Last of the German Village Baratzhausen

by Anton Zollner

Baratzhausen is situated northwest from Temeschburg on the Banater heath, and belongs to the municipality of Knees (official: Satchinez). According to Gheorghe Drinovan the locality already existed since the 15th Century documentarily occupancies.

After the settlement of the Germans, which had a population proportion of over 40 per cent of the start of this century. The village, a Catholic Parish was a branch of Knees. Since the year 1824 the branch belonged to the Mercydorfer Parish.

Baratzhausen (today Barateaz; Hung. Barácsháza, Berndjas, Barnias, Perntjass), also mentioned by Banater Swabian appropriate dialect for Berndjas north of the municipality of Knees, which it is connected with to about 9 km by a long road. The roads also connect to Sink Andres – Perjamosch. The locality also, has a railway connection, but the stop is 3 km outside of the village. In 1890 Baratzhausen had 919 inhabitants and it belonged to the Winga district and was in the Teme Komitat. Since then the number of inhabitants sank constantly, in 1992 there were only 584 persons. In 1910 the German population consisted of 348 persons, who had a population proportion of over 42 per cent. In November 1940, 371 Germans had registered in the village. After the war the number of the Germans sank, so that in 1977 among the 634 village inhabitants only 128 Germans were constantly corresponded to a population proportion of 20 per cent.

The Romanian population rose up to 483 persons. During the census of 1992 one could tighten only the end of the German community. Among the 584 inhabitants of the village were only 5 persons, who professed themselves to the Deutschtum, (Germanic). This number was still acknowledged also in February. The population consisted at that time except the 5 Germans, 544 Romanians, 13 Hungarians, 11 gypsies, and 11 others. In this position one is not to be surprised also that the Germans from Baratzhausen in the today's Romanian press of the Banat are not any longer mentioned. Otherwise the German press of the Banat had to report nothing more in the last 15 years also on Baratzhausen. Only the daily paper "Renasterea Banateana " (Reborn Banat) published some reports in the years 1996-97, in which the correct townscape of the today's "Barateaz" was described. After the structures of the "socialist agriculture" disintegrated after the fall of Ceausescus, the old Nomenklatura everything tried to do, in order to save for itself, which was to be still saved. This also belonged to the Praeses the local LPG Ilie Pepa, which on the structure of the "socialist " LPG, which "Egreta" structured free market "agriculture association". To its chairmen naturally Pepa "was baptized". In the possession of this association now also the medieval castellan is, in 18. Century was again established and to its last owners count was Mihály Méhész. The Soviet army or castellan for the trifle of 80.000 Lei, vacated of the “Securities”, had bought the LPG. How it came into the possession of the Agriculture association led by Pepa, nobody knows. One knows only that the castellan is booked since 1994 with a value of 13.665.957 Lei in the registers of the association "Egreta".

In 1990 the cattle farms of the Baratzhausener LPG were also sold off to a Syrer named Mohamed Abdul for only 4.7 million Lei, an amount, which was far under real value of the farms. One wanted to sell at that time, when in the " post office-revolutionary " Romania the chaos prevailed, as fast as possible the farm and to divide the profits among the LPG members. However since then the farms were already sold twice, this would have been brought to the attention of the authorities. Therefore the tax office had not only taken no controls, but no bookkeeping was led. On the farms, normally one cannot find a person except some poorly paid Romanian helper and her foreman a responsible person. The cattle farms became unprofitable as soon as possible, sheep breeding was impossible without the appropriate conditions. Pastures are missing in the proximity, and therefore the animals are evacuated toward Constanza in closed spaces. Since this is against the nature of the sheep, a large part of the live-stocks under all-worst agonies ends. The ill and hurt sheep are not treated and are not put to sleep, but they must after Islamic custom painful starve. The animals are killed and then burned in an improvised crematorium, and their ashes are buried. The village inhabitants of Baratzhausen are very indignant because of these bad states inconceivable for the Banat.

The remainder of the fields are situated fallow and unproductively there. One has now the so much desired land and not the necessary agriculture machines or animals and still fewer work desire. These farmers required themselves to be able to bring an entrepreneur in, who they could lease, their fields, without special diligence and sweat, at least one part of the harvest. This takes time for years; Banater Swabian, which would’ve done that, but they don’t exist in Baratzhausen no more. The fact that one can achieve something nevertheless with diligence had proven in the previous year a director of the Temeschburger "Avicola". Petru Arnautu, a trained veterinary surgeon, created a private chicken farm in June 1997 in an empty-standing house. This was so successful that according to predicates of the "Farmers" this could erase its start credit at a value of five million Lei after only two months.(!). At first he bought 300 pieces of day-chicks, which weight 1.600 kg, each, and which produced daily 250 eggs after only 42 days. Soon after a monthly net profit at a value of three million Lei. At the beginning it functioned the farm as "one-man operation", in which the veterinary surgeon maintained its up to 1.000 chickens. It prepared the fodder after own prescriptions, inoculated the poultry, and executed vitamins, exactly the same, as written in the books.

October 1998 Anton Zollner - permission given to translate