|
Banat
Swabians, Danube Swabians and Their Future
From “Österreich
und die Banater Schwaben” published by Hans Dama, Wien
(2005)
by
Dr.
Hans Gehl
Permission to translate and
republish was generously granted
by Dr. H. Gehl and Dr. H. Dama,
Translated by Nick Tullius. Published at DVHH.org by Jody McKim Pharr, 2006.
1.
Conditions in the settlement communities
2. Assessment of the Banat Swabians
2.1 The
power of public opinion as a system of keeping order
3. Do the
Danube Swabians have a future?
3.1 Integration after resettlement
3.2 Homeland as a ritual of remembrance
3.3 Self-identification through associations
of compatriots
3.4 Coming
to grips with history and taking a
position
References
1.
Conditions in the settlement communities Identity and standards of
behavior of a community are determined
by existing economic and political
conditions. The initially significant
German population of the cities in
Hungary had been subject to
Magyarization since the second half of
the nineteenth century, and was
gradually being absorbed into the
Hungarian middle classes. A large part
of the Danube-Swabian population lived
in century-old village communities, and
developed hierarchic rules and standards
of behavior that were taken over and
maintained by succeeding younger
generations.
Every individual had a
place in the hierarchy of the village,
determined by the size of his property.
Property was not measured in money or
various material goods, but rather by
his land and houses, meaning that his
proper worth was valid only in a given
place and in a given community. Almost
all gains and savings were reinvested in
domestic animals, land, and sometimes
the extension and modernization of the
house. Compared to these investments,
the value of money was secondary; often
it could not even be spent. Money was
earned only through the sale of domestic
animals and agricultural products that
were occasionally also used to pay for
the services of the blacksmith and other
village tradesmen.
The preservation of the
established traditions was especially
important in the everyday life of the
village community. These traditions
included the system of inheritance, the
yearly cycle, and certain eating habits.
Families and their division of labor
had a determining role. This structure
shows similarities with the villages in
Germany, where the expellees arriving
after WWII found them to be already in
decline. The strong coherence of
Danube-Swabian villages was also due to
the fact that until the 20th
century the whole population of a
village was connected by family bands.
Marriages with partners of other
nationalities and religions were almost
nonexistent and partners from outside
the village came at most from
neighboring Danube-Swabian villages
(especially daughter-villages). In
addition to family bands, important
factors for the cohesion of the village
were its specific dialect, its religion,
and its festive days, but most of all
the rural way of life and its inherent
system of values.
The way of living
imposed by a Danube-Swabian village on
its members was a disciplined one. It
included getting up early in the morning
and going to sleep early in the evening,
and concentrated work from spring to
fall. The means for recreation and
entertainment were relatively limited
and they were adjusted to the cycle of
work in the fields. Even with this
rigorous way of living, advancement
within the community was possible only
within narrow limits. An increase in
property did not bring any significant
relaxation of the way of living, because
the accumulated wealth was not used to
buy luxury articles and a vacation was
just simply unthinkable. The money was
used to acquire more land (add yet
another Joch to the existing ones), and
to buy more agricultural machines. To
show off wealth, one could always
embellish the house and buy festive
clothing for the daughters. Only the
richest farmers could afford higher
education for a child to become a
priest, lawyer or medical doctor. On the
other hand it often happened that
children disadvantaged by the
inheritance system had to apprentice for
a trade, or they had to study to become
an impoverished village teacher.
Villagers were sceptical about those
attending higher schools, because the
resulting ‘city slickers’ were usually
lost to the village and likely to become
Hungarians. German-language higher
schools became increasingly available
only toward the end of the 1930s. After
1945 trade schools and higher education
became the only alternatives for the
expropriated ethnic Germans in Hungary
and Romania. That situation led to the
dissolution of the traditional village
community and, during the last decades,
to the shifting of the remaining centres
of German settlement to the surrounding
cities, and integration into a
non-German environment.
2. Assessment of the Banat Swabians
The one-sided, often
egocentric self-image of many Danube
Swabians was developed by their cultural
representatives and was uncritically
accepted and passed on by the homeland
literature. Starting from earlier
characterizations of the Germans in
Hungary, Hans Hagel1 develops
a thoroughly positive character image,
tending towards idealization. He
attributes their great strength in
overcoming all the hardships of their
history, as well as their physical and
spiritual vigour, to the mixing of the
various German tribes (and occasionally
with other nationalities, H. Gehl) which
resulted in an essentially uniform
language and folklore. After an initial
homogenization within the villages,
there is a second one within the
settlement areas or within parts of
settlement areas that are interconnected
(by economic, religious, etc. ties).
This process could not be completed in
the relatively short settlement period
of only 250 years. Their largely
Catholic, but also Evangelical and
Reformed religion acted as a barrier
separating the Germans from the Orthodox
Romanians and Serbians. A common
religion caused an earlier approach to
the Hungarians and supported the
pressure of assimilation (especially in
Hungary and the Sathmar region).
Hagel emphasizes the
clear intuitive power and the sharp
memory of the Banat Swabian as
preconditions for his receptiveness and
adaptability. These are demonstrated by
his early use of new agricultural
machines and procedures, and by his
acceptance of modern forms of houses and
furniture. The family is the centre of
social life. That is why the Swabian is
willing to make sacrifices as a marriage
partner, and is tender to his children
and respectful to older people. The
Swabian is usually serious, but enjoys a
merry group of friends; he is at the
same time cheerful, funny, and even
ironical. Quite distinct from the poorer
inhabitants of the alpine Banat (Banater
Bergland), at whose festive occasions
harmless gaiety prevails, the richer
Banat farmers compete with each other on
the size of their property, the
condition of their house, and the
clothing they wear. And they may be
critical and dogmatic both within their
circle of relatives and within the
village society. Despite all that, they
keep their inner balance even when
excited, so that swearing and verbal
abuse are rather rare events.
2.5 The power of public opinion as a system of keeping
order
Important statements
about the Danube-Swabian way of life
were made by Hans Weresch2
and Ingomar Senz3 from their own
observations. Weresch emphasizes that in
the first half of the 20th
century the villagers’ work produced a
strong bond between the villagers and
their homeland. Another characteristic
was a strong sense of community that
established the principle “One for all
and all for one”. It is true that every
villager’s first concern was his own
farm, but he had a strong sense of
justice. His rule was: ”Whoever does not
work has no right to eat”. But one had
to differentiate: If a family
experienced hardship and it was not
their own fault (such as a becoming a
widow through a husband’s death) it was
the responsibility of the extended
family to provide help. Even the
simplest villager understood the
hardship and work of those who worked
the fields as he did.
But over and above the
will of the individual stood public
opinion, developed from traditional
concepts of right and morality. It
determined most of the issues affecting
the village. The villagers knew each
other well, and they knew what actions a
person took and what his circumstances
were. Many a bad intention was not
carried out because of fear of public
opinion. If somebody did something
unworthy, the whole village would turn
against him, and he would get talked
about for a long time. That would have
many negative consequences. An important
role in village life was played by the
sense of obligation or “duty”. It was
high praise when it was said about a
deceased person that he always did his
duty. On the other hand, this attitude
was considered self-evident. The ethical
behaviour of overwhelming majority of
Danube Swabians rested on their
religion. Their moral impulses were
founded in God and were therefore very
secure. They took care of their church
and did not hesitate to make sacrifices
for the care of their church and school2.
That is how the German denominational
schools in the Banat could be maintained
amidst great difficulties until after
WWII. It also explains how contributions
by the population made possible the
building and operation of a pedagogical
institution and theological seminary -
the “Banatia” in Temeswar.
In a similar manner I.
Senz3 points out that to the
Danube Swabians their world with its
Christian, agricultural, and
nature-connected structural elements
made a great deal of sense. The
principle to live by was “Serva ordinem
et ordo servabit te” (Serve order and
order will serve you). Human life
therefore took place not so much in a
safe world as in an ordered world and
every order has its hardships. Today’s
individualism questions that order, as
it places self-fulfillment above
everything else, and sees it threatened
by many constraints. But contemporary
man does not realize that he cannot
avoid a multitude of constraints from
his workplace and from the social
administration of his government, that
were unknown to the villager, as he
freely organized his work and his
“flex-time” schedule. He simply followed
an ordered sequence of events, remaining
free of stress and able even to enjoy
his time. Custom and usage provided a
nonrational peaking of every-day life
that guaranteed a series of festive
occasions with many enjoyable
happenings. Senz notices that this life
defined by work, order, and peaking
events, was able to provide experiences
of contentment and wellbeing: It enabled
a state of tranquility and collection of
thought, it infused peace and created
contentment, radiating wellbeing. People
living under those conditions were able
to experience a high degree of enjoyment
and satisfaction, no longer known to
modern man.
The economic and trade
system of the Danube Swabians was highly
efficient and enabled a large number of
people to reach a standard of living
that was high for their time. It had the
characteristics of a largely
self-regulating system, that discharged
its tensions outwards, by means such as
expansion of cultivation to the fields
of other nationalities, or the waves of
emigration to America around the turn of
the century. Such basic characteristics
could develop from a moderate position
to an extreme one, under the influence
of the village authorities such as
priests and teachers. Under the
exemplary leadership of conservative
teachers and priests, many villages of
the Batschka, Banat, etc. remained
largely unaffected by liberalistic,
materialistic, and later nationalistic
trends. But liberalism succeeded, with
the additional influence of prosperity
and technology, in getting a negative
development going. The newly comfortable
life lead not only to a serious
deterioration of health from overeating
and excessive consumption of alcohol,
but the excessive materialism also
resulted in an often radical limitation
of the number of children. While at the
turn of the century many young women had
to pay with their lives for an
interruption of pregnancy, this was no
longer the case with the following
generation. The operating physicians
were able to save the lives of the
women, but they could not prevent them
from becoming sterile. Many marriages –
especially those of rich farmers –
remained childless; or, if a child was
born, it was pampered and spoiled until
it became demanding but not really fit
for living. Similar damage was done by
the drinking habit, which pointed to an
inability to master life and to the loss
of life’s meaning, and could lead all
the way to suicide. Fortunately these
remained restricted to isolated cases
that could not detract from the overall
image of the Danube Swabians.
3.
Do the Danube Swabians have a future?
This existential question
is gaining increasing importance as time
goes on, with the departure of the vast
majority of Danube Swabians from their
central-east European areas of
settlement and their dispersal in many
countries of the world. What will happen
with the Danube-Swabian inheritance
after integration into the receiving
societies and after the demise of the
generation that experienced these
events?
3.1
Integration after resettlement
The three essential
pillars of integration – language,
workplace, and home – have elementary
importance and priority in achieving the
goal, but are not sufficient for a full
and complete integration. The following
are important for social integration:
Reinforcement of self-confidence,
clarification of the historical
background – with regard to improving
acceptance -, reinforcement of the
proper cultural identity. A confident,
unbroken relationship to their history
and culture, and the safeguarding of
their own identity, are fundamental to a
successful social integration. To create
and maintain this important foundation,
initiatives and instruments for the
safekeeping and care of their culture
are necessary. What is involved here is
the “invisible luggage brought along”,
the formative memory of the lost
homeland, that has a long-lasting effect
on the attitude and reorientation of the
refugees and resettling persons.
Knowledge of their history, way of
living, language and customs in the
settlement areas of the Danube Swabians
in south-eastern central Europe,
contribute to a large extent to a
successful integration. [….]
The place of origin, in a
larger sense the homeland, of those
affected, are of particular importance
in the delicate task of finding a new
identity in a new and unfamiliar
environment. The meanings of the
much-discussed and much interpreted
notion of homeland can be summarized as
follows:
-
Lived-in and
experienced space;
-
Experienced and
endured time, or memory;
-
Work and workplace;
and
-
Communication,
acquaintance, friendship, and love.
Each individual must
clarify in his own mind his
understanding of homeland and what it
really means to him. To the Danube
Swabians, homeland means a history
experienced together, the memory of
which lives on in the collective memory
of the group. They are often reminded of
the Great Swabian Settlement, because
the knowledge of a common origin
provides a sense of inward security and
outward solidarity. The strongest
determining community for the expellees
was the one from which they had been
torn. That community – most often a
village – remains to this day an
important element of their perception of
homeland, because its custom, its way of
living and its hierarchy determined the
entire life of the villagers. The
approach to life acquired there
determined their behavior in their new
country. The traditional community, to
which they were connected by familiar
traditions, provided a sense of
security: As a member of the community,
one could count on its help when it was
needed. Such help was free and provided
as a matter of course by the community
when building a house (especially to
victims of a house fire), rendering
animals, husking corn, stripping
feathers, preparing a wedding and other
extensive work. It was always understood
that the received help would be returned
at the first opportunity. On the other
hand, this integration into a village
community could also lead to a sort of
imprisonment, because it was very
difficult to escape from the inherited
environment. The possibilities for
change were practically nonexistent;
women were hardly able to leave the
beyond the borders of their home village
for any extended period of time.
Even without the
expulsion of the Germans after WWII the
traditional social and economic
structure of the Batschka or Swabian
Turkey would have dissolved, as happened
in the Banat and Sathmar Region after
the complete expropriation of their
German inhabitants, their deportation to
the Soviet Union, and the addition of
Romanian colonists from other parts of
the country. Many expellees are not
conscious of this fact, so that later an
idealized image of the homeland was
created. The loss of the homeland was
even more painful because people did not
only loose all their material
belongings, but also had to radically
change their human system of reference.
János Mayer correctly observed that the
experience of expulsion did not impair
the positive image of the homeland. Many
inconveniences were forgotten and the
image of the homeland was transfigured
because it was connected to many
pleasant memories of youth. For the
expellees of the first and second
generation, the bonds of family and the
hierarchy established back home remained
intact, as can be observed at the many
village reunions held in Germany. Those
of the third generation, which did not
witness the expulsion or were too small
to remember it, show little interest in
such reunions. They are nevertheless
largely interested in the origin and
life experience of their parents and
grandparents.
3.2
Homeland as a ritual of remembrance
Many Danube-Swabian
village associations in Germany maintain
Heimatstuben (“village living rooms”)
for the purpose of nurturing the
collective memory of the lost home
village. For the group, the exhibited
objects have a considerable emotional
importance: They reinforce the memory of
and record the pride in the home
village. To maintain these positive
memories, past history must be smoothed
over and problematic aspects such as
relations with the newly moved-in
non-Germans, conflicts between German
farmers and farmhands, and events
connected to National Socialism must be
overlooked. The events of the past have
not been fully assimilated, and
references to the new beginning and the
dialog with the new homeland are only
partially present [….] These village
living rooms cannot be held to the
scientific-rational criteria applied to
ordinary museums. They should rather be
seen as emotional references to the
village of origin, by means of which the
affected people are seeking to overcome
the loss of their village and gain some
self-confidence for the present.
The expelled
Hungary-Germans felt a stronger bond to
their home country than the Danube
Swabians from the other successor
states, because they had lived
continuously in the same country and did
not see themselves as Danube Swabians to
the degree as those from Yugoslavia. It
was called a double identity: Loyalty to
both the Hungarian home country and to
the German culture. It is significant
that in several villages those declared
“traitors of the fatherland” sang the
Hungarian national anthem when their
trains departed for Germany. Having this
double identity engrained in their
consciousness made their identification
with Germany and their incorporation
into the German state more difficult. In
contrast with the Yugoslavia-Germans or
Banat Swabians, the Hungary-Germans did
not consider their common region of
origin to be important when compared to
the village community or the home
country. Interest for the history of
other communities in the region was
restricted to a layer of intellectuals,
but the Heimatbuch of their village
could be found at almost every family.
Many factors determined
the relation of the German expellees to
their new homeland. It is very important
that the integration of the expellees
took place during the economic upswing
of West Germany, which produced rapid
financial aid and social security and
helped to suppress the past. In fact,
the expellees played the role of a
catalyst in the German economic miracle.
The various legally mandated
compensations resulted in a better
material position of the expellees,
which in turn improved their acceptance
by the indigenous German population. By
the mid-1950s the expellees started
building houses (with the reciprocal
help of their countrymen), which led to
recognition, and sometimes envy, from
the locals that initially called them
“Hungarians” or “Hungarian gypsies”. The
expellees from Romania also felt the
designation “Romanians” to be an insult.
But their innate Swabian habit of
“saving and building little houses” soon
allowed many refugees to feel at home
again, for the first time in a long
while. Objects such as pictures of
saints and handicraft wall savers from
back home made the new homes even cosier.
Helpful to integration were the children
growing up in Germany and, less often,
indigenous marriage partners. Regular
visits to the native community and
get-togethers with friends and relatives
were of great importance to the
emotional well-being of the expellees,
as were the missed food, drink and even
the climate of the native land. In time,
money was collected for the support of
people, churches, and cemeteries in the
native communities. After 1989, support
for building of monuments to commemorate
the victims of war and deportation was
also provided. [….]
The first couple of generations
maintain the connection with the home community
through periodic visits. Partnerships between
German and Hungarian communities were set up.
Such partnerships were not possible with
Yugoslavia, because only splinter groups of
ethnic Germans remained, and they could get
organized only partially, after 1990. The
advanced and irreversible assimilation of the
remaining ethnic Germans in Hungary, and the
massive emigration of ethnic Germans from
Romania after 1989, visibly narrow down the
connections to the old country, unless
newly-created economic connections are
continued, independent of the nationality of the
partners. Those of the third generation consider
themselves to be simply “German”. For them and
the succeeding generations, the attraction and
importance of their origin decline. For the
offspring of emigrants to America, because of
the long separation in time and space, an
interest in their family history may lead them
once again to their eastern central European
roots.
3.3
Self-identification through associations of
compatriots
Even after half a century
the self-identification of the expellees
and late emigrants was neither an easy
task, nor was it their first priority.
It turned out that the integration of
the expellees in Germany, Austria and
other countries could not be separated
from their education and the system of
values that they had brought along. This
“invisible luggage” cannot be ignored
and it remains with them for a long
time. The mentality passed on through
generations had a special role, but for
the development of a new sense of home,
the level of integration and especially
the economic and social conditions
played an important role. The first and
second generation, despite their
satisfactory economic condition, rarely
found their place in West German society
and felt themselves strangers in their
new place of residence. The expulsion
was a break in the life of all
generations, but the changeover was
easier for the young than for the old.
Most could never get over the loss of
their homeland, because many did not
accept the hard facts, or they did not
have the time to work on it, as success
in the personal career was the first
priority4.
In addition, there was the age and the
emotional attitude to the events that
had radically changed their lives. The
inner integration of the expelled Danube
Swabians took much longer than their
relatively uncomplicated economic and
social integration, and for many it has
not been completed to this day.
Great help in the process
of integration was provided by the
Landsmannschaften (associations of
compatriots) and Heimatortgemeinschaften
(associations of home communities). They
organized get-togethers of the widely
scattered members, often with
presentations, choir- and dance
recitals, or Kirchweih festivities,
cementing the cohesion of old village
communities. But the Danube Swabians are
also trying to integrate into the social
structure of their surroundings and are
participating in various associations
and cultural groups. The continuation of
the choral tradition by the Banater
Landsmannschaft is remarkable. [….]
The generous donations of
expellees pay for parcels of food and
medications that are being distributed
to needy in the old homeland, for old
folks’ homes, for maintaining German
schools and cemeteries, and for
renovation of churches and monuments.
[….] The many well-attended events
organized throughout the year
demonstrate the survival of tradition,
piety, local dialect, and sense of
family. These traditional values have
ensured the survival of the German
minorities in the old settlement areas,
despite manifold attempts of
assimilation; they are the foundation of
the collaboration between those expelled
and those left behind. [….] The
cultural heritage of the home region is
thus preserved as an integral part of
German and European culture … and the
traditional values are passed on to the
young generation.
3.4
Coming to grips with history and taking a
position
[….] The question is: Do
the Danube Swabians as a group or as a
community have a future? The answer has
preoccupied those affected for
generations and was reinforced by the
expulsion and persecution after Word War
II, which took away their homeland in
Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Romania.
Wolfgang Gleich considered the relevant
deliberations of his readers and
expressed his own basic view on the
subject in an article5
reproduced, in part, below.
“[….] The Danube Swabians
are obviously not dying out! When they
were persecuted, expelled and deprived
of their rights after WWII, they lost
almost everything. But two of their most
valuable goods could not be taken away
from them: Their unshakeable faith and
their entrenched pioneer attitude. These
proved to be their true assets, when our
people, scattered across the whole
world, started to build themselves new
homes and families, gathered again in
communities to create a new homeland for
themselves – not by the sword, but
through hard work, as results of their
industriousness, their willingness to
work, and their thriftiness. They worked
their way up again from deprivation and
homelessness to respected and valued
citizens, in the old homeland, in all of
Europe, in North- and South-America,
wherever fate had taken them and had
given them a chance.
[….] The men and women of
the year 2000 are not the same as those
that populated the villages and towns of
south-eastern Europe. History and time
have passed over them and brought new
moral concepts, new conceptions of life
and reality. But all Danube Swabians and
their descendants everywhere in the
world have their common roots in
south-eastern Europe, and share the
traditions, values, and concepts
instilled in them by their parents and
grandparents. It is part of this new
reality that the world has become
smaller in the past years and decades,
geographic distances become unimportant,
and in the virtual space of the Internet
countless “virtual villages” are
created. In the past there was the bench
in front of gate, today we have the
telephone, fax, letter, e-mail, and chat
room [….]
The “Haus der
Donauschwaben” in Sindelfingen must
become a drop-in center, a contact
exchange for all men and women across
the world who feel part of, or connected
to, the Danube Swabians, have
Danube-Swabian roots or regard
Danube-Swabian values and culture as
part of their heritage. [….] For all of
them, the “world center” should be open,
an all-encompassing centre for services:
concrete, practical, and touchable! [….]
When somebody in the USA wants to find a
place to study in Germany for his
grandchild, or somebody in Germany is
looking for a similar place in the USA,
Sindelfingen should be able to provide
the names of compatriots or associations
that can help, the name of the
appropriate authority or institution, or
that of a professor with Danube-Swabian
roots or affiliated with the
Danube-Swabians. When an entrepreneur is
looking for new business partners, why
should the “world center” not be able to
help him? The outcome of this kind of an
establishment, carrying out this kind of
activities, would be a global network of
relationships, a community like the
village back home! [….]
Dreams of the future?
Illusion? Not at all! This is a
realistic perspective for the future of
the Danube Swabians as a global
community. Will it become reality? It
depends entirely on us to do it [….]”
References
1
Hagel, Hans (1967): Die Banater
Schwaben. Gesammelte Arbeiten zur
Volkskunde und Mundartforschung. Hg. von
Anton Peter Petri. München, Verlag des
südostdeutschen Kulturwerkes S. 10-16
2
Weresch, Hans (1985): Josef Gabriel d.
Ä. · Josef Gabriel d. J. Ausgewählte
Werke, Freiburg S. 18-23
3
Senz, Ingomar (1988): Die Schwaben
in der Batschka. Geschichte und Kultur
einer deutschen Volksgruppe zwischen
Theiß und Donau. In: Die Donauschwaben.
Deutsche Geschichte und Kultur in
Südosteuropa. Sechs Vorträge, Hg. Horst
Kühnel, Haus des Deutschen Ostens,
München, S. 25-48.
4
Mayer, János
(1998): Heimat, Wohnort, Zuhause? In:
Jahrbuch für deutsche und osteuropäische
Volkskunde, Bd. 41, Marburg: N. G.
Elwert Verlag, S. 101-126.
5
Gleich, Wolfgang: Die Zukunft der
Donauschwaben. Die Menschen wandeln sich
mit den Veränderungen der Zeit. In: Der
Donauschwabe, Jg. 59, Nr. 17 vom
13.08.2000.
Biographical Note
Dr. Hans Gehl
is a native of Glogowatz (Banat) and a
graduate in German Language and
Literature and Romanian Language and
Literature of the University of
Temeswar/Timisoara. From 1987 to 2004 he
worked as a scientist at the Institut
für donauschwäbische Geschichte und
Landeskunde (IdGL) in Tübingen. He has
published numerous contributions on the
history, life, and language of the
Danube Swabians. NT |
