The
Destruction of German Lutheranism In Swabian
Turkey
(Tolna, Baranya and Somogy Counties)
By
Heinrich Keri
Translated
by
Henry Fischer
During the deportation to East Germany, on the night of May 28th, 1948, my sister Elisabeth gave birth to her son Konrad
as the rolling, packed, sealed cattle cars
moved across Czechoslovakia,
into an unknown
future.
The
Volksbund (The Folk Union) | Deportation to Slave Labor
in the Soviet
Union
Internment |
The
Expulsion from Hungary Ordered at
Potsdam
In the
Evangelical Lutheran National Archives
in Budapest there are records and short
histories of the individual
congregations and parishes of the
Tolna-Baranya-Somogy Seniorat (Church
District). At the request of the Dean
of the District these histories were
authored by the pastors of the Mother
Churches, while in the filial daughter
congregations they were written by the
schoolmaster, and are focused on the
period from 1900 to 1950. It should be
further noted during the 1930’s the task
of writing the histories of the
congregations from their beginnings up
until 1900 had already been undertaken
by the pastors at that time.
These
later documents are now of great
importance, since they are the only
recorded source of information which we
have of the destruction of German
Lutheranism in the Tolna-Baranya-Somogy
Church District as the pastors of the
individual congregations experienced and
lived it along with their parishioners.
It is remarkable how outspoken the
authors are, in light of the political
situation in Hungary in 1950, when
others were arrested and imprisoned for
far less, for giving expression to their
moral outrage about the events they are
recording and the injustices visited
upon the Swabian population.
(Translator’s Note: The author provides
a short history of the beginnings,
development and spread of the German
Lutheran congregations in Swabian Turkey
in the 18th and 19th
centuries before addressing the pre-war
and war years which is the intent of
this translation.)
The
Volksbund (The Folk Union)
The Bund,
as it was most commonly known by the
Swabian villagers sought to recruit them
into their movement that was National
Socialist in its ideology.
(Translator’s Note: National Socialist
was the source of the term Nazi.) Their
aggressive followers allowed for no
compromise and were on the attack. Very
often their local village “Fuehrer” or
leader was an individual who was not a
landowner and was not eligible to become
the Richter or any other office holder
in the life of the community. These men
set their communities at one another’s
throats, which was such a sharp contrast
to the two hundred years of village
solidarity the Swabians had always
known. It was the beginning of the
end. It is understandable that the
pastors opposed National Socialism and
the Bund for more than one reason.
Throughout the Seniorat (Church
District) not a single Lutheran pastor
joined or supported the movement.
To
characterize this situation, the
following is the letter that Wilhelm
Straner the pastor in Kaposszekcso sent
to his Bishop, on February 6, 1941:
“With
a heavy heart I have to
inform you that my earlier
concerns about the Bund
and its activities has been
validated. They have put
their own people on the
Church Council, who instead
of furthering the work of
the Church are in fact
hindering it. The
congregation is split into
two parties as is the whole
community. We have faithful
church members, regular
participants at worship, who
without exception oppose the
agitation of the Bund
members who come to church
but keep their distance and
seek to carry out their own
aims. The leadership of the
Bund carries out public
anti-church diatribes. They
work to disturb the work of
the Church, whether the
activity is religious or
cultural. We had a
wonderful youth choir with
some fifty members. As we
began our winter program
the local Bund Fuehrer had
all of them added to the
membership list of the Bund
if they had ever attended a
Bund event of any kind. He
strongly forbade the young
people and their parents who
participated in the Singing
Society (Singstunden) to
participate in Church
activities because a “Bund
member has no place in the
Church.”
Along with the “school
question,” (Translator’s Note: "the
decision as to which
language would be taught in
the Church school")
the Bund declared that the
teacher must teach only that
which the Bund promoted, so
for example there could be
no teaching or reference to
the Old Testament in
religion classes…”
This is
one example of many. But it would be
wrong to blame the activities of the
Bund as the only cause for what was to
follow. For even without the emergence
of the Bund the later reprisals would
have still run their course. Both the
Bund members and their opponents would
all share the same fate. While the Bund
leadership and their chief
representatives in many of the villages
joined in the evacuation in the face of
the rapidly advancing Red Army, the
ordinary members and the other villagers
were convinced of their own innocence
and remained behind. They would have to
pay the price. All of the pastors,
without exception throughout Swabian
Turkey remained with their frightened
and terrified flocks, well aware that
their position and the life of the
Church was now even in greater jeopardy
than under the Nazis with the coming of
Communism and what that would mean for
them in the future.
Deportation to
Slave Labor in
the Soviet Union
At the
end of the November and the beginning of
December 1944, the Red Army occupied all
of the territory south of Lake Balaton
without opposition and the sufferings of
the German population reached its
highpoint. All of the German villages
experienced what the pastor of
Keszohidegkut describes:
“As a result of the war and
the occupation of our
village, the inhabitants
suffered much in the loss of
material wealth, as well as
most of their livestock.
There was a great deal of
wine in the cellars and
because of that the
villagers suffered much
abuse and the women, young
and old had unspeakable
things done to them…
Added to this, the occupiers
and the “new authorities”
loved to carry out their
actions on Sundays and
religious holidays.”
Dezso
Aisenpreisz, the pastor in Hidas
writes:
“On the Second Day of
Christmas, three hundred and
fifty men and women
were driven from their
homes to provide labor
service in the frigid winter
cold. The houses were
filled with whimpering and
crying family members and
they ran around like
chickens with their heads
cut off. No one came to the
worship service that day.
On New Year’s Day and
Epiphany the able bodied
were driven out to work and
this time the miners who had
been spared in the past were
also included. The
bitterness and worry reached
its high point when the
people were forced to work
day and night shoveling snow
that was metres high, and
then filling in trenches and
having to walk several
kilometers to and from work
guarded by hateful
sentries. On arriving home,
with heavy hearts, they
watched their beef cattle,
horses, pigs and fowl being
taken away, but they were
grateful to be in their
homes.”
Much
worse was the “malenki robot”
(Translator’s
Note: Russian, meaning small or
insignificant work. It was the code
word used for forced labour in the
Soviet Union and would apply to all of
the ethnic Germans in Eastern Europe
which had been agreed to by Roosevelt
and Churchill at Yalta at the demand of
Joseph Stalin)
The
pastor in Bikacs, Ferenc Rusznyak
writes:
“On January 4, 1945 there
were forty eight persons,
and on January 10th
an additional
forty-two, ninety persons in
all were sent to the Soviet
Union as slave laborers.”
“The majority of them worked
in the mines in the Dombas
region of Ukraine. There
were newly weds, single men
and young women, and from
among them, twenty-one of
them perished there. The
number of men who fell
during the war from the
village numbered
twenty-two. With the
deportation to Russia our
war casualties doubled.”
Those
who managed to return home often faced a
tragic future. Our pastor continues to
write:
“Because of the deportations
to Germany, many of the
survivors found no family
members at home. Parents,
who had both been in Russia
found that their only
daughter was gone because
she had been deported along
with other relatives to
Germany, and with broken
hearts they tried to rebuild
their lives, because they
were unable to join her.
Single young men and women
found out that their parents
were in Germany and had to
find shelter with relatives
or their Godparents.
Prisoners of war coming home
from Russia learned that
their wives and children had
been deported to Germany and
they were not allowed to
join them.”
There
were thirty-six persons in Keszohidegkut
who were dragged off to slave labor in
Russia as they left the New Year’s Day
service at the Church and were loaded on
open wagons. Numbers of them died in
Russia and after five years there were
still some of them who had not yet been
released.
In
Mekenyes, it was on Christmas morning
when sixteen young men (most of them
sixteen and seventeen year olds) and
thirty-one young women were taken to Sasd, and from there they were driven to
Pecs on foot in the frigid cold. On
January 13th, five of the
married women returned and the rest were
transported to the Soviet Union. From
Kismanyok there were forty-five persons
taken to forced labor in Russia and
twelve of them would never return. From
Varsad, the Mother church of the Swabian
Lutherans in Hungary over two hundred
and fifty men and women were taken.
They represented twenty per cent of the
population. From Csikotottos there were
sixty-seven persons, including the
pastor’s daughter, that were taken to
the Dombas region. Seven of them died
there.
Internment
For those
who remained behind at home further
persecution was to be their lot.
Internment followed. The purpose of
which was to provide housing and
farmsteads for new Hungarian settlers,
who were refugees recently driven out of
Czechoslovakia.
Sandor
Andorka, the pastor in Kety writes:
“During 1945 the
congregation experienced
further losses. On April 29th,
the village was surrounded
by armed units, and all of
the inhabitants except the
officials, were ordered to
assemble at the market place
by the beating of drums in
the streets. Using various
lists of names, the assembly
was sorted into groups.
The members of the Bund were
loaded in horse drawn wagons
and transported to Lengyel
that afternoon to the castle
of County Aponyi and
interned there. Their
entire property and all of
their possession were
confiscated, while they were
declared to be criminals.
They remained in Lengyel for
three weeks, and then they
began to sneak away and hid
in Hidas, while some of them
returned to their former
homes, while others found
shelter with relatives and
friends.”
In the
history of Kismanyok, submitted by
pastor Johann Lang, he writes:
“The 23rd day of
May, 1945 was a sorrowful
day for the village of
Kismanyok, the majority of
the members of the
congregation were interned
in Lengyel. Settlers
from Bukovina came to our
village. After about two
weeks many of the villagers
came home secretly and found
shelter with relatives or
their homes if the new
settler owners would
tolerate their presence.
Many of them fled to
Germany. The eighty new
settler families soon
exercised their rights as
the leading element and took
over all authority. They
placed the former residents
in their service, which they
welcomed as they really had
no other alternative.”
From
Hidas, we can read the following in
Pastor Dezso Aizenpreisz’s report:
“On April 29, 1945 at 6:00
am on Cantata Sunday, the
whole population of the
village was assembled in
pouring rain, amid howling
winds, in response to the
beating of drums along all
of the streets. They were
force marched to the village
meadow. Some where
released, but the others
were sent out on foot to
Bonyhad in pouring rain at
four in the afternoon, and
then they were taken to the
assembly camp at Lengyel.
On this day again, the
church was empty.”
Pastor
Ferenc Ruszyak of Bikacs provides us
with this additional information:
“There were other reasons
for internment. Families
who were not interned,
continued to live in the
village in houses that were
assigned to them. These
previous inhabitants often
came to verbal exchanges
with the new settlers which
resulted in an action on the
night of November 25, 1946
when a group of people,
including whole families
were brutally attacked,
assaulted and forcibly
assembled and driven out of
the village on foot to Gyorkony, from where they were taken to Pari on board
wagons driven by the
residents of Gyorkony.
Later, they were allowed to
return.”
The Expulsion
from Hungary
Ordered at
Potsdam
As the
expulsions began in 1946, entire
congregations went out of existence.
“The years between 1945 and
1948 were filled with fear
and worry about a possible
expulsion. No one showed
any interest in the affairs
of the Church, and no one
took on any functions in the
life of the congregation.
In August of 1947 and in
March of the next year,
around seven hundred persons
were expelled from Hungary.
Through flight and the
expulsion, the number of
believers was reduced from one thousand one hundred
souls to one hundred and
seventy-one believers. The
life of the congregation
limped along from day to
day.”
So
wrote, Endre Liska the pastor of
Varsad.
From
Hidas we hear from Pastor Aizenpreisz:
“Those who returned to Hidas
from internment were packed
together in some of the
smaller houses. In some
houses there were up to ten
families, usually in one
room, the kitchen, the
kammer or hayloft.
This tragic, sorrowful,
nerve wrenching and soul
searching time lasted until
the Expulsion Commission
carried out the verdict of
those to be expelled on
March 31, 1946 and nine
hundred persons were
transported away.
On July 2, 1946 in the
afternoon at 5:00 pm the
second group of six hundred
and fifty persons were taken
away. After being shuttled
back and forth for three
weeks they were sent back
from the border and were
interrogated in the village
of Hajos.
On November 10, 1946 they
were eventually delivered to
Germany with the exception
of some families who had
returned to Hidas after
their temporary stay in
Hajos.
On May 23, 1948 the last
group of ninety persons was
expelled.”
The
following is the report from Pastor Erno
Hoffmann of Izmeny:
“The whole
village was
like a
demolished
anthill.
Village life
was in a
shambles.
There were
new worries
every day.
The danger
and threat
was not only
directed to
those whose
homes were
confiscated
but also
those who
were still
in their own
homes.
The new
“arrivals”
sought the
opportunity
to take over
their homes
as had the
others
before them.
Because of
the
uncertainty
and threats
many
villagers
took flight
to Germany.
The Postdam
Declaration
was in the
process of
execution.
In fear of
what was
coming they
chose to
flee into
the unknown.
June of 1946
was set as
the day for
the
expulsion,
but it was
delayed.
But the
unrest among
the people
continued
unabated.
On May 23,
1947 on the
basis of a
government
order all
villagers
had to leave
their homes,
even if they
were not
members of
the Bund.
On August
19th,
several
families
were
expelled and
the church
membership
had
Dwindled . . .
“On March
2nd, 1948 a
long wagon
column
brought
three
hundred
persons to
the
railway
station,
where along
with others
from various
neighboring
villages
were transported
to the
Russian Zone
of Germany.
This was the
most awful
day in the
life of the
congregation
and
community.
Only a few
people
without land
and property
remained in
their own
homes.
They
survived as
day
laborers.
Our large spacious church
now is sorrowful to behold
with so few worshippers.”
From
Upper Baranya, and the village of
Kaposszekcso the pastor, Dezso Havasi
writes:
“In May of 1948 the
expulsion of the Germans in
Upper Baranya began. In
Kaposszekcso the names of
seventy-five families
(numbering three hundred and
five persons) was posted on
the village bulletin board.
On May 9th, all of them
received Holy Communion at
the service of farewell.
The action began at 4:00 am
on May 11th. Several
hundred wagons and teams of
horses were prepared and
stationed in various places
where the expellees
deposited the possessions
they were allowed to take
with them. After an hour
the officials set the column
in motion with its cargo of
weeping occupants proceeding
towards an unknown
destination. It was at that
moment when the church bells
began to toll in defiance
and continued until the last
wagon was lost in the dust
on the road to Dombovar.
From there the train headed
for Germany on May 13th. On
May 19th the village had to
relive the same sorrowful
sight again as six more
families were expelled,
including one Hungarian
Lutheran family.”
Pastor
Gyula Klenner from Alsonana writes:
“With the expulsion of the
German speaking population,
the congregation was
depopulated. On May 27th,
1946 there were one
thousand, one hundred and
sixty-two persons expelled
to Germany, followed by
twenty-one more on February
17th, 1948. Since then the
congregation counts forty-five
members.”
The
story was much the same in Bataapati, as
Pastor Adolf Klenner informs us.
“The
expulsion of 1946 devastated
the congregation. Ninety
per cent of the members of
the congregation were
expelled and those who
remained were economically
impoverished and forced to
live in smaller houses and
could only have six to eight
Joch of land. Here in the
Mother Church there are one
hundred and one members,
without support from the
wider Church the
congregation will die out.”
While
in Kety, Pastor Andorka reports:
“Our
blooming congregation took a
heavy hit and toll and has
shrunk to an “outpost” in
the diaspora. Of our one
thousand members, over eight
hundred were expelled.
Those who remain are looking
elsewhere to find a future.
Three families have managed
to stay in their own homes
having married a Hungarian.
In all, only seventy-one
members remain here as well
as thirty others living in
the vicinity.”
In
Kistormas, Pastor Gross writes:
“On November 13th, 1946, and
September 1st, 1947 as well
as January and March of 1948
almost the entire population
was expelled. The
congregation, which once had
almost four hundred members
is now reduced to
twenty-nine, while in Kolesd
there are eleven and all of
what remains of the
Felsonana congregation are
five persons. Seven to
eight per cent of the
population died as
casualties in the war and
forced Labour in the Soviet
Union. Of those who were
expelled, many of them have
died, many from a broken
heart, while large numbers
have emigrated to North
America.”
(Translator’s
Note: The authour describes attempts by
the struggling congregations to survive
now reverting to the sole use of the
Hungarian language in worship, with
limited success, but some strong
congregations emerging in Gyonk, Bonyhad
and Ecseny. I end with his concluding
words)
We
have no accurate statistics with regard
to the losses experienced by the German
Lutheran congregations in Swabian
Turkey. At the beginning of the Second
World War there were about thirty-five
thousand German Lutherans in Swabian
Turkey. The Dean of the Church
District, in 1950 estimated the total
losses to the Church were approximately
28,000 who were expelled, along with
those who fell in battle, joined the
evacuation or died as forced labors in
the USSR. Leaving a remnant of seven
thousand that to all intents and
purposes is now almost fully
assimilated.
Until the end of the Second World War
the bells of the twenty-seven Mother
Churches and over twenty daughter
congregations called the believers to
worship in their own language every
Sunday throughout all of Swabian
Turkey. Today, you can still hear God’s
Word proclaimed in the language of
Martin Luther in Szekszard on alternate
Sundays as well as in Bonyhad and Gyonk.
[Published at DVHH.org, 2006 by Jody McKim Pharr]
