56-57 Teacher Friedrich Kühbauch & The German Public School Teacher Friedrich Kühbauch     He took the first service examination in 1937 at the German training institute in Neuwerbaß.  He started his first position in Beschka on the 15th of November 1938.  He took the second examination in 1942 at the newly established German teaching institute in Essegg.  Since 1962 he has been active as a training teacher of the PH Reutlingen at the Eduard- Pranger School in Reutlingen.   The German Public School    In 1941, that is after the German armed forces marched into Yugoslavia, the public school was separated into German and Croatian-Serbian sections.  I, Peter Lang, was entrusted as the local group leader with the leadership of the German public school.  Starcevic, who had been principal up to then, remained leader of the Croatian public school.  However at the suggestion of Starcevic I also took over the actual leadership of the Croatian public school, and was so until 1941 at which point all of the schools in Croatia were separated.  The three German teachers Bächer, Kühbauch, and Lang came to the German school as well as the young teacher Otto Fäller from Beschka (vgl. Reg. No. 458b),  Adam Ewinger (vgl. Reg. No. 458b), the graduate student Otto Ewinger (vgl. Reg. No. 458b), and teacher Mayer (from Neupasua?), so that the German public school was well supplied with teachers for seven years.  However during the summer vacation in 1942 Otto Fäller and Otto Ewinger were inducted into the Nazi SS, teacher Mayer was transferred to another school and teacher Kühbauch was a colleague in the newly created Office for the German Schools in Essegg, so that only teacher Bächer and I remained of the original personnel.  With luck, as already mentioned, Rev. Bellmann joined with a full teaching commission.  These three teachers were active until the people fled.  But in addition there were also teaching assistants, namely Plechel from Slankamen, Elvira Klumpner from Slavonia, Else Hanff from Eßlingen, Anni Pfeffer from India and finally teacher Henn (vgl. Reg. No. 798) from Beschka.  At the same time there were never more than four teachers ordered for the seven years in Beschka.  Each teacher therefore had a double teaching commission.  The number of children in May 1941 amounted to about 450.  Later many parents moved with their children as workers to Germany, so that after that there were only about 350 students to be instructed.  However in May 1944 this number increased again through the addition of the Partisan-threatened Germans from Darkovatz and Paleschnik.  Now the number of children amounted to about 450 children again.  The refugee children received special instruction during the vacation.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 58 The School Rooms  The oldest school rooms may have been: No. 1 Karl Hanweck Street with teacher’s apartment. No. 2 Pavelic Street with teacher’s apartment, both belonging to the Serbian church. No. 4 Pavelic Street, two rooms, belonged to the political community and about 1930 it was demolished in view of the new building plan. No. 69 Reiter Square, former community house (city hall) with a very beautiful classroom, principal – chancellor, library (bookroom) and appliance room as well as a broom closet (former kitchen (Kittchen)).  Also a service apartment belonged to it too. At No. 71 Reiter Square was the school of teacher Rittberg with service apartment and two classrooms.  The house originally belonged to the “military border”, and with the building complex there were also large stalls (about 5 x 15 meters).  I, Peter Lang, lived here from 1942 on, and no longer Ms. Rittberg as it states in the village plan. At No. 73 Reiter Square there was a classroom and a service apartment.  It belonged to Miss Vukovanovic.  From about 1939 on the rooms were given up, although it had been necessary to use them.  With the problem the purpose was pursued to urgently move ahead with the school building. Also the old parsonage, in which the Luther Hall was later erected, was a school until about 1932.  In Luther Hall the confirmation and religious instruction took place, but it no longer served school purposes. Around the turn of the century there was also a rented classroom in the house at No. 5 Willi Messerer Street.        For religious instruction the Reformed had a classroom in the parsonage.  During the war the festival room in the Serbian church, the zbornica, was a classroom as well.    With the separation of the school in the fall of 1941 the Croatians received the room at 1 Hanweck Street, 2 Pavelic Street, and shared the zbornica next to the Serbian parsonage.  The German school received the buildings at No. 69 and No. 71 Reiter Square.  These rooms already were not used for school purposes before World War I.  The political community accumulated considerable savings surplus for a new building, but this was completely devalued through inflation.  In the first decade after World War I the mayor neglected a new attempt.  After 1930 there was a general world economic crisis.  As this was the time of the Abbysinian War ended, new efforts were made for the school building.  Because the first savings was devalued, one naturally believed it was better to save.  For this reason about 100,000 bricks were purchased and stored at the building site at No. 4 Pavelic Street.  Then World War II came and nothing was done with the school building again.  But as one heard the plan was realized after the war.  Beschka now had a 9th school year.  The principal was again Velislav Starcevic, a capable organization teacher.    Perhaps there still may not be interest, as the mood for the school building changed.  The mayor let many respected citizens and all teachers come together to a general discussion besides the community council and local school council.  All, except for community councilman Marko Laparovic, 14 – 16 Pavelic Street, were united that one must build a school.  Only they were not all prepared to grant the money.  But Laparovic was against it with the reason that large classrooms would be difficult to heat and the children would catch colds in the cold rooms.  A general hidden laugh from all participants of the meeting was the source for this thanks to the fool.     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 59-61 The Business and Trade School ~ Furnishing the School with Teaching Agents (Apprentice School)    The craftsmen of Beschka asserted that a trade school would be built in the village as recently as the turn of the century.  When Georg Mahler was apprentice he slowly hugged a fellow married student on the apprentice school bench, and played a joke on their teacher Spaniel.  It drove him crazy.  It was in the school at No. 69 Reiter Square, which as already mentioned, was formally the city hall and had a vault from that time.  In this vault teacher Spaniel wanted to lock up a sinner during the instruction.  The apprentice followed him without resistance, but as the teacher locked up the kitchen, the apprentice pushed him into the vault, closed the door, and calmly went home.  First, after a while the remaining apprentices freed their teacher from his misery.  From then on teacher Spaniel received police protection during the lessons.  However, the next time nothing more happened.  On the contrary, there were apprentices who were very eager and far exceeded the quota in mathematics.  Architect Beck had, for example, an apprentice by the same name from Bulkes, who I asked such difficult questions for the examination that the principal Jovanovic wanted to intervene against it, for which I assured him that the apprentice was competent and it should be felt as an honor to receive a difficult problem which he also solves.  Another 18 year old amazed me with his honest character.  During one hour I had to write something I instructed Prpic to pay attention to the others.  But he said to me he did not want to betray his comrades because of a prank.  The class waited tensely for what was coming next.  But I only praised Prpic and no longer used an observer.  The apprentice and trade schools were divided for 3 years.  Each student nine hours each week.  Twice for 3 hours on weekday evenings and unfortunately also for three hours at a time on Sunday afternoons.  There was still no youth protection at the time.  The political community paid very well for these hours.  An uneducated worker was rewarded with a full days wage for one hour.  The instruction was also a worthwhile spare-time occupation for the teacher.  Each teacher took part in it and each one chose the specialty that he mastered the best.  Business and trade laws were taught by Starcevic, drafting was taught by Stojadinovic, handwriting was taught by Bächer, Serbian language was taught by Buta, and mathematics with geometry as well as physics and chemistry were taught by me – Peter Lang.  The instruction was supervised by the principal and the chamber of commerce.  In 1941 the trade school was also German.  German instruction was now given by Vikar Poglitsch.  But because many master craftsmen were inducted by the Nazi SS, the number of apprentices fell sharply, which is why the school was temporarily closed in the fall of 1943. Equipping the School with Teaching Aids    Thanks to the generous furnishing of the trade school as well as the public school with the necessary teaching material such as land maps, apparatus for physics, chemistry, geometry and so forth it was not worse equipped than the schools in Germany.  Only blackboards should have been bigger.  One Siemens narrow gauge film projector – my old dream – I could purchase in 1942.  For the principal’s office I bought a typewriter.  The local school council approved both large acquisitions, after which I showed them teaching films with the projector.  Foreseeing the structural changes at the school and service apartment I could no longer acquire anything because of the material shortages in the war.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 62-63 The Local School Council ~The Continuing Education Schools ~ The Grammar School ~ The Trade Academy  The Local School Council    Members of the local school council were: the principal, the community judge (mayor) and until 1921 the pastor of each of the offices because: he was also an elected member of the community committee (community council).  Schools were examined by the school council as well.  From 1941 on the local school council was appointed by the local leader.  Members were: Dr. H. Renner as local leader, Mayor Stefan Hoffmann, master locksmith Johann Heib, Senior Karl Peter, and myself as principal.  The local school council posted the estimate for the school and the community council took it as a rule without hesitation in the community estimate.  Until 1921 the teachers’ pay was also in it.  From 1921 on the school was nationalized, and the teachers were paid by the state.  For the community the provision for firewood remained the highest priority, but thanks to the laws of the “military border” the community only paid the freight for the school’s wood and the teacher’s firewood.  Each teacher received 4 fathoms = 16 square meters of oak or beech wood in the year.  Coal was either used in the schools or in the apartments.  From 1942 on the state also took over these assignments for the school.  The state paid from then on a very high sum for the cooking.  But there was a catch.  The food could only be legally purchased with a food card, and there were none.  Not to let the posts for food lapse into disuse, I established from studying the office papers that fish was free from food cards.  But the question emerged, who could supply the fish.  The farmers cooperative could supply food, but no fish – but sufficient bills.  In the district school office where the accounts were settled one was astonished over the purchasing possibilities, and it did not last long before the “fishing economy” was boosted.  Fortunately the school council didn’t ask how the fish tasted, except only, did we also have firewood.  Of course we also had firewood because the cooperative also “supplied” this for the permissible “high price”…  Why simply, because it was also complicated. The Continuing Education Schools The continuing education schools were : The citizens school:     Composed of four grades of public school.  Lasted 4 years.  Strict selections improved the success.  Special worth was placed on natural science subjects such as physics and chemistry.  Mathematics was the same as in grammar school.  German was taught as a foreign language.  The school was especially suited for technical occupations.  Citizen schools in the area of Beschka were in India until 1918 (Hungarian), in Neusatz until 1941 (Serbian), and in India again from 1941 on (German).  The students rode there on the train. The Grammar School     Composed of four grades of public school.  Lasting 8 years.  There were also strict selections here.  It concluded with a “Matura” = “Abitur” (final exam?).  Foreign languages included German, Latin, and formerly also Greek.  The “Matura” was entitled to the highest school attendance.  The nearest grammar school for Beschka was in Karlowitz until 1941, and from 1941 on in Ruma (German).  The students rode the train to Karlowitz.  In Ruma they had to have living quarters and eating places. The Trade Academy     The trade academy in Yugoslavia was not a high school, but a middle school in which one attended after four grades of grammar school and after four school years concluded with a final examination.  There was only one such school in the cities.  But nearby Beschka had also received one such school.  This is not a bad joke, but the whole truth because probably few people from Beschka heard anything about it.  In the summer of 1941 I received from the Office of School Ways the order to buy space in Beschka for the trade academy because it should move from Semlin to Beschka to get out of the way of the air raid.  For A levels to be authorized, one had to attend a high school.  The nearest trade academy was in Neusatz (Serbian), and from 1941 on in Semlin (German).  From 1944 on one was planned for Beschka.    Until 1900 all these schools were attended by three or four German students from Beschka at the most.  After that, until 1918, the citizen schools were attended by more people from Beschka.  Some, about five to ten students, attended the grammar school in Neusatz or Neuwerbaß.  After 1918 it remained rather unchanged.  The student census was somewhat higher about 1930, but it got worse again because of the world economic crisis.  After 1936 some more students went again to continuing education schools.  From 1941 on the census of students increased greatly.  Today, after the people fled, it is so, that the people of Beschka changed from a folk of farmers, craftsmen, and day workers to a folk of competent specialists and academians.   Particularly strongly represented were the occupations in short supply such as the tutor.  We now have about 20 preachers, many teachers, guidance counselors, and even high school teachers.  There were also several doctors, about 10 veterinarians, and about five pharmacists.  There are also many who, with the occupations they learned at home, worked their way up into leading positions in America.  We have countrymen who have taken up leading positions in the economy although they had not learned the English language at home.  Also in the unusual occupations such as atomic energy and computers our countrymen are represented.  In addition it is referred to in the family register.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 64 The Teachers' Education    As our ancestors under Emperor Josef moved to Hungary, the teachers have enjoyed the education they received from one of the old teachers in the original homeland.  They were gifted youth and one should not underestimate their achievements.  The quality of a teacher is not assured by a long education alone, much more it depends on his suitability.  The method has not changed much in principal.  Corporal punishment was already frowned upon.  This comes from a circular from the Batschka dean of the “highly acclaimed teacher”, whose circular is apparent in the Torschau homeland book. (Wack)  That with the toleration of the parents who still corporally punished is indeed right, but corporal punishment was not allowed.  To condone the beatings of the old school is thoughtless.  Infringement still happens in the schools and even more in the parents homes.    From the middle of the 19th century on the teacher went to a seminary to be educated.   As prerequisites four grades of grammar school or four grades of citizen school were required.  At the seminary the boarders had to stay for 3 years at first, then for 4 years in the 1880’s, and towards the 1930’s a fifth year.  The final examination was called the Matura.  After practicing for 3 years a second examination was given.  Essentially their training was always as it was in Germany.  Today the A-levels and a sixth semester of high school are required.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 65 The Administration     During the time, when the Save and the Danube Rivers formed the border of the Turkish ruling district, the Turks invaded the realm of the Hapsburgs again and again.  To resist these invasions a strip about 50 kilometers wide known as the so-called military border was created under Maria Theresia along the Save and Danube Rivers.  It was also a protective rampart against epidemics.  During certain times the military border not only consisted of the 50 kilometer wide strip, but also stretched further to the north, for example up to Mariatheresiaopel (Szabadka, Subotica) and reached from the Adriatic up to the Carpathians.  Enough said here, that Beschka lies in the region of the military border, so that its development was decided by the peculiarities of the region.  The inhabitant of the military border, the Grenzer (borderer), was obligated to protect the land against surprise raids and looting attacks by the Turks.  They were therefore subject to and obligated for a permanent state of readiness to take part in certain military exercises.  The meaning of these duties is expressed in the Serbian proverb: “Vojna krajina, krvava haljina” (“military border is a bloody dress”).  The borderers, who were essentially farmers, had to serve as guards.  Here they had to carry their equipment, food, and quarters themselves.  The military character of the military border does not only have the military breeding of its inhabitants to follow, but meant that the total administration and jurisdiction were military.  The whole military border was divided into four “Generalate” (districts).  Beschka belonged to the Peterwardein district, one old fortress on the Danube, which was probably built by the crusader Peter of Amiens in the 11th and 12th centuries.  Until December 31st, 1871, that is until the dissolution of the military border the districts of Titel and Zsablya also belonged to the Peterwardein Generalat.  The regiment for this Generalat was in Mitrowitza.  The 12th company was in Beschka.  The guard farmers were not only commanded to guard service, but were urged on to reforest the large forests.  The borderers had use of it and so did we people of Beschka until World War II, which each old border house and the communities, including the church congregations, received firewood.  Until 1918 cheap salt (only the freight) and tobacco were kept.  Ms. Hubler (vgl. Reg. No. 854A) also explained to me that the work-shy farmers who sat around on the street during the main work time were driven to work by the sergeants with their clubs.  (A parallel to this was when Frederick the Great forced the farmers to the potato fields with his cane.)    The official language in the military border was German, but the officers and sergeants were mainly Croatian or Serbian.  The general in Peterwardein was called, for example, Loncarevic = Häfner.  All sergeants who are named as authors of purchasing contracts or witnesses in the Krtschedin and Jarek homeland books, had Slavic surnames.  I only found one name in the Jarek homeland book (von Gregus), whose bearer could have been German.  There can be no question that there was a Germanization in the military border.  The German official language in the military border also had an effect on the surrounding languages of the Serbs and Croats.  Here is an example: “Kad sam presla preko Bruckn, tako mi je bilo ibl, a kad sam malo aine movale, odmah sam se bolje filovala.”  (As I went over the bridge, I was so sick, but as I went a little farther, I felt better.)     At the immediate border (cordon) the guards stood in airy summer house type guard houses, which were called the Tschardak (Turkish summerhouse).   (This was also the description of the corn barns, a framework of slats 2 x 2 meters and as long as one liked.  Also the Germans took over this name.)  When danger threatened anywhere the guards ignited a straw bundle on a high pole.  In the old days this was the quickest way to transmit the news.    In Beschka the 12th Company was put up in the house with the large stalls at 71 Reiter Square.  The city hall was in house number 69 and there may have been living quarters in house number 40.  All of these buildings may have been built in the time under Maria Theresia. They were made of first class materials.  The walls were made of fired bricks, the roof covered with tiles, and the timbers of very strong oak.  The Reiter Square in Beschka served, as its name already implies, for riding exercises.  The main road from Peterwardein to Semlin did not go through India at the time, but through  Beschka and Sasse (Novi Karlovci) instead.  Reiter Square was in the center of Beschka at the time.  House number 71 was probably rebuilt as a school after the military border was abolished in 1871.  House number 40 was the Reformed church and parsonage.  As the new community house (city hall) was built, building number 69 was also passed over to school ownership.  In the military border there were other laws which were also valid as in the Beschka.  Because of ignorance of these differences some colonists in Krtschedin were deceived by the purchase of the land holdings.  In Beschka this may have also happened.    For the collars of parts of the uniform (Krap?) red was grown between the railroad tracks and Prinz Eugen Street.  Because they attached the fruit of Krapp to the clothing themselves, one called it Pappgras (pappen – kleben – dicht) (stick – stick – thick).  The red color was taken from the roots.  When alzarin red was later chemically manufactured, this Pappgras was a troublesome weed for Beschka.  Only the old people knew of its former use.  There where the Pappgras was planted was also the shooting place during the time of the military border.    After the Berlin Congress of 1878 the Turks were completely forced out of the Austro-Hungarian border, so that the military border was dissolved overall.  I should still mention that during the time of the military border all men assembled in front of the city hall after church service to receive orders.  This custom was kept in some villages that people assembled in front of the city hall after church service to take notice of the publications until the people fled.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 65 The Military Boundary     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 68 The Community Administration    Possibly from January 1st, 1872 on, from 1876 on at the latest, the community was no longer administered by the military.  From then on the “judge” stood at the pinnacle of the community (Serbian Knez = prince).  He was elected.  To the side of him stood the community committee (community council), such as for example the justice of the peace for minor cases (and individual functionaries from the ranks of the community council.  For damages in the field the jurors had to estimate the damages.  The community committee posted the house keeping plan of the community and cared for the payment of the community services, for roads and bridges, for community cattle and boars, for schools, police, field guards, and so forth.    The community notary was an administrative specialist and cared for the observance of the laws.  He was nevertheless under the community judge, but thanks to his knowledge he was still put over him.  He exploited this superiority often to get his own way.  His pay was very good and the notary position was very desired.  Besides the notary there was a second notary or community cashier.  His position was also well paid and desired.  In tax calculations, especially with the business people, he had great influence in the matter of discretion, so he was feared.  The farmers paid their taxes after the last registry net profits, so that they were not dependant on him.  Besides the office bearers named there was also a community writer and also some police and field guards for maintaining order.  Formerly the field guards were liable for the field damages themselves.  But field damages, including theft, were rare.  Horse theft occurred often around 1850, but this bad habit was really fought with the introduction of livestock passes for horses, cows, and swine.  For small livestock there were no passes.  Small livestock were sometimes stolen for fun and the owner was invited to consume it.  Burglaries happened more often in Krtschedin.  That may have been because the company had its seat far away in Beschka.  There were a half dozen murders and manslaughters from 1927 to 1941.  The motives were: robbery once, once under the influence, once crossing the power in office, once from injured vanity, and two cases unexplained.    During the time, when the Save and the Danube Rivers formed the border of the Turkish ruling district, the Turks invaded the realm of the Hapsburgs again and again.  To resist these invasions a strip about 50 kilometers wide known as the so-called military border was created under Maria Theresia along the Save and Danube Rivers.  It was also a protective rampart against epidemics.  During certain times the military border not only consisted of the 50 kilometer wide strip, but also stretched further to the north, for example up to Mariatheresiaopel (Szabadka, Subotica) and reached from the Adriatic up to the Carpathians.  Enough said here, that Beschka lies in the region of the military border, so that its development was decided by the peculiarities of the region.  The inhabitant of the military border, the Grenzer (borderer), was obligated to protect the land against surprise raids and looting attacks by the Turks.  They were therefore subject to and obligated for a permanent state of readiness to take part in certain military exercises.  The meaning of these duties is expressed in the Serbian proverb: “Vojna krajina, krvava haljina” (“military border is a bloody dress”).  The borderers, who were essentially farmers, had to serve as guards.  Here they had to carry their equipment, food, and quarters themselves.  The military character of the military border does not only have the military breeding of its inhabitants to follow, but meant that the total administration and jurisdiction were military.  The whole military border was divided into four “Generalate” (districts).  Beschka belonged to the Peterwardein district, one old fortress on the Danube, which was probably built by the crusader Peter of Amiens in the 11th and 12th centuries.  Until December 31st, 1871, that is until the dissolution of the military border the districts of Titel and Zsablya also belonged to the Peterwardein Generalat.  The regiment for this Generalat was in Mitrowitza.  The 12th company was in Beschka.  The guard farmers were not only commanded to guard service, but were urged on to reforest the large forests.  The borderers had use of it and so did we people of Beschka until World War II, which each old border house and the communities, including the church congregations, received firewood.  Until 1918 cheap salt (only the freight) and tobacco were kept.  Ms. Hubler (vgl. Reg. No. 854A) also explained to me that the work-shy farmers who sat around on the street during the main work time were driven to work by the sergeants with their clubs.  (A parallel to this was when Frederick the Great forced the farmers to the potato fields with his cane.)    The official language in the military border was German, but the officers and sergeants were mainly Croatian or Serbian.  The general in Peterwardein was called, for example, Loncarevic = Häfner.  All sergeants who are named as authors of purchasing contracts or witnesses in the Krtschedin and Jarek homeland books, had Slavic surnames.  I only found one name in the Jarek homeland book (von Gregus), whose bearer could have been German.  There can be no question that there was a Germanization in the military border.  The German official language in the military border also had an effect on the surrounding languages of the Serbs and Croats.  Here is an example: “Kad sam presla preko Bruckn, tako mi je bilo ibl, a kad sam malo aine movale, odmah sam se bolje filovala.”  (As I went over the bridge, I was so sick, but as I went a little farther, I felt better.)     At the immediate border (cordon) the guards stood in airy summer house type guard houses, which were called the Tschardak (Turkish summerhouse).   (This was also the description of the corn barns, a framework of slats 2 x 2 meters and as long as one liked.  Also the Germans took over this name.)  When danger threatened anywhere the guards ignited a straw bundle on a high pole.  In the old days this was the quickest way to transmit the news.    In Beschka the 12th Company was put up in the house with the large stalls at 71 Reiter Square.  The city hall was in house number 69 and there may have been living quarters in house number 40.  All of these buildings may have been built in the time under Maria Theresia. They were made of first class materials.  The walls were made of fired bricks, the roof covered with tiles, and the timbers of very strong oak.  The Reiter Square in Beschka served, as its name already implies, for riding exercises.  The main road from Peterwardein to Semlin did not go through India at the time, but through  Beschka and Sasse (Novi Karlovci) instead.  Reiter Square was in the center of Beschka at the time.  House number 71 was probably rebuilt as a school after the military border was abolished in 1871.  House number 40 was the Reformed church and parsonage.  As the new community house (city hall) was built, building number 69 was also passed over to school ownership.  In the military border there were other laws which were also valid as in the Beschka.  Because of ignorance of these differences some colonists in Krtschedin were deceived by the purchase of the land holdings.  In Beschka this may have also happened.    For the collars of parts of the uniform (Krap?) red was grown between the railroad tracks and Prinz Eugen Street.  Because they attached the fruit of Krapp to the clothing themselves, one called it Pappgras (pappen – kleben – dicht) (stick – stick – thick).  The red color was taken from the roots.  When alzarin red was later chemically manufactured, this Pappgras was a troublesome weed for Beschka.  Only the old people knew of its former use.  There where the Pappgras was planted was also the shooting place during the time of the military border.    After the Berlin Congress of 1878 the Turks were completely forced out of the Austro-Hungarian border, so that the military border was dissolved overall.  I should still mention that during the time of the military border all men assembled in front of the city hall after church service to receive orders.  This custom was kept in some villages that people assembled in front of the city hall after church service to take notice of the publications until the people fled.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 69 The Associations / Clubs  The Germans in Beschka were very happy to join clubs.  On the one hand their established association served to care for the German customs, especially the German songs and literature.  On the other hand the associations served as the fulfillment of the community’s problems, such as the Fireman’s Association.    As already mentioned Friedrich Steinmetz was a German teacher in Beschka from 1862 to 1869.   He was very musical and found joy in it, especially in teaching the children the German folk songs.  Whether or not there was already a singing club during his time is uncertain.  There is proof, however, that there was already a men’s singing club in Beschka in Andreas Betsch’s younger days (vgl. Reg. No. 148), around the turn of the century.  This club not only cultivated the songs but also performed plays.  For these the stage scenery was stored by Andreas Betsch and used by other associations.  In the time after World War I there were no more secular singing clubs but several church choirs of individual religious communities used it.  I have already made reference to it in the paragraphs about the individual religious communities.  The church choirs of the Evangelicals and the Reformed were essentially under the leadership of the choirmaster.  In addition to Andreas Betsch there were also Katharina Philippi, Franz Kniesel, Isidor Henn, and other citizens who I no longer remember who were active choir leaders.     From the year 1928 on there were several plays in the school setting and in the setting of the German reading club, as well as musicals which were performed.  I especially remember the successful plays “Annele’s Ascension to Heaven” and “The Seven Geißlein?” which I was allowed to run.  The plays were greatly promoted by the reading club, especially by Dr. Reich, which I expressly said, the reading club paid for everything I needed.  The collaborations of all Germans was generous.  The women sewed the costumes free of charge, and indeed they did this in the long open hall of the so-called choirmaster’s living quarters in a cheerful community.  The musical band worked with joy with these musicals.  I can still remember that Robert Scherer in the year 1938 with the unorganized youth of Beschka and the…    …had to be performed and it was held outside because there was no inn that could accommodate the number in attendance.  Unfortunately Robert Scherer could not direct the performance of the musical himself because his sister died shortly before it.  Therefore I had to step into his position.  I can also remember that teacher Kühbauch also performed a piece.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 70 The Firemen's Association     Jakob Filippi reported to me that the tragic death of the father of H. Blasius (vgl. Reg. No. 196), who was burned in his loft, was the birth of the Firemen’s Association in Beschka.  Before that the fires were naturally fought by the Germans, but the means of extinguishing the fires was not adequately organized and it was missing in sufficient firefighting equipment.  The Serbs were very careless in the firefighting and regarded the fire more as play.  So it happened that if a Serb was by a fire, instead of extinguishing it, he would light his pipe by it.  But one of the German helpers knocked the pipe from his hand with the shovel.  After the establishment of the Firemen’s Association the Serbs also joined it as active members.    Besides the contributions of the members the Firemen’s Association was financed through contributions from the community and through convenient donations from the insurance companies.  The real good equipment consisted first of all of a hand driven hose and from 1941 on also a motor operated hose.  But despite the good equipment, firefighting was difficult because it was difficult to get enough water at the burning site.  There were only wells in Beschka.  So the water they found was used up rather quickly.    Each individual fire brigade commanding officer I can no longer remember.  The only fire brigade commander I can name are: Dr. Zatschek, Adam Fäller, Andreas Scherer, Johann Röder, Ludwig Tschepl, and finally Jakob Bubenheimer.  The head of the ladies’ auxiliary was Elisabetha Busch.  The Firemen’s Association also had it’s own music band.  Each year there was a ball where a play was performed.  The fire brigade also appeared at special celebrations, such as the king’s birthday.  The fire brigade’s band also took part at state holidays and funerals.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 71 The Undertakers' Association   The Undertakers’ Association was already established by the Germans in Beschka on 11 November 1894.  they also joined the Serbs.  The association took care that in a case of death a dignified funeral could be carried out whether the person was rich or poor.  It especially existed for a dignified hearse and the necessary funeral personnel.   After each case of death the members paid a small contribution, but it was also enough to carry out a dignified funeral during times of inflation.    Here are the names of the founding fathers:       The president and leader was: Georg Sehne (Reg. No. 1821)       The vice president was: Karl Neidhofer (Neidhöfer, not recorded)    Members of the administration committee were:       Secretary Christian Leopold (Reg. No. 1205)       Treasurer Jakob Stehli (Reg. No. 1884)       Dragutin Klaschna       Maxim Kotzkarewic       Zivan Maric       Friedrich Steinmetz (not recorded)       Jakob Niedan of Krtschedin       Heinrich Pfaff (Reg. No. 1472)       Peter Albrecht (Reg. No. 8)       Jakob Betschl (Reg. No. 161)       Filip Weingärtner (Reg. No. 2190.5)       Daniel Walter (Reg. No. 2137)         Heinrich Blasins (Reg. No. 197)       Filip Weiß (Reg. No. 2195)       Adam Balzer (Reg. No. 61)     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 72 The Reading Club    The German’s need to read in Beschka was so strong that a reading club had to be established in 1926.  Stefan Hoffmann (vgl. Reg. No. 837) especially served to establish it.  He was therefore elected to be an honorary member in 1931, although at the time he was already an Argentinean.  The first foreman was Jakob Bubenheimer (vgl. Reg. No. 258).  The second foreman was Rev. Karl Peter.  Karl Kniesel (vgl. Reg. No. 1029) followed him.  After that there was Dr. Reich (vgl. Reg. No. 1532) and finally Dr. Renner Obmähner.  Because of the bylaws of the Reading Club they had difficulties with the authorities who tried to make it possible for the Serbs to be members in the Reading Club also.  Rev. Zivanovic especially wanted to have membership for himself and other Serbs.  But we resisted against it because we feared a strong Serbian influence.  At the extraordinary main assembly of the Reading Club Rev. Christian Jung especially sat passionately and successfully argued not to let the Serbs in.  Rev. Zivanovic was very “sour” with me over the rejection of his proposal.  The meeting of the Reading Club was never approved by the authorities.  The difficulties made by the authorities was so strong in 1932 that I had to resign as secretary.  But the difficulties were resolved in 1939 when the Reading Club was included in the Swabian-German Cultural Association.      The Reading Club had about 60 members.  They had to pay a 60 Dinar yearly contribution.  There was a stock of over 1000 books available.  Also valuable richly illustrated German pages were kept.  The reading material at their disposal was eagerly read.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 72 The Serbian-German Cultural Association    The Swabian-German Cultural Association was established in Yugoslavia shortly after World War I.  It was an umbrella association for clubs of all kinds.  It was in local groups, under which the local group in Beschka belonged.  Its task consisted of the promotion of all cultural and social interests of the Germans in Yugoslavia.  Although to a considerable extent it brought about the re-Germanization of the Hungarianized Germans, the Yugoslavian government saw a danger in it whereas the cultural association was forbidden a few years after its establishment.  This ban, to my understanding, was not justified, because the Germans in their majority were against the Yugoslavian government infringing on it.  The cultural association was permitted again about 1930.  All Germans belonged to it as members.  Its seat and with it the central point of cultural life of the Germans was in Neusatz.  There the housing construction company built the so-called HABAG house.  It contained a very large festival hall, office rooms of the cultural association as well as the German cooperatives and the central loan treasury.    In 1930 the cultural association established the German school foundation.  Although Beschka still did not have members in the cultural association at the time, the community donated several thousand Dinar to the school foundation.  The school foundation established several German citizen schools, several grammar schools, and a German teaching institute.  Shortly before World War II the good Cotek in Futag bought an agricultural school to furnish.    In Beschka a youth group of the cultural association was established.  The group was especially concerned with sports and music, especially the singing.  The men of this group wore black uniforms at formal marches (Aufmärschen?).  The women organized many lectures of the general education sort, especially about infant care.    After the Yugoslavian campaign, Croatia became an independent state, and the Germans in Yugoslavia were divided in three groups.  The Croatian Germans (schufen?) a new association for themselves as a substitute for the cultural association, which pursued the same goals as the cultural association.  The association called itself “The German Folk Group in Yugoslavia”.  Again it also established a school foundation which opened citizen schools in India and Neupasua, a grammar school in Ruma, and a teaching institute in Essegg.  Also central agricultural cooperatives, banks, and a central administration were established in Essegg.  The German folk group was very tightly organized.  Their orders followed government measures.  In each village there was a local leader.  He sheltered all office administrators in the economy, administration, and defense.  Appeals for donation were, for example, fulfilled by state tax contributions for social purposes.  Over the local groups stood the area leadership and over this was the folk group leadership.  The area leadership for Beschka was in India.  The seat of the folk group leadership was in Essegg.     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 74 The Cooperatives The Social Insurance    Social insurance was poorly provided for in Yugoslavia and in Beschka.  For the employee, for example, for housing aid the prescribed compulsory insurance for illness was often avoided.  The housing aid was as a rule for the young and healthy, whereas they themselves were mostly not concerned about their insurance.  The continuing payment of wages in the case of illness was only given to officials, so that illness was often a great need not covered yet.  When the savings were used up, the only help there was the family and only in the worst need did the community help.  Old people had to be supported by their children because no fortune existed.   The Living Conditions      Only a very small part of the people of Beschka were without their own home.  It was not always the poorest who did not have their own home since there were also some who lived in one house with their parents.    The 2058 Germans who lived in Beschka according to the 1931 census, lived in 460 homes.  On the average each home was occupied by four to five people.  The smallest home was not under 50 square meters in size.  As a rule the small homes had one room which was 20 to 25 square meters, a chamber with 18 to 20 square meters and a kitchen with 15 to 20 square meters.  In addition there was a covered corridor of 20 square meters or more.  Many homes had a cellar.  As a rule people lived and slept in one room, so then there was enough living space.  The chamber was an “extra room”.  In the summer there was a covered summer kitchen as well.    Despite the good living conditions and possibilities even the fortunate farmers often slept two in a bed, and often this was the bedroom and the living room at the same time, because the precious furnished living room often only served as cold splendor.  Surplus rooms were as a rule furnished with beds.  Here were the (Federzeug?) feathery things? already piled up high for the trousseaus in the childhoods of the girls.  Then when a girl reached marriage age, the dowry was already cared for a long time and was so also for the poor.      In many homes there was a yard in the area of the living spaces from behind the work yard separated by a fence and enchanted in a flower garden.  The chrysanthemums thrived especially well.  Also, the open, often glass covered corridor was protected against the sun’s glare by climbing plants.  In the corridor people lived in the summer.    The homes of the poor were stamped with clay.  The outside walls were made of burnt bricks hip high.  Some floors were made of clay, which were “washed up” each week.  Floorboards were painted with oil colors.  In some homes there were also parquet floors or linoleum.   (Strangula?) were unknown.  The walls were painted or whitened with chalk.  There were no longer any thatched roofs in Beschka in my time.  They were expensive because they often had to be replaced.  However, until World War I there were still thatched roofs which were very artistic and were made respectably.    The baking ovens made of clay or tile which were dangerous, were a square meter large and as high as a man.  It often stood in the living room and was heated from the outside with straw, corn stalks, or grapevines.  It radiated a comfortable even warmth.  It was heated twice daily which was also enough in the most bitter cold.  Once a week the best bread was baked in it.  Understandably each woman knew how to bake bread.  In the baking oven delicious roasts and potatoes were also tastefully prepared with or without a dish (Tepskrumbeere).   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 74-75 The Social Insurance & The Living Conditions The Social Insurance    Social insurance was poorly provided for in Yugoslavia and in Beschka.  For the employee, for example, for housing aid the prescribed compulsory insurance for illness was often avoided.  The housing aid was as a rule for the young and healthy, whereas they themselves were mostly not concerned about their insurance.  The continuing payment of wages in the case of illness was only given to officials, so that illness was often a great need not covered yet.  When the savings were used up, the only help there was the family and only in the worst need did the community help.  Old people had to be supported by their children because no fortune existed. The Living Conditions      Only a very small part of the people of Beschka were without their own home.  It was not always the poorest who did not have their own home since there were also some who lived in one house with their parents.    The 2058 Germans who lived in Beschka according to the 1931 census, lived in 460 homes.  On the average each home was occupied by four to five people.  The smallest home was not under 50 square meters in size.  As a rule the small homes had one room which was 20 to 25 square meters, a chamber with 18 to 20 square meters and a kitchen with 15 to 20 square meters.  In addition there was a covered corridor of 20 square meters or more.  Many homes had a cellar.  As a rule people lived and slept in one room, so then there was enough living space.  The chamber was an “extra room”.  In the summer there was a covered summer kitchen as well.    Despite the good living conditions and possibilities even the fortunate farmers often slept two in a bed, and often this was the bedroom and the living room at the same time, because the precious furnished living room often only served as cold splendor.  Surplus rooms were as a rule furnished with beds.  Here were the (Federzeug?) feathery things? already piled up high for the trousseaus in the childhoods of the girls.  Then when a girl reached marriage age, the dowry was already cared for a long time and was so also for the poor.      In many homes there was a yard in the area of the living spaces from behind the work yard separated by a fence and enchanted in a flower garden.  The chrysanthemums thrived especially well.  Also, the open, often glass covered corridor was protected against the sun’s glare by climbing plants.  In the corridor people lived in the summer.    The homes of the poor were stamped with clay.  The outside walls were made of burnt bricks hip high.  Some floors were made of clay, which were “washed up” each week.  Floorboards were painted with oil colors.  In some homes there were also parquet floors or linoleum.   (Strangula?) were unknown.  The walls were painted or whitened with chalk.  There were no longer any thatched roofs in Beschka in my time.  They were expensive because they often had to be replaced.  However, until World War I there were still thatched roofs which were very artistic and were made respectably.    The baking ovens made of clay or tile which were dangerous, were a square meter large and as high as a man.  It often stood in the living room and was heated from the outside with straw, corn stalks, or grapevines.  It radiated a comfortable even warmth.  It was heated twice daily which was also enough in the most bitter cold.  Once a week the best bread was baked in it.  Understandably each woman knew how to bake bread.  In the baking oven delicious roasts and potatoes were also tastefully prepared with or without a dish (Tepskrumbeere).   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 76 Care of accommodations      Until the turn of the century the living quarters were whitewashed with lime twice a year, once before Easter and once before the church festival (Kirchweih) in the fall.  In addition, in the winter the walls were whitewashed each week around the baking oven and the (Sparherd?).  The lime disinfected there, so not only was beauty encouraged but at the same time its disinfection was achieved.    After the turn of the century people gradually switched over to letting a painter paint the living quarters with color.  This was done by the rich at first and later also by the poor (often themselves).  The German women in Beschka had a keen sense of cleanliness.  They whitewashed often until they fled from Beschka – the outside of the homes, like the gable which was so high up.  The rich left this work to the painter in the year before the people fled and mostly yellow color was added to the outside coat of paint on the houses.  The pedestal was painted deer-brown (tan) and renewed at least once a year in the time before Pfingsten (Whitsun),  Each week the passageway to the street ditches and the yard were swept.  Most German homes had a beautiful ornamental garden.  Therefore the German properties as a rule were more beautiful than the Serbs.  But many Serbs in Beschka had in the course of time completely adapted to the German customs.  With their homemade rugs they were even superior to us.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 76 Health matters    As I already informed you, it was laid down in the settler’s patent of 1782, that a hospital be built “as a quickly as possible.”  The principle was applied also in Beschka for the affairs of the rural people at the time were cared for very well.  Already before the turn of the century the physician Dr. Zacek was active in Beschka.  Katharina Balg (vgl. Reg. No. 52A) worked as a midwife and a healing practitioner and Susanna Horning  (vgl. Reg. No. 846) as well as Susanna and Maria Wohl (vgl. Reg. No. 2275A and 2274A) and others worked as midwives.  After Dr. Zacek there were the physicians Dr. Locki, Dr. Mathias Weber, Dr. Philipp Oberländer, Dr. Eduard Reich and from about 1937 on Dr. Hans Renner.  There were never more than two doctors active in Beschka at the same time.  In addition there was the pharmacist Nikolaus Grahor and after him, about from 1934 on, Heinrich Brücker resided.  The children of the area were also vaccinated by the community doctor in Beschka, since the vaccinations were customary in medical schience for the condition at the time.  The children’s mortality rate in Beschka corresponded with the average for that time period.     As already reported in the Jarek homeland book there were epidemics: In 1836 and 1849 a cholera epidemic raged.  The number of cases of death twice exceeded the number of births.  In the years from 1828 to 1898 there were 36 epidemics which came on the average of one epidemic every two years.  But these were not as devastating as the cholera epidemics because the number of births exceeded the cases of death on the average of 52.4%.  Individually the following epidemics came: scarlet fever came six times, (Blattern?) came seven times (the last in 1887), typhus came five times (the last in 1898), (Rachenbraune) (brown pharynx?) came six times, and also whooping cough, German measles, and fever (change fever?, malaria) twice each.  In the time from 1898 to 1936 scarlet fever only appeared once and in 1918 the Spanish influenza appeared.  So we can see an enormous medical progress.    Typhus could be battled through the installation of toilets.  When the toilets were generally introduced in Beschka is unknown to me.  But it is certain that after World War I in villages with Serbs and Germans only a few Germans still did not have a toilet.  In Beschka I don’t know of a single German house that had not been furnished with this convenience.  At the time of the emigration it was also still not introduced in Germany.  The princes at the time had portable chairs with chamber pots underneath.  Otherwise there was usually a “hunters’ seat” in more or less hidden places in the yard.      In the time until the people fled there were already some toilets in Beschka with flush systems installed.  As a rule, however, only (Plumpsaborte) “outhouses” existed.  The sitting board in these was kept very clean and the opening was covered up with a cover.  Two heart shaped cutouts in the door provided ventilation.  It was installed a respectable distance from the living quarters.  According to the homeland book of Jarek the mortality in the pure German mother communities was essentially smaller than in the daughter communities which had a mixed population.  While in Jarek the number of cases of deaths from 1828 to 1864 only twice exceeded the number of births, in the daughter communities there were eight times the number of cases.  From 1828 to 1864 there were 4083 births and 1951 cases of death in Jarek, so births exceeded deaths by 52.4%.  At the same time there were 668 births and 510 cases of death in the daughter communities with mixed populations, births exceeded deaths by only 23%.  From this one can conclude that the Germans lived more hygienically than other people.  But it may also mean that the Germans had better nutrition, especially better nutrition for the infants, and because the Germans ate more fruit and drank more milk than the other folks in Yugoslavia.  From the homeland books I examined I determined that from the time Yugoslavia was under Emperor Josef at least until 1931 the number of Protestants who emigrated increased eightfold.  Germany did not have such a heavy population increase.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 79 Care of bodies     Basic washing was by no means always so natural as it is today.  Two hundred to 300 years ago many princes still did not have bathing equipment, especially wash basins to use which were often as small as a salad bowl.  The distinguished ladies formerly frequently covered up the dirt with powder and then ignored the fermentation and spread a terrible smell.  From that time comes the term “stink vornehm” (distinguished stink).  About the soldier king Friedrich Wilhelm I (time of rule 1713 to 1740)  as was already mentioned, did not suffer from the often bad smelling wig which was usual in his time and he washed himself daily at the well without a shirt.  One must take into consideration, if one asks, why I keep bringing it up, digressing a few words about the care of the body in Beschka.    Very few people in Beschka had a bathroom.  Instead many had a portable bathtub.  However, at least a washtub existed in every German house, and with this aid the whole body was regularly washed.  Infants were regularly bathed daily.  For soap they used soap they cooked at home themselves from inferior pig fat.  Essentially only the well-to-do used factory made soap.  In an emergency potash was also used which one made by pouring water over wood ash and after a few times it filtered off.    At the time of the settlement  the man wore plaits.  So today’s ‘Beatles’ hairstyle is by no means something essentially new.  The beard was at the time of settlement not generally customary, but by no means infrequent.  Later a mustache was generally customary in Beschka.    These styles lasted until the people fled.  The “Herrschen” (men) had their mustaches shaved three times a week by the “Barbier” (barber) after World War I.  Few shaved themselves.  Up until World War I full beards were still occasionally in style.    The women in Beschka formerly braided their hair in braids which they wore in the “Gretchen” hairstyle or in knots.  The married women formerly wore a bonnet.  Around the year 1925 the bob cut was fashionable with the “imperious” women.  The critics were devastated at first.  However the “bob” cut generally caught on with the women artisans up until 1935.  Also permanent waves were in style at this time.  Before that the girls curled their hair with the curling iron.  The German women in Beschka used no lipstick.  By comparison the Serbian girls used lipstick masterfully.   They used a mercury based hair cream which caused the teeth to turn black and the skin aged early.  Tooth polish was generally not used in Beschka, but there were already some people in Beschka who always used toothpaste and mouthwash.  Many washed their teeth with water and cooking salt.  The teeth were not as a rule polished for health reasons.  Nevertheless, most had good teeth, which is good and can be especially attributed to the vitamin-rich nutrition.  When my father died at age 56, he still had all his teeth.  My mother, on the other hand, had only one tooth when she died at age 62.  Dr. Renner was also active as the dentist in Beschka until 1939.    Every German in Beschka, whether rich or poor, changed his laundry at least once per week.  The laundry was cooked, which was also good against typhus.  In addition rainwater was used, that was collected in a large cistern.  The best clothes were carefully cared for.  At the time before World War I the shoes were polished, which one had to add water (often also only spit).  It was difficult at the time to bring the shoes at the time to a high gloss, but one brushed the shoes so long that they shined like a “precious stone.”  After 1918 the kind of shoe cream... more to come    Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 80 Traffic Matters       The streets of Beschka were originally all unpaved, but so wide that one could comfortably evade the potholes.  Around the turn of the century gravel was placed on the streets from the train station to Krtschedin as well as from the city hall to the mill and in the direction of Maradik.  There were no paved streets.  Therefore they had to be repaired each year.  The unpaved streets could not be driven on after a long wet weather because of the resulting mud.    Around 1935 the Neusatz-India-Belgrade Highway was constructed from concrete.  This ran past Beschka about 2 kilometers away.  Up until 1883, that is until the construction of the railroad lines was the time of the mail carriage in Beschka.  I still remember the “Postweise” (mail route) on the Krtschedin (Markung?)  A letter was delivered to Eimann with the mail carriage from the 12th of February 1832 from the Pfalz to Siwatz on the 26th of March 1832.  With the train the telegraph and the telephone were also introduced to Beschka.  At first only the train station, city hall, and Kniesel’s mill had telephone connections.  Johann Röder had the first radio in Beschka in 1926.  The first “Saba” apparatus? came as well.    At the Berlin Congress they imposed on Serbia to extend the Belgrade-Constantinople railroad in its region.  This extension took place from 1883 on.  Beschka lay in this main stretch of railroad.  Indeed the express trains did not come to Beschka, only the accelerating passenger train.  At the time Beschka had attained a very favorable traffic connection with it.    The motorization in Beschka was very small compared to today’s standards.  In the whole village until the people fled, but never at the same time, there were only about a half dozen autos.  Still, of these there were about two or three motorbikes.  One bicycle was still valued as something special in 1936.  I had experienced at the time that one Serb called out at the sight of a bike-riding woman: “Iju vestica!” (Ach, ach, a witch, rather whore!)    The horse wagon was the most essential means of traffic.  As a wagon there was a basic type which could be rebuilt according to demand.  One only needed the “Lanquitt” that is to extend the connecting piece between the front and rear axles as well as interchange the heads, and already one had a wagon suitable to transport longer objects.  The wood spoke wheels were encased with iron tires which were about 4 centimeters wide which in view of the unpaved roads this was practical.  The decorated “Wagenleitern” (wagon leaders?) were kept by the “Leichse?”  The storage space was balanced by the front “Schragel” and the larger rear “Schragel”.  In front of the wagon most benches were woven with either leather or twigs.  There were also simple hanging seats.  All kinds of seats were removable.  The horses were always seated before the wagon for steering.  To load the wagon with straw, hay, and similar stuff crossbeams (Zwerchholz) were laid over the leaders and these were laid on the supporting beams (Newrstangen).  This created a large surface for loads.  The sheaf wagon was loaded about 3 meters high, and the whole load was tied with two wagon ropes.  It was a point of honor to be able to load a wagon well.  A farmer, whose load slipped, did not care to be laughed at.    Whoever could and wanted to achieve it, kept for himself a “Sandwagon” or “Landauer” besides the guide wagon named, which these wagons only served as personnel transport.  Some Serbs in Beschka had horse-drawn carriages (called a Fiaker in Austria) with a leather top deck.  There were special ones built for festivities such as weddings.  Only the most beautiful horses were used on these occasions.  None of the Germans in Beschka could afford a horse-drawn carriage although several of them had magnificent horses.     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 83 All Kinds of Things    Much wool and hemp was still spun in Beschka until the turn of the century.  Some hemp was also spun in World War I and again in World War II sheeps’ wool was spun, because one received nothing to buy.  The spinning wheel was used for it.  The sheeps’ wool was “geschlumpft”? for the spinning.  This was done with a steel roller of about 1 meter diameter and about 1 meter long.  This roller was densely covered with needle-like teeth.  This rotating roller was supplied with wool which was “gehechelt”? with it and combed in thin sheets between the teeth of the roller until the whole layer was about 10 centimeters.  Through it the wool threads were aligned and cleaned of burrs as well as other dirt.  When the roller was full the wool was torn off.  Now it hung beautifully and cleanly together as a pad and lighter for spinning.  The “Kunkel”? on the spinning wheel was called a “Rockgestell” (skirt stand) by us.  It was only used for hemp.  The name Kunkel itself came from “Rotzkingel”.  Rotzkingel was what one called the boys whose snot hung down just like the surface of the Kunkel.    The hemp was roasted (gerötzt) in the pond, after which it was dried and broken with the “Brech” (break?).  Through this the fibers were detached from the wooden part of the hemp and this was called “Brachhangeln”.  This was burned.  The hemp fibers came in the grater (Ripp).  After the grating came the “Hecheln”?  There were specialists for this and for the grating.  Everything else the farmers made themselves.  However the weaving was also skilled work.    Until in the ‘80’s of the past century the lard light (candle) was used in Beschka.  The lard lamp was technically designed as the eternal light of the Catholic churches.  After that kerosene lamps were used.    The first steam threshing machine was used in 1880.  Before that one threshed with the Göppel? (scythe, sickle?).  Flails were never used.  Until the invention of the Göppel threshing machine the grain was stepped on by the horse, hence the name “Trepplatz” (better yet, stepping place).  The first colonists only mowed the grass with the scythe.  They cut the grain with the sickle.  First when the scythe bow? Was invented one also mowed the grain and indeed was always in the wind direction and with it the grain was beautifully arranged “stain?”, that is, it could be gathered.  The mowing machine sprang up already after the turn of the century.  However their use was forbidden for social reasons during the world economic crisis (1930 to 1936).    The corn was “gereibelt” (grated) (geriwelt – from reiben?) in colonial times by hand.  In each period much less corn was grown than in the time after 1890.  At the time the vineyards were destroyed by the Rebläuse (lice?) while one could devote more to the corn cultivation.  In the time from about 1880 to about 1910 the corn was grated by machine which was driven by manpower and the machine was the size of one to four men.  From 1922 on, that is, with the invention of electric current, the grating machine was gradually introduced which was driven with an electric motor.  For the sunflowers (rebeln?) one used again the gas driven motor independent of the main current.    The grain was ground with the horse mill until the turn of the century in Beschka.  There were two to four of these in the whole village.  One of them was at No. 3 Pavelic Street.   There were no windmills in Beschka.  It’s incomprehensible to me why windmills were not used in Beschka like they were in the Batschka.  There were also two water mills in Beschka of which one belonged to Hemler and the other to Varicak.    Besides them there was a large mill built before World War I according to writings, which burned down in 1916, and then purchased by Philipp Kniesel (vgl. Reg. No. 1023) and rebuilt again.  It had a day’s capacity of 200 double hundred weight of grain and was driven in the beginning by a steam machine, then with the diesel motor.  The Kniesel’s mill was a farm supplier.  On the Danube there was at the time, even yet in the 30’s, a water mill on the Danube.  It’s owner was named Oppermann.  The mill had no great purpose for Beschka since the farmers did not want to drive 5 kilometers to the mill.    To separate the grain from the chaff the windmills were used until the invention of the threshing machine.  Everything that was lighter than the grain was blown away and the rest was sorted through the sieve.  Allegedly the people of Bulke invented and created these windmills.  Already around the turn of the century this work was done better with the “Rattelmaschinen” (from corn campion).  This “Rattel” or Radel machine was the forerunner of the selector?, which was invented after World War I by Andreas Truro (vgl. Reg. No. 2050).  This also stained and until today it is the perfect seed cleaning machine.      In the year 1922 electric current was introduced in Beschka.  The power station was in India.  The current was relatively expensive there because of higher taxes, so it was only used for lighting in the household but was not used in the kitchen.  The current for the household cost 10 Dinar per kilowatt and for the purpose of power cost 1.5 Dinar per kilowatt.  The movie projector? was introduced in Beschka about 1939.  Vacuum cleaners and washing machines were unknown in Beschka.    In colonial times plows made of wood were used and only the (Schar?) was made of iron, which was (eingekeilt?)  The farmers always took a hatchet with them for this purpose.  Iron plows came about 1860.  At the time the people fled two (scharige?) iron plows were already used.  The most popular plow came from the Eberhard Company in Ulm.  The “Dornenschleife”? (thorn bow) was also used for field cultivation still during World War I, which after that was replaced with a bow of iron.  Seeding was done by hand exclusively in the 1900’s.  After that a sowing machine was used,  although occasionally it was still sown by hand.  The wine grapes were formerly stomped with the feet.  Later there were naturally mills and presses for this.  Sauerkraut was shredded in each house and stomped by the children with clean washed feet.  It was all covered with clean linen and weighed down with a “Kraut” stone laid on a small board (about 10 kg).  Later a manufactured turning wood screw was used for this.      In each house they made noodles themselves.  The dough was rolled out with a wooden roller “Wäljerholz ausgewäljert” on the noodle board.  Then it was left to dry for about an hour and then finally cut with a sharp knife.    They also baked the bread themselves.  To dry the dough a sourdough basket was used.  It was a hand deep, round basket with about a one meter diameter.  After each bread baking a handful of dough was mixed with bran, dried, and finely grated.  That made housewives independent of yeast, which was called Germ or Zeuch by us.    For the preparation and the kneading of the dough the baking “multer”? was used.  The small baking basket.  The small baking basket was made of corn husks (Liesch).  In it about 5 kilograms of hard loaves of bread were laid.  The baking cross served to set up the finely meshed sieve to filter the sourdough that was softened with water before the bread baking.  The sieve was also formerly used to pass tomatoes through.  Later a tomato strainer was used which the radio broadcasting specialist Konrad from Szabadka (Subotica) patented after World War I.  With this tomato strainer the tomatoes were crushed with the wood roller with the hand grips in the appropriate container with the perforated aluminum sheet and the tomato pulp was squeezed through the holes of this sheet.  The tomatoes were called “Paradies” (paradise) by us, just like Paradies apples.    Naturally people also did the slaughtering themselves.  The slaughtered pigs were hung up to be gutted on the “Hasenholz” (rabbit wood).  Almost every farmer could do this.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents   The Economy   88 Agriculture From 1784 of Parent Communities in the Batschka The Agriculture from 1784 on in the Mother Communities in the Batschka    The first colonists in our mother communities cultivated fruit (wheat), Halbfrucht / half fruit (wheat and rye mixed), oats, hemp, very little corn, potatoes, and other vegetables.  The wine cultivation was forbidden in the beginning.  The rye cultivation was soon given up because the wheat paid better. Here I would also like to mention that the rye, especially the Hungarian, because of the ergot (mother grains) in the first six months after the harvest were very poisonous. (further information by Walter Hückel: Lecture about the pharmaceutical chemistry and drug synthesis, 1954 issue.)  This may well be the reason for the expression in the proverb: The first had the death, the second had the need, and the third had the bread.  I accepted that the settlers during the first two years used more rye meal either from general need or at least from thrift, especially shortly after the harvest, than in the later years and the old established ways, which already had fat and meat from their own production.  This theory was confirmed by a statement on page 74 of the book “The German Colonist” by Eimann.  There it was reported that two judges (mayors) were lost in Siwatz in the time from July to August 1786, so it was immediately after the rye harvest (28th of June).   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 88 The Farming Economy in Beschka in 1860    As already mentioned the farmers of the Batschka around the year 1860 could neither buy affordable fields in the mother communities nor in the Batschka daughter communities.  The small farmer could therefore only improve matters by moving away to the backward regions of the Syrmia.  It was not easy for anyone to move to Syrmia which at the time had very rough customs.  The settler who moved was also often ridiculed by those who remained.  When one for example managed his finances badly, one said to him, “Dem sei Deichsel zeigt schun uf Kerschetin.”    Still in the year 1927 my uncle said to me as I decided to go to Beschka: “Geh, laß das liederliche Srem gehn!” (“Go, let youself go to the slovenly Syrmia!”) (My uncle knew Beschka and Krtschedin since 1887.)  To understand this situation one must know the development of the field prices.   Field prices in Jarek (20 km in a straight line from Beschka) in the years: 1791                                                            everything free of charge    1819   2 yokes, 480 Guilders  -                             ie. 240 Guilders per yoke 1820   1.5 yokes,  230 Guilders  -                        ie. 153 Guilders per yoke 1820   1 yoke,                                                 150 Guilders 1820   10 yokes, 1500 Guilders -                 ie. 150 Guilders per yoke 1821   3 1/8 yoke, 4000 Guilders -                ie. 1280 Guilders per yoke Field prices in the years:  (Source: Scherer) 1859   100 yokes (bush), 60 – 80 Guilders per yoke, averaging 70 Guilders – 10 dz  1890   180-200 Guilders per yoke, averaging 100 Guilders – 27 dz  1897   280-320 Guilders per yoke, averaging 300 Guilders – 42 dz  1907   530 Guilders per yoke, averaging 630 Guilders – 90 dz    The list shows that the field prices in the course of 48 years climbed about 9 times.  In the same time the wheat price remained rather constant at about 7 Guilders per double hundred weight.  In the time after 1907 the field was no longer so expensive.  I remember that Johann Huber bought the Sauer field in 1928 and paid 16,000 Dinar per yoke for it.  At the time the wheat price amounted to about 300 Dinar per double hundred weight, so that Huber converted it so that 53 double hundred weight of wheat had to be paid per yoke of field.  I purchased my vineyard in 1928 for 24,000 Dinar together with the harvest, that is converting 136.8 double hundred weight of wheat per yoke.  In 1934 I purchased the “Postweise” (postal route?)  The purchase price amounted to the conversion of 60 double hundred weight of wheat per yoke.    For the German colonists there was during the military border not only the possibility, through the purchase of a field or the acquisition of the whole courtyard, but also the further possibility to “einkommunieren?” themselves in a “Kommunionen?”.  To make it clear how the “Einkommunieren” went, I would like to cite the following from the Krtschedin homeland book’s “Einkonskribierungs document”, where I have included some comments in brackets: No. 870 (the number is a file number) Beschka Company No. 12   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 92 The Wine Growing (vineyards)     The wine cultivation in Beschka was very important.  Friedrich Scherer (vgl. Reg. No. 1630) reported that after the grapevines were destroyed in 1890 by the grapevine louse, the farmers, on the advise of Rev. Gretzmacher, took the wild American grapevines (Manticula and Portalis) and grafted them onto the noble European grapevines.  These grapevine stocks proved themselves to be resistant to the grapevine louse and the wine cultivation blossomed in Beschka again.  According to papers by Peter Ewinger (vgl. Reg. No. 458) about 13,000 hectoliters of wine was produced which accoding to today’s standards is worth about 2.6 million Deutsch Marks.  Besides that about 1000 hectoliters of Treberschnaps (schnaps made from the skins of grapes) could be distilled annually.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 92 Fruit and Arable Crops    Besides grapevines there were apples, pears, Weichsel (sour cherries), apricots, peaches, Ringlo (greengage), Zwetschgen  (Quetsche – squash?), raspberries, gooseberries, redcurrents (Ribisl), strawberries, almonds, and walnuts planted in the house gardens, vineyards, and the yards for their own needs.  Surpluses were sold or distilled for peach or sour cherry schnaps.    Along the streets and in the yards there were mulberry trees, which were planted under Maria Theresia for the silkworm breeding.  After World War I the silkworms were no longer bred in Beschka, but rather about 20,000 liters of schnaps was distilled from the mulberry trees annually.    Friedrich Scherer reported further (vgl. Reg. No. 630) that in Beschka the cultivation of corn from the year 1890 on always increased more.  At the time the people fled about 40 percent of the field surface was cultivated with corn.  They were back to growing sugar beets for it.  Lentil was grown as a nitrogen collector to improve the ground and for feed purposes.  Anton Bobosch (vgl. Reg. No. 219) reported to me that in the year before the people fled 40,000 double hundred weight of wheat was threshed with nine threshing machines in the course of six weeks in Beschka.  This corresponded to a worth of 1.5 million Deutsch Marks.  The yoke yields in wheat lay between 12 double hundred weight on leased fields and up to 22 double hundred weight on the best fields.  How high the harvest yields were at the time of settlement was not reported in any of the homeland books checked by me.  In the Torschau homeland book it is written down however, that in the year 1847, a good harvest year, a total of 17,025 Preßburger Metzen were harvested and were left with 3,394 Metzen as seed.  From this we can approximately calculate the yoke yield.  The relationship between total yield and the seeds left over amounts to 1 to 5, considering that at the time about 120 kg. of wheat per yoke was seeded by hand, so it followed that the yoke yield at the time was about 5 times 120 kg. equal to 600 kg. of wheat had to be set.  For the year 1864 – a year when the harvest was destroyed by hail – the following yoke yields are given in the Torschau homeland book:    wheat 16 Preßburger Metzen per yoke = 7.44 dz      oats    22 Preßburger Metzen per yoke = 6.82 dz    corn   15 Preßburger Metzen per yoke = 6.97 dz    The above double hundred number (dz) I calculated.  A Preßburger Metzen has 62 liters.  The hectoliter weight of wheat and corn is about 75 kg. and that of oats is 50 kg. , so that a conversion is possible.  The statements provided show that in Torschau at the time from 1847 to 1864 a considerable increase in the wheat yields was entered, and that little corn was harvested.  One can derive from it that the relationship in Beschka was just the same.  So the wheat yields have increased from about 5 double hundred weight per yoke at the time of settlement to from 12 to 22 double hundred weight per yoke when the people fled.  This progress was not the result of greater diligence because the settlers were just as diligent as we are, but is based on the use of artificial fertilizer, on better plows, on the Hackpflug (hoe plow?), on the seed cleaning machines, and so forth.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 94 Livestock Keeping      In the years before the people fled mainly horses were used as draft animals.  There were about 800 horses in Beschka before the people fled and  indeed very capable, beautiful Arabian and Nonius were kept.  At the  time of settlement oxen were also used as draft animals.  Cows were never harnassed as draft animals.  About up to the year 1922 bulldogs were also used, however mainly to drive the threshing machines and only for field cultivation.  Up to the turn of the century the white Hungarian horned cattle.  With these the oxen were indeed good, but the dairy cows were bad, so they gradually switched over to the Swiss horned cattle.  The milk output of a cow which was freshly milked was about 17 liters a day.  The cows were driven to the “Kuhhalt” (cow hold) by the “Kuhhalter” (cow keeper).  In the cow hold the cows were also “gestiert”?  This event was announced to the farmer for which he received a schnaps.  The farmer marked the event on the calendar.  At the time the people fled there were about 1000 cows in Beschka.      Pigs were kept by all households for slaughtering as well as for supply.  Until the turn of the century predominantly the frizzy haired Hungarian race was kept, called the Mangolica.  After that they went more for the black, the so-called Pfeiffer” race which were bred nearby on the Gladnos property by Baron Pfeiffer.  The Mangolica was a small pronounced lard race.  The Pfeiffer provided more meat.      The breeding sow was called “Los” by us.  They were driven to the “Sauhalt” (sow keep) by the “Sauhalter” (sow keeper) daily.  There were also community boars.  When the “Sauhalter” (sow keeper) announced the boar the “rollige Los rollte” to the farmer, the farmer received a schnaps and marked it on the calendar just like the cow.  The sow keeper and the cow keeper were employed by the community and indeed there was one per street.  These were driven through the streets and made themselves noticeable with a primitive zinc metal trumpet and a cracking whip.  The farmers simply let the livestock out on the street where the sow keeper and the cow keeper took over.  Per head of population about 80 kilograms of the pigs were slaughtered annually in the home.  In addition to this there was the slaughtering by the butcher.  The pigs were fattened by corn.  The slaughter weight lay between 120 and 150 kilograms.  A castrated male pig was called a “Barch” by us (from Barge).  The specialist, who neutered the female pig was called a “Gelser”.  For Beschka the Gelser responsible was a Hungarian man from Slankamen.      In each household chickens were kept.  The egg money was the savings of the housewife, and indeed by all occupations.  The “Kluck” (chicks) were hatched in each house from the month of March each year.  From a particular brood there were at least 20, but for the farmers there were far more laying hens for the egg supply to be reared.  Other poultry were slaughtered and a huge number were prepared to eat.  Also from the brood a competent “Hohn” (rooster) was selected to breed, then when the rooster was well “raierte” (from Reiher), many “Hinglchr” (chicks?) hatched out.  Occasionally there were also breeding machines.      The breeding of ducks and geese depended less on the availability of water than on the amount of the daughter’s linen because each mother, whether poor or rich, provided in time bed feathers for the daughter’s trousseau.  For the slaughter the geese and ducks were “gestopft”, ie. force fed (stuffed), in which one pressed the feed into the beak so far until the crop was nicely bulging.  Turkeys stuffed with walnuts were valued as a special delicacy.      Sheep were essentially kept only by the Serbs.  The Germans kept sheep in numbers worth mentioning only in war times to provide them with wool.  Woolen socks and stockings as well as shawls and “Pätschkercher” (from Hungarian bocskor – light shoes) knitted themselves.      Recently wild animals consisted of rabbits, wild ducks, quail, wild geese, badgers, and foxes.  Once a roebuck got lost on Danube Island.  There were still wolves at the beginning of the 19th century.  Wild animals which were not hunted were the hamster (called “Kritsche” from cricetus, there were 1,935 hamsters massed together, 42 hamsters on 6 yokes), polecats, weasels, field mice, crows, larks, jackdaws, orioles (Goldamschel), three to five pairs of storks, owls, buzzards; in the 19th century there were also eagles, house swallows, smoky swallows, as well as sparrows.  In the winter songbirds also came to Beschka from the distant forests.  In May there were also cuckoos.      In the Danube there was carp, catfish weighing up to 150 kilograms, pike, and other fish.  The catfish were called “Schadel” by us.  In Austria they were called “Waller”.  The infrequent example of a 150 kilogram catfish was injured by a ship’s paddle wheel around 1870 and then caught.      In the few swamps lived an enormous amount of frogs, which gave a beautiful concert each evening.  On the Danube Island the Gelsen (mosquitoes) are troublesome.  Common houseflies were the plague of the land.  Crickets could be troublesome in vineyards at night.  There were always fleas, but during World War II they were the plague of the land which were mistakenly warded off because people didn’t know they increase in down trodden stable dung.  Lice could only be received from the environment and indeed there were three kinds (head, clothing, and felt).  There were bugs only in the cities.  There were no longer any poisonous snakes.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 96 The Day Worker    The poor citizens of Beschka  had to go to work as day workers mainly for the farmers and to a small extent for the craftsmen. For them the main work time was during the harvest from July to September.  One man together with his wife earned in the harvest time in a 16 hour work day as Rießar (Hungarian resz = part) about 100 kilograms of wheat or 100 kilograms of corn, then they received a twelfth part of the harvest.  Thanks to the wine cultivation from the time the snow melted until the first new snow work always existed.  Outside of the harvest time a day worker at a 12 hour work day earned the equivalent of about 20 kilograms of wheat.  This was certainly small but a capable housewife refined 20 kilograms of wheat into 20 kilograms of bread.  So the need did not occur so long as a day worker family was capable of working.  Those of little means may have sometimes been the chef, but there was never any famine as in the industrial lands.    In Germany there was a hunger catastrophe before and after the migration of our ancestors every 20 to 30 years.  According to the Krtschedin homeland book the year 1864 was a needy year there.  In Beschka it may have been exactly the same.  For the day worker there was no health or old age insurance.  They had to work until their old age and they were assigned to be supported by their children.  Almost all already had their own house.  The old women made themselves useful at the spinning wheel or cared for the grandchildren and great grandchildren so that the young could work.  No wonder that the sense of family was very high.  The situation of the day worker has actually not changed with the times since 150 years before the people fled.  Eimann reported that a day worker in the year 1784 earned 9 Kreuzer per day.  At the time 1 Pester Metzen (95 liters = about 72 kilograms of wheat) seldom cost over 1 Guilder, often only 45 Kreuzer, so that the day’s wage at the most favorable wheat price of 45 Kreuzer converted amounted to 14.5 kilograms of wheat.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 97 The Crafts      As reported in the personnel register that follows a great number of craftsmen were active.  Their ability was great, but unfortunately not the number and the will of the customers.  One can say without exaggeration that our craftsmen fulfilled the highest titles.  Machines did not stand next to them at their disposal.  Electric motors were first gradually introduced after the year 1922.  Now more craftsmen in Beschka use motorized plane machines, circular saws, gang saws, and certainly still other machines I no longer remember today. However there were no electric welding appliances, but each apprentice had to learn the function of a welding appliance in vocational school.  By comparison several craftsmen already had Autogen? welding appliances.  Our welder could weld the thinnest iron in a coal fire without burning it.  The aushärten? (hardness) of steel was recognized by the color and was cooled at the right moment.  This was done in a fraction of seconds.  The Kniesel’s Mill had a cylindrical corrugated machine.  The mill foreman Schiller (vgl. Register number   ) learned to calculate with logarithms for those they served until his old age.  Such eagerness to learn was widespread among the craftsmen.  They solved difficult problems without specialized training, unlike today where specialized engineers are trained to do the same.  In emergencies they were given “coaching” by students and teachers.  Building contractor Beck (vgl. register number 97) was familiar with advanced mathematics.  Inlaid work (Intarsien) and carving were not a problem for our cabinetry worker.  The “Viennese furniture” could also be manufactured in Beschka.    The following occupational terms were used by us: Fleischhacker = butcher; Tischler = joiner/ cabinetry worker; Spengler, Klampfner = plumber; Binder, Faßbinder = cooper; Barbier = barber.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 98 Industry      The most meaningful industry in Beschka was Kniesel’s motorized mill which was driven by Sauggas?, which was already reported to have a daily capacity of 200 double hundred weight of fruit supplied from the farm.  Besides that there were three round brick ovens which however were not employed with machine power.  The bricks predominantly supplied Belgrade for an ice rink.  J. Strecker, 24 Pavelic Street, established a knitting and weaving factory which was sold after his death in 1928 to Paul Weiß, a Jew who brought the factory into full swing.  Paul Weiß died before World War II.  His heir Katona and his wife were abducted in the war by the Ustaschas in connection with the Jewish persecution at the time.  The fortunes of 121-123 Eisenbahn Street were seized by the Croatian state and administered by a marine officer.    The Kniesel Brothers and Friedrich Dietrich enriched the neighborhood community of India with two large businesses.  The Kniesel brothers built a new mill in India about 1935.  Friedrich Dietrich married the daughter of the successful furrier Knebel in India.  From this connection of the competent salesman with the just as competent furrier existed a meaningful enterprise in which furs and parachutes were produced.  Dietrich had a new factory built in Austria after he fled in which he has 500 employees working today.  Austria honored him with the appointment to the commerce council.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 99 Currencies from 1784 to 1945    In the year 1784 the Gulden (guilder) was the means of payment and indeed the guilder was Viennese currency (W.W.) or Austrian currency (ö.W.)In addition it is also noticed that at the time almost all of the larger cities minted their own money.  (The second most well-known guilder was called Rhine currency.)  The guilder currency was subdivided: 1 guilder = 60 Kreuzer (abbreviated kr or x); 1 Kreuzer = 4 Denar (not Dinar).  One guilder corresponds to two thirds Reichstaler.  One Taler = 32 and later 30 Groschen.  The guilder was always worthless from about the year 1796 in connection with the Turkish wars and above all with the Napoleonic wars.  At the time  there were 1,060,798,750 paper guilders in circulation, which in the year 1811 were exchanged for redemption certificates.  One received 250 guilders in redemption certificates for 1250 guilders, and one year later one received anticipation certificates for 100 guilders for the 250 redemption certificates.  So it remained worth at a high of 8 percent of its former worth.  At the same time the wheat price rose about 5 times, so that the actual inflation rate of a money’s worth caused by under 8 percent of the former worth.  The second inflation for the mother community was in 1848/1849 as the rebel government Kossuth issued its own paper money which was worthless after the rebellion was crushed.    After the Kossuth rebellion the Serbian autonomous region of Vojvodina issued its own money, which after the dissolution of Vojvodina the guilders were exchanged one for one.  The old guilders were exchanged for new Austrian guilders in the year 1857 and the exchange rate was 100 to 105.  The new Austrian Florentiner (n.ö.fl.) no longer contained 60, but 100 Kreuzer.  Four new Austrian florints weighed 3.22 grams, of which 2.90 grams was fine gold.  In December 1968 a gram bar of fine gold cost 5.12 Deutsch Mark so that the gold’s worth of the guilders amounted to 3.712 DM.  The total worth of the guilders was naturally far above that.    In the year 1900 the guilder currency was changed to Kronen (crown).  The crown was subdivided into 100 Heller.  The name Heller comes from the city Schwäbisch Hall where the Heller (Haller) was formerly minted.  However long after the introduction of the crown the farmers still calculated in guilders in which one simply divided the crown’s worth in half.  The 10 crown piece was the smallest gold money.  It strongly resembled the Heller which is why it was changed slightly so that one could most likely be quickly changed.  The value of the paper money was printed in all languages of the Danube monarchy.  In World War I the gold crown piece was hoarded.  But the paper money did nevertheless keep considerable value.  I could pay for my quarters with 1000 crowns from fall to Christmas 1919.  In November 1919 the gold was stamped and with it 20 percent in the way of an obligatory loan was collected.  This obligatory loan was at no time paid back.  There were Dinars until 1921 which were subdivided into 100 Para.  The exchange rate was 1 Dinar to 4 crowns, although the purchase power of the Dinar was rather worse than the crown.  This conversion from crowns to Dinar as a consequence of World War I brought a loss in the value of the money to a high of 8 percent, namely 100 crowns minus a 20 crowns obligatory loan = 80 crowns, for which one received 20 Dinar.  But the remaining 20 Dinar did not have the purchase power of 20 pre-war crowns.  In addition the following example is provided as an illustration: With 1000 crowns one could pay for the food and quarters for a student:    in the year 1914 for 1000 days,    in the year 1917/18 for 500 days,    in the year 1919 for 120 days,    in the year 1921 for 36 days.     (200 Dinar for 1000 crowns.) – So the dwindling purchase power from 1914 to 1921 let the value of the money fall to about 3.6 percent.    In the border regions and in Baja, which was possessed by Yugoslavia until 1921, the money of the installed communist republic still turned up under Kun Bela, which was looked at as just the same as the old Kronen money.  One could only recognize it by the new color and by the first digit (7), the serial number.  It was also provided with a forged stamp for the obligatory loan.  The money of the communist council republic in Yugoslavia was naturally worthless.  The “Studenten”, the name given to the students in continuing education school, knew how to help themselves when someone palmed off a “hetes forint” on them.  They spread their gold certificates on the floor in the boarding school and danced for a long time to the sounds of the czardas (organ in the student band), until the money certificates looked ancient and could be brought to the man again.    In the year 1941 the Dinar were exchanged 1 for 1 in Kuna (for German Marder?), which were named for this reason, because the Croatians in ancient cases of Marder? were used as the means of payment.  The Kuna was subdivided into 100 Banica.  To illustrate the purchase power of this money I would like to mention that for the Christmas celebration of 1941-42 I had to pay 4000 Kuna for an Olympia typewriter and 16,000 Kuna for a Siemens narrow gauge film projector.  As already mentioned I bought these appliances for the school.  For a while during the war the Reichsmark was used as the means of payment.  The official price was 20 Kuna = 1 Reichsmark.  The purchase power of the Kuna quickly grew worse, and the price rose immensely.  In 1943 I had to pay 80,000 Kuna for a cow.  My last monthly salary in November 1944 amounted to 150,000 Kuna.  All people of Beschka who had sold something shortly before they fled had enough money because the Kuna until the end of the war was exchanged at a rate of 20 Kuna to 1 Reichsmark.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 102 Measurements ~ Weight standards    In 1874 the metric system was also introduced in Beschka.   Field measure, wood trade, and screw threads were however still measured in fathoms.     1 fathom = 6 feet (shoe) = 72 Viennese inches = 185.2 cm    1 world sea mile = 1 wide minute? = 1000 fathoms = 1852 meters 1 geographic mile = 4 sea miles = 7420.44 meters (12.44 meters too much)    1 Elle (old tailor’s measure) = about 66.7 cm  The field sizes were measured in yokes by us.    1 Katastral yoke = 1600 square fathoms    1 square fathom = 36 square feet or square shoes     For load compensation in Germany the square feet were rounded off to 0.1 square meters and the square fathom was rounded off to 3.6 square meters.  The exact measurement of the first is 0.09511056 square meters and the last is 3.46398016 square meters.  The difference in yokes was already noticeable because the compensation office calculated 57.55 ar per yoke although the yoke only had 55.42 ar.     The firewood was measured in fathoms.    1 fathom of firewood = 1 on 2 x 2 meters = 4 room meters     Old empty measures for grain were:     1 Pester Metzen = 6 Meritze = 60 Oka = about 93 liters = about 72 kg of grain    1 Preßburger Metzen = 4 Meritze = 40 Oka = about 62 liters = about 48 kg. of grain    1 Oka = about 1.55 liters = about 2 pounds to 560 grams (old pound) of grain    1 Viennese Metzen = 61.481 liters (grain about 47.5 kg.)     Since 1874 weights were also measured by the metric system in grams.  Old units of weight were the pound, the 32 Lot in the beginning and later corresponding to 30 Lot.  From Lot (about 18 g) remains only the proverb: “Friends in need go far on a Lot.”  The “pound” is still usually used for a weight of 500 grams in Germany.  The unit of weight pound was not used by us.  The double hundred weight was called meter hundred weight by us, for which the abbreviation “q” was used.  Large grain deliveries were calculated in railroad cars, and indeed one car corresponded to 100 meter hundred weight.  In reality one railroad car contained 20 tons.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 103 The Prices up to 1820     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 104 The Social Product in the Year 1798       Thanks to the excellent Liebling homeland book where there was a mother community similar to ours, one can calculate the social product of a family.  On page 49 of the named book it is written: “In 1798 the Zehent? (tithe) in Liebling amounted to 3469 Metzen of grain in the total worth of 2360 guilders.”  From it they produced a total yield of 34, 690 Metzen of grain in the total worth of 23,600 guilders.  Liebling had 104 couples at the time, rounded off to 100 couples.  Now when we divide total yield and total worth by 100, then we come to 346.90 Metzen of grain at a worth of 236 guilders per family.  After Lotz the “Zehend” should have still followed his name since a ninth was already given in.  When that is also so then the total yield is only 31,221 Metzen and the total worth is calculated with 21,240 guilders.  Per family the 312,21 Metzen are worth 212 guilders 24x.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 105 Tax Burden in the Year 1798    The tax burden in the year 1798 set down according to the Liebling homeland book alltogether as follows (converted on the family): From the Zehent 23 guilders, 36 x From the Komitats tax = on fifth of the Zehent 4 guilders, 43 x  28 guilders, 19 x    When we form the basis of a real Zehent from our calculations, they are 12 percent of the income, ro rather 13.33 percent, when we calculate as tax.  So the taxes were also for other products such as vegetables and cattle – even the swarms of bees.  Added to these taxes of the manor and the Komitat (county) also came the taxes for the community, church, and school.  Besides that a “Ganzer Bauer” (complete farmer?) still had 100 days of “Handrobot” (voluntary work) or 52 days of “Zugrobot” (with a horse-drawn cart) and the poorest 6 days voluntary work achieved in the year.  The work converted into money resulted in 9 x per day for the “complete farmers”, 15 guilders and 36 kreuzer, for the poorest 54 kreuzer.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 106 Possibilities & Difficulties for the Free Choice of Career - From the time of Emperor Josef II until the people fled     In the of Josef the II, most Germans in the mother communities were farmers and craftsmen.  They had all their good income and were contented.  The need for German intellectuals was not covered.  Most Protestant pastors were provided by the Evangelical Slovakians and by the Reformed Hungarians.  It may have been similar for the doctors.  Starting in the 19th century a private grammar school, was established in Werbaß, but only a few attended in the beginning.  Gradually more students attended but the need for German intellectuals was never completely met.  There were different reasons for this.     The wealthy person had a certain livelihood for his son, and the poor could not study, because he had to go out to work as well as soon as possible.  Until 1918 all occupations were open to the Donauschwaben, especially when he was “magyarised” (assimilated into the Hungarian culture) (They did not always get opportunities because they were “magyarised” but because they mastered the Hungarian language better.)  It was otherwise after 1918 as our homeland in Yugoslavia fell.  In the occupations paid for by the state only the teacher was certain to get a job, but only seldom was a school principal or school counselor able to get a job.  I know only one German school counselor in Yugoslavia, and he had a Serb for a wife … there was only one official judge? who was already in service before 1918. The others opted to go to Hungary.  The Germans were only employed in the lower ranks in the postal service, railroad, and administration.  In leading positions were at best those who already had the higher ranks in Hungarian times.    The nepotism of the Serbian ruler also applied to the detriment of the Croatians.  For the German intellectuals the only occupations that remained besides the teacher and pastor professions were the “free” occupations such as  doctor, pharmacist, and administrator.  Because of the shortage of enough industries the engineers were also not certain of getting a job.    All of this was the reason why so few attended a continuing education school.  This discrimination was bitter, and one gradually had to live with it.  One accepted all the discrimination and even gave the Serbs the voters voice in 1929 without a grumble.  But the worst allowed the government about 1936 to 1938 to forbid the purchase, lease, and inheritance of properties along 50 kilometers of the border by law for the national minorities.  Beschka lay nevertheless farther from the border, but the mother communities were almost all in this belt.  Some people of Beschka had expected an inheritance in this belt through marriage, which they now had to lose to the Serbs or Croatians.  With luck this law was soon no longer enforced.  When one thinks that all the properties of the owners changed in about 30 years, so did all the Germans and Hungarians within 30 years have to leave the Batschka and had to search for a new livelihood in the interior of Yugoslavia.  They could not have remained as craftsmen because a rented house is in the end also leased.  With this unwise law the government wanted to prevent any border regions to Hungary, Bulgaria, or Italy from being ceded through the people’s vote.  Despite all of this the Germans were not the first “Treulosen” (unloyal), but the Croatians and Slovenians detached themselves already from Yugoslavia on the 4th day of World War II.    The following paragraph nevertheless does not belong to the economy, but still not one reference to the abuses, the same is said that in 1941 Yugoslavia may not have expected any loyalty from the Germans.  The Germans, Croatians, as well as the Serbs did the official oath and the oath of allegiance without exception to the new Croatian government chief.  When someone should think that this change of conviction is not legally permitted because he came to be through power, so the same is said that the change came about also through the power of the winner.  Besides loyalty to the state we also valued loyalty to our own people.  The friendly reader can think about it, as he wants, but I am personally of the opinion that loyalty to the people has priority.  So thought all of my German countrymen and battled shoulder to shoulder with the Germans from the Empire without consideration of the type of German government at the time.  The Serbs could not be foreign to this understanding because they behaved just the same from 1914 to 1918.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 108 Living Together with Other Nationalities in Beschka     Living together with the Serbs in the first colonial period (about from 1860 to 1890) was accompanied with mistrust.  Many times it may have been through language difficulties and the other customs of the Serbs impeded them.  The Germans went out of their way as much as possible often only to avoid feared collisions.  Around 1890 my father was on a visit in Krtschedin, and there came a Serbian wedding procession towards him and his brother-in-laws.  The Serbs led in Kaleschen?, and my father, already somewhat tipsy, placed himself, to the horror of the relatives, in the middle of the street towards them.  The brother-in-laws were not very amazed when they saw how my father was understood by the Serbs. (As someone born in Zsablya he mastered the Serbian language completely.)  The Serbs took my father into the wedding house and entertained him like all the other guests.  So he was a messenger to a small degree between the Serbs and the Germans.  Later these same brother-in-laws of my father entered into a brotherhood with the Serbs. (Christian Wack (Reg, No. 2113) with the father of Mesterovic (Reg. No. 1223A).)  They called themselves “Mein Bruder” (my brother) and “Moj brate.”    So how it was in Krtschedin, it was also in Beschka.  The best proof of the later harmony is the fact that the political community presented the Evangelical and Reformed churches with fields from community property.    The relationship between the Serbs and the Germans was strained in World Wars I and II, but the friendly connections remained individually until the people fled and were kept up after that.    The Germans were always well received by the Hungarians, even during the rebellion year of 1848 and in both World Wars.  The Hungarians of Beschka also took part in the homeland guard during the last World War.  The Germans of Beschka had business connections with the Slovakians in Altpasua.  The conversational language was Serbian.     The Germans came into contact with all people of the Danube monarchy with military service (Austro-Hungarians, Bohemian-Moravians, Bosnians, and Hercegovinians.) and after 1918 also with the Serbians and...   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 109 Living Together with the Different Denominations    With this chapter I don’t want to make any false introduction.  When reading about Rev. Weber’s battles for the rights of the Protestants, we can believe that the Protestants had suffered from the Catholic people.  That is not true.  German Catholics and German Protestants tolerated each other very well in the whole land.  That a shepherd wanted to keep his flock together and thereby fit certain methods is a matter of course and cannot be seen as hostility.    The intolerance came from Croatian nationalism.  But because the Croatians could not operate on national motives considering the Hapsburgs, they resorted to religious motives.  This understanding was substantiated by the fact that the Slovakian Evangelicals remained unbothered   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents  109 Traditions and Customs - Yearly Conditional Customs 111 Traditions and Customs Independent of the Time of Year    After celebrating through the night on Sylvester Night the men went with musical accompaniment to the friend’s house and wished a Happy New Year and ate Schwartenmagen (pig skin?) and drank wine and schnaps.  The children went to the relatives, said a New Year’s wish in rhymes which they learned from the calendar, and received a gift of money.  Standard rhymes were: “I wish, I wish, I know not what, reach in the sack and give me what” or “I wish you a golden table, a baked fish on it, in the center a jug full of wine, so the mister and misses can be jolly” or “Wish, wish, daka, give me some Raka” (Raka from Serbian rakija = schnaps, daka = no meaning, only because it rhymes).    Discriminating children already learned better poem.  My uncle (Reg. No. 1174d) always recognized my diligence with a Tschilasch = Schimmel (white horse) = 20 Heller piece made of white nickel.    In the time from New Year up to Fasching (German carnival) there were balls and the usual dance entertainments.  The married couples danced until midnight.  No girl went to the dance without the accompaniment of her mother.  The mothers sat at the edge of the dance hall, the daughters stood in front of themuntil they were asked to dance.  The boys danced with as many partners as possible and soon the mothers noticed where something developed.  After their introduction the mothers encouraged or restrained the advances of the young people.    From Fasching until Easter there was no dancing.  On Good Friday the old people went to Holy Communion, the young to Easter.    On the first Easter day the children kept the “Easter rabbits” in the garden at first, where they built a nest on Easter Saturday, then by the relatives.  One called this custom “Zammetra’n”, that is Zusammentrage (carry together).  On the second Easter day the boys went splashing the girls, and received flowers for it.  This custom was acquired from the Hungarians and this splashing? should promote fertility.  The Hungarians splashed roughly with buckets while the Germans splashed with little perfume bottles, often only filled with water which were made aromatic beforehand with orange peels.    For Christ’s Ascension the 12 year olds were confirmed.  The girls had to wear white dresses for it, the boys wore blue suits with long pants.  On Whitsunday they went to Holy Communion for the first time.  During Holy Communion the community sang.    From Easter to Peter and Paul there was dancing each Sunday afternoon and in the evening until 12 o’clock.   In between the cattle were cared for.  On the 28th of July the harvest began.  (“Peter and Paul made the roots of the grain rotten.”)  During the harvest time everyone took pleasure at the dances.    They worked from 3 o’clock in the morning until nighttime.  It was 18 to 19 hours of work – almost half of the present day weekly work hours!  After the harvest they danced again until the corn harvest in September.  The destination was the train station where there was always something to see.  Some also went bathing in the Danube.  After the corn harvest there was dancing again until Kathrein?    In October and November the Kirchweih festival was celebrated (in Beschka on the first Sunday after All Saints Day).  The youth from the whole settlement region came there, often from 100 kilometers away, where they became acquainted and learned to love.  From Kathrein on there was no more dancing.  (Kathrein employed music).  In the late fall and winter time was the time for reflection.  They were concerned with the children, telling about the fairy tales, sagas, and proverbs.    In November it was the time of the house slaughtering.  It was often a very jolly time.  Friends were invited in and very many folk songs were sung.  I also still have not mentioned that until the turn of the century the songs and sagas were cared for in the spinning room.    On the evening before St. Nicholas the children polished the shoes very carefully.  Nikolo (St. Nick) placed presents in the shoes at night.  On Christmas Eve the children recited poems, songs, and Nativity play nect to the Christmas tree in the church.  The church was full to bursting on this evening.  The most powerful organ stop “mixture” was so drowned out by the singing crowd that it worked silently and unobtrusively.  After the festival in the church the Christ child came and the fur nickel (Pelz nickel?) came to the children in the house.  There were presents and reminders given with it.  The Christmas tree was missing.  Customs & Courtesies Independent of the Time of Year    Because there is no social insurance for us the relatives must help those in greater need.  The old received upkeep from the children, that was often officially arranged.  If the children could not help, the other relatives helped.  The community only helped in the greatest need.  But I don’t know of a single concrete case where the community had to step in.     When someone used an appliance that he did not own, the people helped each other out.  If this appliance was expensive a rental fee had to be paid for it ( sow machine, wine press, grape mill).  At fires everyone ran to it to rescue and to extinguish it.  People also often helped out free of charge at grape harvests, house slaughtering, and house building.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 112 At Funerals    It is worth mentioning that before there was a hearse it was an honor to be invited to carry the casket.  At the burial there were very many parts to be taken.  It was especially beautiful when the pastor read about the life of the deceased.  One learned to know the relationships of relatives from it.  Some names in the ancestor register in this book are known to me from these courses of life.  Important incidents from the lives of the dead the pastor used in his eulogy with all the skill of a Retoriker? (speaker) and hardly a dry eye remained in the bereaved community.    When the funeral procession went from the house of the dead to the cemetery they closed their shops as soon as it was within hearing distance (when they heard choral singing.)  In some cases the music band also played funeral marches.  One did not go into the church with the coffin.  Everything was carried out of the bereavement house and to the grave.    During both wars a funeral service was also held for the fallen heroes, and nobody did not participate in it.  It was really a people’s community in need, joy, and misery.    On Sundays, one half hour before the church service the men assembled in front of the church and exchanged news.  The women went straight to their seats on the left side of the church, all the way up front were the young girls, in the middle were the young married women, and behind them were the old.  With the men it was reversed.  In the front on the right side in the two special benches sat the presbyters (elders) with the church inspector at the center, then came the seats for the old men and behind them sat the single boys.  But when a stranger did not keep this order, he was not disturbed.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 112 At Weddings    The weddings were the greatest family parties.  According to their wealth, more or less guests were invited.  The weddings as a rule held in the village of the bride.  Food, drinks, and cakes were donated by the invited, so that even the poorer could organize a large party.  The bride was picked up by the groom, the wedding party, and all the guests and led to the church.    After the wedding vows everyone went either to the wedding house or the guesthouse (inn).  The bride dance presented the bride to the groom and after some turns the bride was offered to dance by the best man and the groom danced with the maid of honor.  Each change lasted about a half minute, until all of the guests had a turn with the bride and groom.    With mixed couples the vows were done in the church of the bride, and the children were raised in the religion of the man (boys and girls alike).  In this way the religion remained connected to the name bearer, that is, all the same name bearers had the same religion, whether they lived in Beschka or elsewhere.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 114 The Cultural Life    About the cultural life something has already been written under the chapter “Associations” and indeed from the time after 1900.  About the cultural life from Emperor Josef’s time one can certainly say that the folksongs as well as the fairy tales and sagas were passed on to the younger generation.  The cultural connection to the motherland is never broken off, because there were also such songs known which were first written and composed after Emperor Josef’s time (“Auf der Lüneburger Heide” (On the Lüneburg Heath), “In Mantua in Banden, der Treue Hofer saß” (In Mantua in bonds, the loyal courtiers sat), “Am Brunnen vor dem Tore” (At the fountains in front of the gates), and so forth.     It cannot be my task to write about all of our own poets from the whole settlement region.  Here it can only be said that we also had poets in our settlement region who went into literature history.  We also had painters, musicians, and other artists who became world famous; often they would be known as Hungarians.  Pioneering scientists were not missing either.  I only want to say so much here, that we are proud of these people and that strengthened our success and self consciousness.  Whoever wants to know more about it will already find the way to receive the relevant literature about it.  One tip I would like to give: In the “House of the Donauschwaben” in Sindelfingen one can find an advisor for each time period.    Now back to the cultural life in the village.  What the old read about 1800 cannot be completely listed.  Certainly each house at least had a Bible, songbook, and a calendar.  Eimann gave his newspaper, which he had subscribed to his acquaintances as well. (from Eimann’s letter from the 15th of April 1832, collected by Friedrich Lotz: “He visited me each week … I gave him a sheet full from the newspaper … it was a joy to give something of such caliber.”)    Books were also read because Eimann could press and set up a book.  Naturally still more books and newspapers were read by some farmers, only I am missing the papers.  There were also printing presses in several villages, only I do not know from what year.  Eimann’s books were printed in Budapest in 1822 and bound in Apatin.  With certainty I can say that after 1900 there were printing presses in Apatin, Tscherwenka, Neuwerebaß, Zsablya, India, and there were two rotating machines in Neusatz.    The number of printing presses is not exhausted with this.  It is only from the narrow surroundings which established the mainly German printing reports.  One can picture from this that there were enough readers.  The homeland books which recently appeared in some at each jubilee went in many homes because usually it was not worth it for them to print it themselves.  In the last period in some homes in Beschka there was a library filled with 500 volumes or more.   The  “Deutsche Volksblatt” (German People’s Paper) (20,000 copies per edition) appeared in Neusatz seven times a week and was subscribed by 80 people in Beschka (source: Ewinger, Reg. No. 462), son-in-law of newspaper deliverer Sawitsch (Reg. No. 1607).  Besides that some subscribed to the “Werbaßer Zeitung” (Werbaß Newspaper), a weekly paper in definite numbers.  Ten to twenty beekeepers read the “Jugoslawischen Imker” (Yugoslavian Beekeeper) from Neuwerbaß.  Certainly there were still other printed pieces which were read in Beschka.    Also to be mentioned is that books and newspapers were often passed on so the number of readers increased.  Also Serbian printed materials were read by the Germans.  I also remember that there was a humorous satire paper, “Die Wespe” (The Wasp).  This paper also found readers in Beschka.  Certainly there were still other printed materials which I did not name, but this listing is enough to form a picture of the people’s culture.    The spoken word everyone heard from the linguistically highly trained pastors.  So Hochdeutsch (high German) was not foreign to any people of Beschka because he also spoke all day in his dialect.    There were plenty of music lovers for a small community.  There were two professional bands.  For each period there were people who could play a keyboard instrument such as the organ, harmonium, or piano and accordion.  Besides the teachers there were at least 10 to 15 people who could play an organ or harmonium.  The violin was also played rather well by several people.    Friedrich Beck concerned himself with painting and probably others as well.  Rev. Jung also wrote poetry on occasion and the salesman Andreas Thuro (Reg. No. 2050) had a large collection of poetry, of which I have some here.    The  first radio was introduced in the year 1926 by Johann Röder (Reg. No. 1567).  In 1927 four Saba apparatus came as well.  It was still battery operated.  Reception was very good.  Many homes already had radio when the people fled.  Before World War I there were playhouses only in the cities.  Movies came to the cities in 1929 and about 1939 also to Beschka.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 116 Three Poems 119 Song of the Colonists by Andreas Thuro, Sr. At the plow I learned to go, The need taught me to stand Through the duty I came in walking… with the view in the distance. The day brings me only plagues, the night secretly gnawing and the hunger at the threshold, and the thirst my companion…  The seed grows so poorly for me, the mower throws so terribly and the disaster in the clouds loaded with weeds. The song goes in rounds, the torment crowns me on the hour, there the fate is in doses- and the way leads to the grave. Windmill Grinds Sun shines, Winds blow, Mill grinds, Winds go, Swing wide, Rustle, wave far, Lured by the many winds, Spellbinding in the roundabout play, Serving in the yoke, they work, prevail. Long hours, busily turn, Grinding delay, Hesitate – rear up When it became red far in the evening, Hurry away the wind trotting… Leave the mill standing, alone… It’s free, restrained, And listen in the silent twilight And dream… Round tower Powerful wings Stand in the storm On the hill, Dark night Darkness has power: Roaring up from the valley and gorge, Storm the night with fantastic force; Wrestling wings, groaning, Storm-tossed owls hoot; Break – bend, Drag – rock; Finally whirl away the round dance – Timidly creeps near the silence… In the bosom of the night the storm varies. The morning rewards The mill hums her ancient song- For bread…   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 120 The Dialect    The Beschka dialect was like the dialect in the mother communities in the Batschka.  An essential feature of this dialect was the pronunciation of the sound “ei”.  They count: eens, zwee, drei.  Who in high German can differentiate these two types of “ei” will know with every word how we pronounce it.  Here exists a legality, and one counts ans, zwa, drei, then he can not be from the mother communities of the Batschka.  Although there are also many Swabians among us, nobody counts ois, zwoi, drei.    With the other vowels I could not find these legalities.  “A” was often changed to “o”, but not always.  For example: da – “da” was sometimes “do”, Nachmittag – Namittag (without ch), often Nomittag, and even the “o” was sometimes still changed to Numittag.  In the word “Tag”, the “a” always remained unchanged.    The vowel “e” was always correctly pronounced in the dialect, that is where the “e” should be.  The fact that “Einwohner” was always said “Inwohner”, nothing changed in it.    The vowel “i” was sometimes pronounced as “e”.  For example: Kirche – Kerch, Stirn – Stern.  Because “i” was often changed to “e” an uncertainty sometimes existed in high German.  For example Kerze (candle) was spoken well in the dialect and was first changed to “Kirze” in high German.  But that happened very seldom.     The vowel “o” was changed to “u”.  For example “komm” became “kumm”, “Konrad” became “Kunrad”.  Very often “o” remained unchanged: die Woche = die Woch.  Sometimes “o” was changed to “a”: guten Morgen = gutmarje, but also often gutmorje.    The vowel “u” remained unchanged.  Seldom was it changed to “o”.  For example Wurst = Worscht, or even Warscht.    The umlaut was always pronounced in the dialect like e and i.  Oddly enough though they had no difficulty with ö and ü in school, and the same was true for the double sounds eu, ai, äu.  They were already correctly pronounced in reading in the first year of school.  “Ä” was also pronounced correctly in the dialect in Kleinker, but mostly like “e”.    The so-called hard middle sounds “r” and “p” were as a rule well pronounced, thereby always still sounding with an “h”.  For example: Ich khann die Khann hewe = Ich kann die Kanne heben.    The soft middle sound b, d, g were pronounced somewhat harder, but never sounded with an “h”, as is the case with hard sounds.  “B” is often changed to “w”.  For example: Barbier became Balwerer, or Haber became Hawer or Hafer.  “St” and “sp” were pronounced like “scht” and “schp”, but never ending s or ß with t to scht.    The articles were abbreviated: der = dr, die = die, das = ‘s.  The demonstrative pronoun remained unabbreviated: der = der, die = die, das = des.  The conjunction „daß“ remained unchanged.    The verbs had no first tense, except the verbs tun, haben, wollen, and perhaps a few others with whose help one formed the subjunctive: Ich tät singe, wann ich Luscht hätt un wann ich wellt (wollte).    The second tense was abbreviated at the end: gefunden = gfun, gesucht = gsucht, geworfen = g’worf, geschrieben = gschripp.  Where after the prefix „ge“ a second „g“ or „k“ followed, it was abbreviated: gekriegt = kriegt or kriet.    Like the Neckar Swabians, the Donauschwaben have also done without the genitive.  They substitute it with the possessive pronoun and the dative: “Er hat dem Vatr sei stock un Hut g’numm” = Er nahm des Vaters Stock und Hut.      Here I show the modifications of the nouns:      The helping verb “sein” was modified so: Ich bin, du bischt, er is.  Meer sin’, ehr sin’, sie ware.  Ich wer’, du werscht, er werd.  Meer were, her were, sie were.    Some families used the plural instead of the singular.  Ich bin aufgestanden = Ich sin’ ufgstan’.    Families who came from Bulkes deviated in the word order: Ich habe kein Brot mehr = Ich han kemeh Brot.  The people of Bulkes also changed the case: Komm zu mehr = Kumm bei mich.  Just as there is no rule in high German without exception, so here also principal rules are not without exception,  So for example the verb “sterben” has a middle form between the first and second tense: Er ist gestarb = Er ist gestorben.  But also taking into consideration that “o” was sometimes changed to “a”, then that is really no exception.  Our dialect is called the “Pfälz” dialect.  We speak “pfälzerisch.”  Around 1936 I heard a Pfälzer poet from the original homeland who recited some of his poems from his “Pfälzer Weltgeschicht.”  He spoke exactly like us.  Around 1929 I held a recital for the reading association for the same book.  Unfortunately I can no longer remember the names of the authors.  It is very puzzling to me how Eimann’s dialect deviated so much from ours.  Has the dialect in the Pfalz and by us developed further at the same rate?    Thanks to the new edition of Eimann’s “Der deutsche Kolonist” (The German Colonist) and from the expansion of the book by Friedrich Lotz we have received a scant four lines in the Pfälzer dialect at the time in a letter from Eimanns to his cousin Gleib on the 15th of April 1832, which deviates very much from our dialect as we finally spoke it.  I cite: “Euch mus dem liewe Veder gestehe, das winnig Woche vergin, wu euch nit vun Dachroth ebes treeme; bal bin ich uf der Jagd ufm Gangelsberg, vun Duchroth ebes treeme; bal se Uberhause uf de grus Wis un su hin und her.  Ehr wered och verwunnere, daß euch so gut noch kann.“  One hundred years later the people of Beschka said it like this: „Ich muß dem liewe Vettr gstehn, daß wenich Woche vrgehn, wu ich net vun Tuchroth etwas treem’; bal bin ich uf dr Jacht uf’m Gangelsberch, bal im Roßberch, bal in Owrhause’ uf dr groß Wies’ un so hin un her.  Ehr werre’ Euch vrwunnre, daß ich noch so gut kann.“    From the comparison it becomes completely clear that in the written language the Pfälzer dialect in the original homeland as well as in the Danube area have become closer.  The word “vergin” I understand as infinitive, but it is not certain that Eimann meant the first tense with it.  The translation must then be: “vrgang’ sin…”, because we have no first tense.  The word “gin” is familiar to me from a Banat school friend, which is always used in the infinitive.  (Was werds do gin?)  I would still like to add about the comparison between Eimanns and our text that we pronounce the “ch” in the word “Roßberch” like the “ch” in the words “ich” and “mich”, while we pronounce the word “Jacht” the same way as “Dach”.  While we are already on the sound “ch” we should also note the progression of “hoch”: hoch, hecher, am hekste’.  The “ch” in “hecher” is pronounced like “ch” in the words “ich” and “mich”.    Interesting as it may still be that the Donauschwaben pronounced all the new words well.  For example: Ballon (balloon), Zeppelin, Telegramm, Radio, Rundfunk (radio), Flieger (flyer), Grammophon, Zahnarzt (dentist).  The Sitzbank (bench) and Fleischbank (butcher block?) were pronounced hard, while the Geldinstitut (money institute), the bank, was pronounced soft.  That is attributed to earlier or later contact with the terms.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 124 Foreign Words      The Donauschwaben also used foreign words completely naturally, which they have partially taken on in the original homeland from the French and in the southeast from the people there.  The words from the French were always easier to interpret which is why I did not want to mention them for lack of space.  Instead I also want to cite German words which have taken on another meaning by us. Aldumasch (Hungarian aldomas = blessing), a communal drink after a large purchase at the market. Backsimpel = baking basket made from corn husks (Liesch). Barch (from Barge), Bär = boar, also the “richtige Bär” (hulking brute of a man). Barchet, Barchent = flannel. Batschi (Hungarian bacsi = older brother, the younger is called öcs) = uncle and every older man. bereits = almost, nearly, instead of perfect. Betchar (Hungarian betyar) = scoundrel. Bitanger (Hungarian bitangember), the first two parts of the word comes from begging crusaders (please, thank you), ember = man, homeless man. (Petöfi: “Schonai bitangember, ki most, ha kell, halni nem mer” = “A homeless man, who now has the need, will not die cozy.”) But the term Bitanger went much further, one could use it for all bad habits (petty theft, burglary, robbery, sexual offenses, and so forth) that a homeless person engages in. blöd = shy (also comes in a church hymn in the sense of shyness). Bunde (Hungarian bunda) = fur coat. Dolina (Serbian dole = under) = depression in the karst region, taken on in high German. Ewenke (Serbian or Turkish evenka) = wine grapes hanging up to dry on a nail covered pole. Grenze (Serbian granica) = taken on in high German. Gatchr, Gatcherhose (Hungarian gatya) = very wide underpants which were bound with a Gatcher ribbon through a string.  Fits all sizes.  Because of lovely fantasies the ladies did not speak of Gatchers in fine society. heidi, heide (Serbian hajde) = we go. Hambar (Hungarian) = corn comb. Hotter, Hutter, Hotterhüter (Hungarian hatar) = Gemarkung, border, corridor. Hutsch, Hutscher, Hitschche = foal, Füllchen. jo jott = variant of yes, just not as nice = no, no Kanitzel = copper sulfate. Kapeerdeck (probably from the French factory called Chabert) = uppermost bed cover of linen, one side covered with patterns (colored). Kapper, Kappert = dill pickles, never capers. Katsch (Hungarian kacsa) = duck (Katsch with long aa = community Katsch). Kickritzel (Kükrützel) (Serbian kukuruz) = finely ground corn, which was placed in a sieve and under the flame where it increased tremendously in volume (one dessert spoonful = one to two liters).  It was “provided” on Good Friday.  The sieve must be covered, otherwise the kernels fly a meter high.  (popcorn?) Klumbe (Hungarian klompa) = wooden shoes made from one piece, which were very similar to Dutch wooden shoes, produced in Apatin.  For young boys they were a dream because one could slide on the ice with them, flew into the curves and had many other advantages. Krelle (from coralle) = pearl necklace (not real). Kritsch (Latin cricetus ) = hamster. Kummre, Umarke, also Umorke (Hungarian uborka) = cucumber. Logl = small wooden drink water barrel about 40 centimeters in diameter and about 20 centimeters deep.  Advantages: unbreakable, keeps water cool.  Only taken along to field work.  logeln = excessive drinking, boozing. – “nunerlogle” = drink under the table. Los, Mehrzahl (several) Lose = breeding sow(s). maje = go on a visit. Malei (Hungarian málé) = thin corn cake – Kulje (Serbian) = corn porridge. Minkelche, Minglche (from mini?) = small morsel of bread or bacon. nee nett = an improvement of, or comparison to, no no. Neni (Hungarian: the older sister, the younger is called “hug”) = aunt and every older woman. nötigen = offer. Ober (Serbian) = pig pen. Ohnen = awns or beards. Palatschinken, Palatschinge’ (Hungarian palacsinka) = Fladen (large, flat, round cake made from barley flour), baked in fat and made from thin dough from flour, milk, eggs, and sugar.  It was filled with cinnamon, sugar, or marmalade (Pekme-) and rolled together.  The dough was like Kaiserschmarren (pancake pulled to pieces and sprinkled with powdered sugar and raisins.) Patschker, Pätschkerche’ (Hungarian: bocskor) = light leather shoes somewhat like Opanken (Serbian = taken over in German writing), also painted shoes with felt soles. Patrense = hip high hay piles, with two “Patrensen” poles (bean poles) pushed under them to carry the haystack.  20 Patrensen = 1 hay wagon. Pekmes (Turkish pekmez) = puree; squash, Weichsel (Vistula)-, apricot- pekmes. Platschkukrutz = see Kickritzel. Pockerl (Hungarian: pulyka) = turkey hen; Pocklhohn = turkey tom. possen = vaccinate by grazing the skin. Sarmen =(Hungarian: szarma) = Kraut wurst wrapped in sauerkraut leaves. Schap – spoken Schaap (French) = original head decoration made from flowers or precious stones (tiara), and also ribbons.  Used by the Donauschwaben until in the end there were only ribbon decorations under the heads of the dead.  “Des war domols, wie mei Großvater uf m Schap gele’ hot” (That was at the time when my grandfather had laid on the Schap.) In Germany the word is still preserved only in the Black Forest as “Schäppele” and only as a head decoration for living women.  Besides in Grimm’s 24 volume dictionary in large format it is not listed in any etymological dictionary and it was preserved by us until the people fled.  Also the names Schaber, Schawer, and Schafer may have come from Schap and not from schaben or Schaf! schepp = crooked. Schiewer = open-sided barn, haystack, “Triste?” Schlappe = slippers. Schlockerfaß = A container in which the whetstone for the scythe, together with water, was stored hanging on the belt during the work.  It was often a horn of a cow.  (Thanks to the contribution of Walter Nehlich) schonbald (schunbal) = nearly, almost.  Sprau = husks. suttern = run, trickle. Tata (Serbian: otac) = father. teschek (Hungarian: tessek) = is pleasing, attractive. Teps = cooking sheet (metal). Tschardak (Turkish Laube (arbor, summerhouse) = slat framework for corn. Umarke, Umorke = cucumber. Ulaker (Hungarian: Ujlak = village name) = primitive pocket name, produced in Ujlak.  Also small boys were so named. Wicke (Hungarian bika) = bull. weiland = the deceased.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 128 A Sample in our Dialect     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 131 War and Uncertain Times    From 1784 until the people fled were the following uncertain times:     The Turkish War in 1788 affected the mother communities less than the Banat.  Military duty for the new colonists did not exist, but they accomplished (Vorspann?) service for payment.  In the personnel register only one case is recorded where one was killed in the service of the Karpaten regiment (Reg. No. 1763).     For the Napoleanic times any reference of war participation is missing.     In the years 1848-49 the Germans suffered under the Serbs.  All of Jarek, excluding the church, went up in flames.  About ten men of the citizens guard perished from the Serbs.  In the personnel register of this book one case of shooting in Werbaß is recorded.  The great-grandfather of the author of this book must have seen from the hiding place how the Serbs set fire to his house in Zsablya three times.  He had come to an agreement with the Serbian pastor (proto presbyter) at the time to protect each other.  It did not help.  In his diary he wrote as his last entry: “Now I go to my family.”  Since then he was missing, either perishing or dying of cholera.  He must have left his diary with the Prota (Protopresbyter).  Certainly the family must have read the diary but my father no longer knew where it went to.  As long as the great-grandmother did not flee, a Polish general (Bem or Damjanitsch) with many followers rode into the yard to deliver a greeting from her son (who was killed in action in Königgratz in 1866).  The Uroma (great-grandmother) was very frightened, shook her hands together and said, “Um Gottes Willen, was wartsch da noch gewe’! (“Good God, what more is there to give!”) – (According to tradition she was from Saxony or Württemberg.  The author believed for a long time that Württemberg was confused with Wittenberg in Saxony.  The puzzle was first cleared up in 1946: She was from “Sachsene (Großsachsenheim) in Württemberg.  With traditions there is always some truth!)  In Tscherwenka I learned during my time of service there (I don’t have the Tscherwenka homeland book), that the Serbs smeared a German from top to bottom with bread dough and sprinkled him with bed feathers.    From the year 1866, war between Prussia and Austria, I knew only of the son of my great grandfather, who was killed in action as an officer in Königgratz.  Exact enquiries in Vienna remained unsuccessful, maybe someone can learn something about it in Budapest.  (In Vienna exists an exact list of each k.u.k. soldier, and Budapest about each Honved soldier.)  This is said so the reader can make enquiries in his or her own matter with it.    In the Torschau homeland book (Wack) with the cases of death there is a column for war victims from 1784 up to World War II.  The first entry is by 1914, consequently Torschau had its first war losses at the time, which was true for all communities.    About the war losses for the people of Beschka in World War I the references in the personnel register are only an incomplete substitute.  Individual casualties are not included, and furthermore the cause of death from 1914 to 1918 is not always given.  We must estimate this.  Krtschedin had 36 killed in action – a quarter of those who were deployed.  Beschka had double as many Germans, from which one must calculate with 288 who were deployed and 72 killed in action.    In World War I the people of Beschka fled from the Serbs in September 1914.  Some of the refugees only went to Karlowitz and turned back home.  The Austrian state court condemned about 8 Beschka Serbs to death because of sympathy opposing the enemy and guard replacements.  Some German men were placed before the court and spoke freely about it after the war.    After the armistice of 1918 some Beschka Serbs were uncertain about the Germans.  Mistreatment and threats happened.  Georg Mahler (Reg. No. 1252) was employed in a Serbian house (Varicak, 3 Lange Street) and he overheard as a Serbian officer said to a Serb from Beschka: “Ne dirajte Nemce, sta je bilo, proslo je.” (Don’t mix with the Germans, what was, is over.)   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 133 World War II       After the Belgrade government coup on Thursday, 27 March, 1941, it was clear that Yugoslavia was also pulled into the war.  The Viennese treaty was no longer valid.  The mob yelled: “Bolje rat, nego Pakt.” (Better war than treaty.)  It was mobilized.    On the 6th of April Belgrade was bombarded.  Air battles played out over Beschka.  One German destroyer was shot down.  He fell in flames about 400 meters north of Karl Hamweck Street in the field.  One Serbian plane crashed about 500 meters southeast of Reiter Square, on the mail route one more and within view still more.  The commissar mayor was Rev. Zivanovic.  He arrested about ten German hostages, but they were handed over to the outside.  The treatment of the hostages was correct, peace and order ruled in the whole village. Only the worry remained.    On Karsamstag (Easter Saturday) on the 12th of April, Zivanovic called the German hostages to the common guard.  On Easter Sunday the first German soldiers came from the west and south.  It was unwise that Zivanovic was humble.  He had to sweep the walk in front of city hall.  Some Germans of Beschka thought his humbleness was too late.  Zivanovic was very unpopular with the people, but this humbleness was too much.    There was one other hardship case which was not exactly justified and calm.  But then peace and order came to the village.    In September 1941 a German woman with three children was murdered in Krtschedin in a bestial fashion.  The trust between Germans and Serbs went downhill because of it.  Croatian Ustaschas abducted 60 respected Serbs in retaliation.  After the people fled the Serbian mayor of Krtschedin personally shot the culprit.    In 1942 the Partisans (Communist Freischäler) were active in the Beschka region.  Around 1943 the sentry Michael Täubel (Reg. No. 2012) was shot, and as reinforcements hurried here, Peter Ewinger (Reg. No. 958) was wounded.  In the fall of 1943 members of the Partisans were taken as hostages by the Wehrmacht (armed forces) to Semlin, and after that one train blew up from a mine, ten men were shot and ten men were hanged.  How one learned after the war, was from a mine laid by a Beschka German.  In 1942 the Partisans set fire to some hectars of wheat crosses in the fields, also in 1943 and 1944.     On Easter in 1944 the endangered Darkowatz refugees came to Beschka, and in May those from Paleschnik, altogether about 800 people.  Afterward some couples between the people of Beschka and these refugees were shot.  On the 3rd of July 1944 the Krtschedin crew searched for them after the talk by the Partisans’ abducted countryman Bierman and were shot at the Fällersalasch (field cottage) on the Beschka corridor by the surprised Partisans.  Help came to the people of Beschka from the citizen’s guard and armed forces from India.  Eighteen Partisans were felled by themand Wack from Krtschedin was wounded.  As a result all of the Salasches were thoroughly searched and at the Krasojewitsch Salasch some collaborators of the ringleader were shot.    There a very well camouflaged bunker was found.  The owner came under suspicion by the Partisans, the hiding place was given away, and the Fehme? court sentenced him to death.  The sentence was carried out in two to three days.  From the Fehme? court the former judge (mayor) Sava Baic and one Serb named Klasnja still presided.  In the summer of 1944 Josef Schramm (Reg. No. 1740) was murdered in the field.  After the war one heard that Schramm saw a Beschka Serb under the Partisans and to hush this up he was shot half way up the postal route where he wanted to cut a willow branch.  The Schramm case and the Bajic case were very closely connected.  An eye for an eye, as it already went in wars.  There were still some hardship cases against the Serbs which I cannot write about because necessity and calmness at least for both sides are clearly not perfect.  In the war each party always believed to be in the right that has no right.  Practically the loser is always guilty.    The responsible Germans in Beschka were not thoughtless.  On one hand it was necessary to give more Germans weapons in the house, but on the other hand nobody could guarantee that these weapons would not be misused.  Not everyone was given a weapon at home.  It is apparent that the leadership of the order was careful.  Gradually we received 400 rifles and 4 machine guns – which included the MG42, the most modern which fired 1600 rounds per minute -, a light grenade thrower, 200 grenade launchers?, 22 Panzer (tank) grenades, and about 1500 rounds of ambition (bullets).    The homeland guard did their service until September 1944 in civilian clothes.  They had four platoons, so that in the summer each man served every second night.  During the day there was no guard service because one did not have to wait for any great attack by day. (Approach and retreat of the Partisans during the day was not very possible for larger units.)  For smaller day attacks trustworthy men were supplied with weapons in their homes.  For those in guard service there was the added burden of day work.  Some had bad footwear and clothing.  Some also had to expect an outside mission and that is why a uniformed company of 122 men was equipped for it.    Reserve Captain Lang (Reg. No, 1178), Reserve Lieutenants Bächer (Reg. No. 41) and Kniesel (Reg. No. 1041), and Reserve officer Stehli (Reg. No. 1894) were called up on a course to Essegg and trained as company and platoon leaders.  In September 1944 the company was put on duty and quickly trained in shooting and tactics.  As platoon leader there was also Ewinger (Reg. No. 462) as well.  As the last women and children fled we also wanted to take off with the company but were whistled back by the countrymen’s leaders at the Maradik Crossing.  First on the 17th of September we moved to India and on the 22nd of October to Essegg.  Around the 10th of November the company was dissolved and left to their families.  Nobody knew where their family was and yet they soon found them.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 136 The Flight  by Andreas Thuro, Sr You are my God! My time is in your hands. Save me from the hand of my enemy And from those who pursue me. The people of Bulkes fleeing (Source: Bulkes homeland book). Our wagon was the first which left.  It was followed: on the 10th and 11th of October 1944 53 people with Jakob Engel and Karl Baner, on the 12th of October 1944 about 11 with Valentin Beck and on the same day another 264 people with Peter Thuro.  On their own and without relatives about 10 – 15 of my school comrades joined the withdrawing German troops.  Of the over 2600 inhabitants who lived in Bulkes before the war therefore only about 350 civilians (13%) of the village left.  In other villages nearly 100% fled (see remarks). Families from Bulkes: Stephan, Frank, and Neidhofer in Schlesien, Gehlsdorf near Haynau, January 1945, in front of their accommodations: house of a DRK – sister, who used the front part. Small picture from left to right: Upper row: NIEDHÖFER, Christine, house no. 180a (born HARFMANN); DIENER, CHRISTINE (Christina in Saxony) house no. 180a (born NIEDHÖFER) HARFMANN Katharina, house no. 180a (born HARFMANN); BECKER, Jakob House no. 260 (born BECKER); STEPHAN, Heinrich House no. 260. Standing in front: NIEDHÖFER, Richard, house no. 180a; WEIMAR, Elisabeth House no. 260 (born STEPHAN). Large picture from left to right: Upper row: FRANK, Katharina HOUSE NO. 324 (born BECKER); Weimar, Elisabeth, HOUSE NO. 260 (BORN Stephan); NIEDHÖFER, Richard, HOUSE NO. 18a STEPHAN, Margarete, HOUSE NO. 260 (born BECKER); HARFMANN, Katharina (Got in Saxony) HOUSE NO. 180a (born Harfmann), Seated below: BRUNNER, Elisabeth, HOUSE NO. 324 (born FRANK); BECKER, Jakob, HOUSE NO. 421.  He came to the German capitulation in May 1945 in civilian clothing from the Silesian east front unbothered through Czechoslovakia into the west Sudetenland to my mother and my sister. Exit permission of the Czechoslovakian People’s Council of Vernerove: “I acknowledge that Mr. Stefan Heinrich, Ms. Stefan Margaretha, and 1 child can depart in their homeland in Bulkes, Hungary / Yugoslavia.  Vernerov, on this day of the 17th of May 1945.  For the Czechoslovakian National Council.  signed Wilhelm Flanger” Remarks:    To the small readiness to flee by the people of Bulkes     About the foundation of the SS-Volunteer Action   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 139 Escape (poem)  by Andreas Thuro, Sr The sun shines – yet the homeland secretly cries… Frightening the night over the land – like an iron hand; Disaster threatens from all sides – “heroes of the night” their empire prepares; leadened are the paralyzed hours, hopeless people’s wounds; pale grief on deserted streets – alas! alas! they left the homeland… Anxious premonitions urged: hurry! hurry! The homeland nervously flees: Stay… here, where your cradle stands, prevails your mother’s hand; your daily meal with much trouble and bother – Bless innumerable contributions Your ancestor’s offertory procession flows into a dead song… Tearful sacrifices – goblet of the times, will accompany you in the future… “Motherland”, so bitterly distant – your souls yearning stars wake up in need and fright Rescue! Last hope walks; Homeland has been cursed! Migrating flock – flee to the north… People’s souls sink in the night – If they will wake up each day? ~ Andreas Thuro, Sr.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 140 How Has Beschka Developed Itself After the War    Beschka has been visited annually since about 1910 by the former Beschka Germans and treated friendly by the old citizens there.  On the fourth Beschka meeting in Echterdingen in 1968 the Beschka Germans donated 326. + Deutsch Mark for the repair of the chimes in the Beschka orthodox church, which would celebrate its 200th Kirchweih festival.    Through the immigration from Montenegro, from the Lika and other “passive regions” the population census has increased tremendously.  The community has about 10,000 inhabitants today.  The streets are paved, and many artesian wells were drilled.  A central school was built and school attendance was extended to the 15th year.  The Evangelical church was leveled, while the Reformed church was saved by the Reformed Hungarians in Beschka.  Ther German cemetery is overgrown, but not destroyed.  Many new streets exist, for example in the neighborhood of Gabertschen brick ovens, west of the train station.  The farmers are allowed to keep up to 10 hectares of their fortunes, while the former German fortunes in the Kolchos were administrered.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 140 The Integration in the New Homeland    After the weapons route only the countrymen remained in Thüringen, East Germany in their accommodations where they were still assigned after the war while those from the Egerland and the Nikolsburg area lived nomadic lives or in camps in Austria, in the villages at the Yugoslavian-Hungarian border, or had to spend it in Yugoslavian extermination camps.    Gradually after 1946, ever more people from Beschka came especially from Austria, from Hungary, and partially from Yugoslavia to West Germany, which at the time belonged to the American and English occupation zones.  Because of the unimaginable need for housing at the time, only those who succeeded came with respectable transport from Hungary.  The few who came from extermination camps in Yugoslavia were also accepted into West Germany.  Those who came from Thüringen and Austria had to make false statements so they would not be turned away.    In the French occupation zone, south of the Karlsruhe-Salzburg Autobahn, nobody was accepted at first.  This region was first free for our countrymen in 1955.  Then at first many came from Austria and from Thüringen to West Germany.  But a settlement permit was still always necessary.    Those who had close relatives in America immigrated there.  In the beginning after the war it was not easy because of the shortage of ship space.  From a rough estimate today one eighth of the people of Beschka are in Thüringen, one sixteenth in Austria, one sixteenth in USA and Canada, and six eighths in Germany.  About two to three couples are in South America and Australia.  In Yugoslavia there are a few mixed couples, especially the widows.  Also in Switzerland two families found a homeland.    In East Germany our countrymen lived most cheaply.  In West Germany, Austria, and overseas most have their own home.  The people of Beschka had 460 houses at home.  Today they own, as the questionaires show, at least 373 houses, but probably about 100 more, because not all of the questionaires were answered.  Besides that some owned more than two houses.  Most houses have at least two apartments, but for the smaller buildings this is hardly permissible (ground floor and attic).  So one can estimate there are 900 to 1000 apartments.  The percentage of people of Beschka with their own apartment goes far over the percentage of the federal average. (newspaper report this day.)    Everyone had work.  Our craftsmen are treasured specialists.  Civil servants received all their old positions which they had at home and who for whatever reason the rank achieved at home did not apply to the corresponding position here, so he was paid according to his old rank.  So some were still promoted over it.  Dayworkers who had counted on no pension at home received their pension completely paid out.  Self-employed workers (farmers, craftsmen), who were already old when they arrived here, received tax compensation on a pension basis, that is the pension was drawn off the tax compensation.  Young farmers and craftsmen received a full pension here.  The poor could still claim a tax compensation towards a pension, receive welfare, inexpensive subsidized housing, and other legal regulated incentives, so that it was still available to them at a certain age.     Help with household goods (1600 Deutsch Mark) and tax reduction for several years each received so they could at least have a bed at home.  A part of it was paid out as immediate assistance about 1950.    Interest free loans were also given to build homes.  Generally the maintenance of an interest free loan is very complicated.  When applying one should if at all possible show little evidence of income and then when the money is to be paid out one has to show the ability to pay it back.  How our people managed.  This juggling is a puzzle to me.    Further building assistance the state gave in the form of a building savings premium of 25 percent where the state still won.  Here is the proof: For each saved Mark the state paid 25 Pfennig premium, and then when the saver built the state collected for each Mark of building costs 11 Pfennig value-added tax plus 20 percent income tax.  That is already 31 Pfennig, a 6 Pfennig gain, plus commercial tax in unknown amounts.  After ten years there was still tax on the house.  With it each was helped, client and the state.  When one considers still that the client only saved or less of the building costs premium incentives and the already known taxes paid on the total cost, then the state did not come up short.    Not to be left unmentioned still is that the old citizens in the first years after the war as the apartments were still very scarce, many testified to the sense of community.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 143 The Extermination Camp    In November 1944 all Germans in Yugoslavia were deprived and free as a bird.  Who had the desire to murder a German?  That also happened.  Fortunately only a few Germans remained at home.  But of these a few were also murdered.  Only the Nazarenes were spared.  After the war many people of Beschka who returned home were either murdered or driven to extermination camps where they starved or died from an epidemic (typhus).  Of the whole group of people in Yugoslavia 80,000 such victims are recorded by name.  The actual number is much higher because families who were completely exterminated are not recorded.  Of the 157 war victims in Beschka most perished in captivity after the weapons route, at a time when there were no acts of war.  There is no question who to blame for those victims who also included many children who died.  They must not have starved even once because in Yugoslavia there is enough food.    It was unjust because all Serbs were accused of these crimes – also as such those who had lamented the family losses under German occupying forces did not share in the retaliation against the Germans.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 145 List of the War Victims of the Beschka People in World War II     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 150 The Frequently Named Village Names in Yugoslavia A useful reference for researching villages in the Batschka region.  It may not be all inclusive and I notice a few new names are missing.     The village names in our old homeland have changed two or three times, especially after the war, at least in writing.  I give the names here, how we pronounce them and how they are officially written. Altker: Hungarian Oker, Serbian Stari-Ker or Pasicevo Altpasua: Serbian Stara Pazova, remains unchanged Altsiwatz: Hungarian Oszivac, Serbian Stari-Vrbas Altwerbaß: Hungarian Overbasz, Serbian Stari-Vrbas Altbetsche: Hungarian Obecse, Serbian Stari-Becej Banovci-neu und bei Schid: Serbian Novi-Banovci, Sidski Banovci Bulkes: Hungarian Wekerlefalva, Serbian Bulkes, now Betschmen: Serbian Becmen Dobanovci: Serbian Dobanovci Feketitsch: Serbian Feketic, Hungarian Bacs-Feketehegy India: Serbian Indjija Jankowzi: Serbian Jankovci Jarek: Hungarian Tiszaistranfalva, Serbian Jarak Katsch: (pronounced Kaatsch), Hungarian Katy, Serbian Kac Kleinker: Hungarian Kisker, Serbian Mali-Ker or Pribicevicevo Krtschedin: (pronounced Kertschetin), Serbian Krcedin Kutzura: Hungarian Kucora, Serbian Kucura Mariatheresiaopel: Hungarian Szabadka, Serbian Subotica, Großstadt Neudorf: Serbian Novo-Selo Neusatz: Hungarian Ujvidek, Serbian Novi-Sad Neupasua: Serbian Nova Pazova Neuschowe: Hungarian Ujsove, Serbian Novi-Sove Peterwardein: Hungarian Petervarad, Serbian Petrovaradin, Schlactenort (slaughter place) Putinzi: Serbian Putinci Rudolfsgnad: Hungarian Rezsöhaza, Serbian Knicanin Sassa: Sasse, Serbian Novi-Karlovci Sekitsch: Hungarian Seghegy, Serbian Sekic, now Lovcenac Semlin: Hungarian Zimony, Serbian Zemun, now Novi-Beograd Sentivan: there are very many in the Batschka; Felsö-, Also’, Bacs-, Despot-, Sajkas-, and Kovil-.  The last two are identical. Slankamen: (pronounced Schlangerment), Hungarian Zalankemeny, Serbian Slankamen, Schlachtenort (slaughter place) Tschatschinzi: Serbian Cacinci Tscherwenka: (pronounced Scherwinge), Hungarian Cservenka, Serbian Crvenka Torschau: Hungarian Torzsa, Serbian Torza, now Savino-Selo Werbaß Alt (old) and Neu (new): Hungarian Ujverbasz, Serbian Novi-Vrbas (pronounced Werbaß) Zsablya: (pronounced Schawle), formerly Josefdorf, Hungarian Zsablya, Serbian Zabalj, on maps from 1450 to 1600 as Zeblia.   Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 151 The Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages      Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 153 Differences     Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents 154 Instructions For Using the Register       Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents   Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages         Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents   List for the Completion of the Register       Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents   Illustrated Table         Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents   Illustrations       Beschka Homeland Book Back to Table of Contents   Map of Village of Beschka     DVHH > Syrmia Region > Beschka > History of the Village God Bless Our Home Beschka Homeland Book REMEMBERING OUR DONAUSCHWABEN ANCESTORS

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