Klein Bastei: Part Three

When and How Where the Communities in Hungary Settled by Germans Who Were the Ancestors of our Grandparents and Great Grandparents?

(Translator’s Note: The following information is taken from the work of Gustav Schmidt-Tomka on the History of the Lutheran Seniorat of Swabian Turkey)

Kotcse

This is the first of the secondary settlements in Somogy on the estates of the Protestant noble families: Berzcenyi, Antal and Benko. According to preserved documents, the original settlers included five Roman Catholic Magyars, twelve Hungarian Calvinists, and forty seven Lutheran and seven Reformed families from Germany. The church records begin in 1730.

Bikal

At the end of the 18^th century, German Lutheran settlers arrived in Bikal and soon they became the majority in the village. The Lutherans appear to have come from Tolna County.

Mekenyes

There were Lutheran German settlers in Mekenyes from 1735. They came from Gyonk and Zomba, because they could not remain there. In Gyonk, their Reformed landlord, Peter Magyari Kossa, refused to provide them with land on which to build a church. In Zomba their fanatic Roman Catholic landlord Dory von Jobahaza forced them to convert or leave. They settled in Mekenyes on April 24^th, 1735.

The family names of the colonists indicate an Ober Hessen (Upper Hessen) origin, and the city of Schlitz as their place of origin in particular. At the beginning the Lutherans had to put up with a lot at the hands of the Serbs who lived throughout much of Baranya along with the Croats. The colonizer was the princely family of the Esterhazys, who were then and later good to their Lutheran subjects even though themselves were prominent Roman Catholics.

Mekenyes was a Mother Church as early as 1737, and called Pastor Franz Tonsor from Lapofo (1737-1743) in Somogy County, who also served the Slovaks in Kurd. After nameless acts of interference, he was expelled from Mekenyes in 1743 and the prayer house was locked up. Each year, an annual mass was read inside even though there was not a single Roman Catholic in the village.

Egyhazakozar

The village was given its name by the Serbian refugees who settled in the area under the Emperor Leopold I. In 1800 they still had their resident Orthodox priest Andrevics. In 1732 the first German Lutheran family settled here. But it was only in the 1750’s that there was a large scale migration of the German Lutherans into the village. Johann Heinrich Birkenstock, whose origins can be traced back to Rainrod in the vicinity of Alsfeld in Upper Hessen, played a leading role in the formation of the Lutheran congregation that developed here.

He had first settled in Felsonana, and he was responsible for settling the Lutherans here. Most responded to his call in 1755/1756. He was well liked and trusted by Esterhazy. He was called the “Farmer King”, and it apparently went to his head. But he was the champion of his fellow Lutherans and their religious freedom as well as being instrumental in forming a Mother Church.

In the interests of his congregation he made journeys to Vienna and the royal offices there to speak to Maria Theresia, because of the oppression of the Lutheran congregation, forcing it to become a filial of the Roman Catholic parish of Bikal. He never got more than worthless promises for all of his efforts. The teacher who served the Lutherans was also driven out of Mekenyes and was replaced by a Roman Catholic. But by bribing the Roman Catholic priest in Bikal with countless gifts they were able to secretly have a Lutheran teacher serving in the village. Along with all of the other Lutheran congregations in the area, Mekenyes achieved official toleration in 1781 with the Emperor Joseph II’s Edict.

On the advice of Birkenstock, Esterhazy also settled German Lutherans in other villages. Gerenges, Nagyag, Tekesch, Kaposszekcso, Csikostottos and Taros. All of these Lutherans were persecuted, oppressed and exiled up until 1781 and the Edict of Toleration.

In 1783 Egyhazakozar became a Mother Church and along with the pastor in Bikal served all of the congregations in the vicinity. Until 1783 the Lutheran congregations suffered under the yoke of the Roman Catholics and paid tribute to them.

Nagy Hajmas

This village was settled by Roman Catholic Germans and Croatians by Count Philip Ludwig Zinzendorf, the Abbot of Pecsvard in Eisenburg County (1711-1735). Among these settlers there were also some Lutherans. The date of the arrival of the first settlers in unknown. The Lutherans united with the Mekenyes congregation in 1791 and later became a filial.

Toffu

The German Lutherans who settled in Toffu around 1720 were settled there by the Esterhazys. About thirty families received land allotments. Toffu and Hidas (1739) were the primary Hessian Lutheran settlements in northern Baranya.

Barcs

In Barcs the majority of the German settlers came in 1850 from Tolna and Baranya counties.

Somogy Dorocske

This village received its German settlers in the middle of the 18^th century through the enlistment of the Hunyadi family, according to the book by Johann Weidlein.

Izmeny

The village received its Hessian Lutheran settlers after 1720. It was a long street village on the von Mercy holdings.

Gadacs

Located in Somogy County, Gadacs was considered a puszta belonging to Somogyszil until 1848 when it became an independent community. It’s church, like that in Somogyszil was built in the 1850’s.

The Settlement of the Germans in Klein and Gross Bastei

With regard to the arrival and settlement of the first Germans in Klein-Bastei, Gross-Bastei and Miletinac, we have no factual history to which to refer. But upon the basis of the church records we can ascertain that the first children were born in 1891. It is obvious that young families expecting a child remained behind in Hungary until after the child was born before migrating to Slavonia.

One of the early pioneers, Johann Brautigam born in Murga on 21.06.1871 later reflected:

“The first German family came from Kotcse, Somogy County

in 1886 and were the May family. In 1887, four families came

from Bikal, and a year later six more families came from Bikal

and Nagy Hajmas. In this way, Klein Bastei was settled with

Germans… There were 42 German and 42 Serbian house

numbers”.

The last Lutheran “preacher”, Jakob Abrell was the source of the following report:

“ German settlers came around 1885 from Swabian Turkey, from

the communities of Bikla, Mekenyes, Csikotottos, Kaposzekoscsi,

Barcs and others, and most settled in Klein Bastei, while a few

others moved into Gross-Bastei…”

Klein-Bastei and Gross-Bastei had a population of 2,000 before the Second World War, of whom there were 300 to 350 Germans. The rest of the population was mixed, mostly Serbs, Croats and some from Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Almost all of the Germans lived in Klein-Bastei. Gross-Bastei was the seat of the local government, the local post office, the Orthodox Church, a Roman Catholic chapel, the school, small shops and stores, tradesmen, work places, dairies, blacksmith shops, a lock maker, tailor and shoemaker.

There is no definite evidence to suggest that there was a planned settlement programme carried out by Count Jankovic and his successors the Tukory and Turkovic families to recruit German settlers. A Yugoslavian source indicates, “The last arriving settlers in Bastaji were Czechoslovakians and Germans and were settled by members of the Jankovic family”.

The Places of Origin of Our Ancestors Who Settled in Bastei

From Kotcse:

The May family, who are believed to be the first to settle in Klein-Bastei. They were Adam May and his wife Katharina whose maiden name was Lohr , who had a daughter born on 02.05.1885 in Kotcse and on the basis of that the earliest they could have moved on to Klein-Bastei was in 1886.

From Bikal:

The extended families of the Keims and Freys, three Knies families and the Frudinger family (in Bikal known as the Fruhdinger), the Schild, Schonfeld, Peter, Hansel and Sterner families.

From Mekenyes:

The families Krahling, Waygand, Krahling (the parents of Susanne Knies in Mekenyes known as the “Eckfelders Krahlings). The Hopp, Stieb, Tewich and Schmidt families.

From Nagy Hajmas:

The Emrich, Leipold, Reiber and Sabo families.

From Nagyag:

The Grunwald, Ernst and Lehn families.

From Csikostottos:

The families Schonfeld Lorenz, Schon Nikolaus, Meisinger and Wertz.

From Kaposszekcso:

The Hecker and Goldmann families. (The latter may have lived in Gernyes before he moved on to Klein-Bastei).

From Tofu:

The Heppenheimer family came in 1873 from Sabadi to Tofu and then around 1891 they moved on to Klein-Bastei.

From Barcs:

The Ritzl and Neuhardt families.

From Nagyberki:

The family of Klein Jakob from the lower village.

From Somogydorocske:

The Gartner family.

From Belac:

The Ernst family (The daughter married Stefan Partz)

From Paschian bei Gross Mlinska:

The Muth family (They came from Csikostottos to Paschian)

From Izmeny:

The Zarth and Petermann families.

From Grabitsch:

The Semmelroth family and Johann Lamp

From Gadacs:

The Wajandt family along with the Knoch family in Miletinac.

From Hrastovac:

The following settlers in Klein-Bastei took brides from Hrastovac: Georg Keim married Elisabeth Stark, Jakob Keim married Katharina Wagner, Johann Hecker married Katharina Bierer on 24.12.1985. Johann Hecker married a second time to Katharina Bierer on 31.12.1890, Johann Schild married Elisabetha Just, Johann Knies married Anna Starck, Peter Schonfeld married Barbara Dietz and Heinrich Frey married Christine Ochsenhofer.

Hrastovac in Slavonia (Eichendorf)

(Translator’s Note: The settlement of Hrastovac described in their Heimatbuch is quoted by the author. There is a lot of detail and description of geography and topography, and the difficulties the settlers faced that I omit)

In the 1850’s Baron Tukery living in his modest little palace in Daruvar found himself in financial difficulties and the solution to his problem was the cutting down of the forests of his vast estates. Thousand year old oaks, beech and ash that were two and three feet in diameter were cut down and dragged by oxen teams to Sisak the site of the closest transportation link, the railway station. The scrub and diseased trees etc. were left standing. Several thousand arcres of deforested land surrounded Daruvar and Pakrac and was of no real use to anyone. So it was decided to parcel out small sections and sell the land cheaply to settlers. The nobleman’s steward named Stein in Pakrac, a former army officer carried out the programme, and soon found some buyers. But the local Serbs and Croats were not interested because they knew how difficult it would be to clear thel and and put it under cultivation. Only small attractive parcels of land around Uljani were purchased by them and most of it was already cleared.

Each parcel included a place to build a house and a plot of 6.5 joch and share of the 400 joch meadow. Five gulden was the down payment and five years later the rest of the cost, with no taxes for the first ten years was offered. This proved to very appealing to the Germans in Swabian Turkey where there was no land available, and very expensive when it was. That is how Hrastovac came into existence along with Blagorodvac, Kapetanovo, Polje and Sokolovac.

The first settlers to Hrastovac arrived in the spring of 1865. From among them, only three families would remain and all of them originated in Egyhazakozar. Johann Muller, Johann Sauerwein and Jakob Fleisch. The other four families, like many who would follow them, gave up and returned home or went elsewhere.

(Translator’s Note: The author continues describing the difficulties faced by the original settlers in Hrastovac that are available to be read in the Hrastovac Heimatbuch English translation)

The Klein-Bastei Dialect

(Translator’s Note: The dialect spoken in Klein-Bastei was identitical to the Hessian that was spoken in the Lutheran villages in Swabian Turkey)

Klein-Bastei and Its Neighbours

In the east and south there was a creek that formed the border between Gross and Klein-Bastei. In Gross-Bastei the majority of the population that lived there were Serbs, but there were also Croats, Germans, Hungarians, as well as Czechs and Slovaks. To the south west lay Gross Maslenjaca and the inhabitants were Croats who settled here after the First World War by the Tukory family. The river Ilova was nearby and served as the border between Slavonia and Croatia. North of Bastei was Miletinac, where approximately fifteen German Lutheran families lived who were part of the Lutheran congregation in Bastei. Some of these families left before the Second World War and settled in Cacinci. The overwhelming majority of the population in the vicinity were Serbs.

(Translator’s Note: The author shares some personal reminiscences)

The relations between the Germans and their Slavic neighbours up to and including the time during the Second World War were without any great problems or difficulties. There were occasions that verged on conflict but they were dealt with cordially. How it was between them during the settlement period is difficult to assess or know. From the oral history that was shared it was obvious that because of language difficulties it was hard for them to communicate with one another and there were often misunderstandings as a result of that. The one thing we do know is that the Serbs were only too glad to sell land to the Germans and the deeds that were signed attest to that. From the church records it can be ascertained that the Lutheran children were baptized by the Orthodox priest until such time a pastor became available to them when a congregation was established.

In the First World War all able bodied men, regardless of nationality served in the Austro Hungarian Army and an equal portion fell victim in battle. There were heavy losses among all of the ethnic groups. At the close of the war when young Slavs came home on leave they did not return to their units on the frontline positions but fled into the forests and formed groups for mutual protection and were called “greens”, and there is strong evidence that there were also Germans among them.

With the collapse of the Dual Monarchy in 1918, the two general stores in Bastei, both owned by Jews, Frank and Schonauer were plundered and robbed by the Slavs. The Germans and Hungarians were threatened, but as the new government of Yugoslavia took control, things and relationships were back to normal. The young Germans were drafted into the army but saw service only in Serbian Macedonia and never in Croatia-Slavonia. Most served on the border of Macedonia with Albania and many returned home suffering from malaria. But all of the minorities met with this kind of treatment and the rights promised to the minorities by the Treaty of Versailles were never implemented in Yugoslavia.

The German children had to attend the public school in Gross-Bastei and the language of instruction was Serbo-Croatian. From 1932 to 1941 they had a German department in the school. Relations with their Slavic neighbours were good until the Second World War, when they found themselves caught between the Serbs and Croatians in their fratricidal war.

The Economic Development of Klein-Bastei

(Translator’s Note: A synopsis of some salient matters)

In most cases the settlers only had enough money to pay for the land and house plot, while others had sufficient funds to build a rude house. After the houses were built many of the younger generation left for America, Canada or Germany. They went to earn money in order to later buy land in Bastei, or to pay the family debts. Others earned extra money by working on the estates of the Tukory family, or the railways and furniture and timber industries.

The Working Year of the Farmer The Seasonal and Religious Festivals of the Year Family Festivals and Celebrations Community Life in Klein-Bastei The Lutheran Church in Slavonia 1868-1918

Of great importance to the development of the Lutheran Church in Slavonia was the work and the activities of the British Foreign Bible Society and the preachers from the Pilgrim Mission of St. Chrischona, which was based in Switzerland. This was especially true in the early years when the Lutheran Church was unable to respond to the Protestants in Slavonia and Croatia after Protestant Patent became law in 1859, because they did not have the pastors to serve small isolated groups in a very backward and primitive situation. As a result, few of the Lutherans had pastors or schools in which the German language was used.

The Mission, less rigid and inflexible like the official church structures and administration, was able to respond quickly to meet the needs of the forgotten Protestant settlers. In response to the appeals, the Mission sent preachers and teachers to serve in many of the settlements. Often the function of the preacher and teacher were united in one person, who was called a Levite. In most cases the missionaries arrived as teachers and then became preachers of the congregations later. Some of them were later ordained. Some of these men gave their lifetime of service to the mission. Three men served for fifty years: Adolf Locher, Jakob Keller and Carl Busse and were buried in this land in which they had served.

The missionaries played a leading role in developing and sustaining the confessional identity of the population they served and Senior Jakob Kettenbach played a leading role in this but they were also instrumental in the building of numerous prayer houses (Bethauser) and schools, including those in Hrastovac, Zvonimirovac, Velmirovac, Darkovac, Sidski Banovci and others communities.

The pastor preachers of the Mother Churches also had a vast territory in which to serve in addtion to the community in which they resided. The preacher in Vinkovacko Novo Sello (Neudorf) served the diaspora all along the Sava River. Before Podrauska Slatina became an independent congregation with 28 filials and mission stations, the whole of Virovitica County was served by the pastor in Essegg. No wonder the ministry of the local Levits was so important to the church. Many of the filials in the future would become a Mother Church with its own brood of filials and mission stations of its own. In terms of the official Lutheran Church structures, the important event was the establishment of the Croatian/Slavonian Evangelical A.B. Seniorat in 1900. (Translator’s Note. The letters A.B. are the short form for the Augsburger Bekentniss, the Augsburg Confession, the statement of faith that unites all Lutheran congregations throughout the world). Now the church in Slavonia was officially structured. The Lutherans had maintained their identity in a sea of Catholicism and during a century of oppression.

Through the Bible Society’s literature, the people’s faith had been nurtured and strengthened. Above all, the scriptures and tracts were well received. The “Fellowship” movement had a strong impact on the spiritual life of the congregations. As the Seniorat grew, expanded and deepened, other language groups became part of the church: Slovaks and Magyars. A remnant of those who remained behind after World War II, still maintain congregational life in some of these places to this day. The seed has not been unearthed entirely.

Church and School in Klein-Bastei

The development of the church and school in Klein-Bastei cannot be discussed separately, nor do they have a separate history. From the time of settlement around 1888 and the arrival of the first preacher in 1908, when the prayer house and parsonage were dedicated, the Lutheran children were baptized by the Orthodox priest Panta Bikicki, and marriages were conducted by the Lutheran pastor in Hrastovac. The children went to school in Gross-Bastei and were taught in Serbian. Religious instruction was provided by the pastor in Hrastovac and also the parents because of the distance involved, some thirty kilometers.

With regard to some information the author had personally and in documented form, there was also a Hungarian school in Kelin-Bastei under the leadership of Pastor Mernyi, during 1908 and 1909 and up to the end of the First World War, while he served the people in Klein-Bastei. After the First World War, sometime around 1920 another preacher arrived, Ferdinand Dully, who had served as the Director of the Siloah Orphan Home in Neu Pasua up until 1919. According to relatives he had married couples there in Klein-Bastei as early as 1922. During the times when there was no preacher or pastor available to the congregation in Klein-Bastei, the tasks were undertaken by members of the congregation who preached at worship services and conducted funerals. Among these congregational leaders of special significance were Stefan Reiber born in Tarros on 21.11.1869 and his wife the former Katharina Oberlander.

Ferdinand Dully did not only serve as a preacher, but also as the teacher, who provided religious instruction for the children, but also taught reading and writing in German. During his pastorate the Agricultural Credit Union was established. At the end of 1932, Dully and his family left to serve in Konigsfeld in Bosnia. He was succeeded by Karl Mittermayer. He spent a lot of his time with the youth and had them develop an interest in hiking and sports. He later undertook the directorship of the Siloah Orphan’s Home in Neu Pasua in 1935 and would later accompany all of the children on their evacuation from Slavonia and re-established the Home in Egolfstal in Allau in Austria.

In 1935, Jacob Abrell and his family arrived to serve as the pastor in Klein-Bastei. When the “Renewers” established a local group, the pastor was very much opposed to them and their activities. (Translator’s Note. The so-called “Renewers” were a group of younger men within the Danube Swabian Cultural Association, who had political aspirations and took their inspiration from one Adolph Hitler, and attempted to use the existing organization to further the aims of the Third Reich). He feared that the youth would be estranged from the church because of the group and its “heathen” ideology. (The author then attempts to provide a rationale indicating that the pastor did not really understand the implications involved which is always the “party line” on the part of the Renewers, which I do not care to repeat. Henry’s note)

When the time came, however, to defend Klein-Bastei against the Partisans on June 5^th, 1942, the pastor stood first in the ranks against the raiders, while many others gave in to their fears. After the attack, in which the prayer house and parsonage were both destroyed, the took over a leadership position in Klein Bastei and worked with the Folk Group leaders in Essegg. He held this position until the evacuation of Essegg in November 1944. He also took the church records to Essegg at the request of the Senior there shortly before the evacuation. Jakob Abrell died in Ingolstadt, Germany on 28.01.1964.

Faith-Church-Church Building-Pastors and Preachers

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Klein-Bastei was found in 1888, according to the report of Jakob Abrell during the time of the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the congregation in 1938. There is no documentation to corroborate this, but it appears that the pastor from Hrastovac and one of the leading church officials was present for the event from the Seniorat. It would take twenty years from the founding of the congregation to the building of its prayer house and parsonage. During this period, Klein-Bastei was a filial of Hrastovac. It is therefore obvious that at funerals and most of the worship services that the lay leadership of the congregation fulfilled such “pastoral” roles, as mentioned previously.

Ferdinand Dully the former director of the Siloah Orphan’s Home arrived in Klein- Bastei in the fall of 1919, at the time that the institution was transferred to Giganka by Slatina from Neu Pasua, and the new director would also serve the small Lutheran congregation there in addition to his ministry to the children. There were fourteen places in the home for children, but on the night of October 28^th, 1919 a mob attacked and plundered it. The only thing they left behind undestroyed was one wall with a mural that proclaimed: Jesus Lives. Out of fear for the safety to the children, the church planned for the return of the institution to Neu Pasua, but it took until February 8^th, 1921.

(Tanslator’s Note. The author repeats much of the same information with regard to the ministry of Ferdinand Dully and Karl Mittermayer and his own personal memories about them)

After the prayer house and parsonage were burned down during the Partisan raid on Klein-Bastei on June 5^th, 1942, pastor Jakob Abrell was able to save his life at the last minute and escape the flames. He then moved to Essegg, but he still concerned himself with his Partisan threatened congregation from there. He himself later wrote:

“Bastei counts a bit more than 300 souls and was an independent congregation

because it was too far away from any other pastoral station, and had only four

pastoral visits each year. There were also two small groups in the area who were

served from Bastei. Daruvar, which could be reached by train, had about twenty

Lutherans and Miletinac, which could be reached by a reasonable walk also had

about thirty believers. In both communities regular services were held six times a

year, and religious education was provided every two weeks.

Following the raid on Klein-Bastei on June 5^th in 1942, in which three of the men

from the congregation lost their lives, thirteen other men were dragged off by the

the Partisan raiders and were never seen or heard from again. The prayer house

and the parsonage, and all of the contents were burned, and I was forced to leave

Bastei. Because of the danger in most of our congregations, especially the smaller

and isolated ones I was given a position with the Folk Group leadership in Essegg.

I held this position until our evacuation at the beginning of November in 1944.

On May 1^st and 2^nd of 1943 I was back in Bastei and held a service as well as

baptized five children. During my time in Essegg I assisted the Senior, Walter in

preaching, baptisms and funerals. I also committed the church records to him at

his request”.

There is no record or information as to what happened to these Church Records of Bastei which were given to Senior Walter.

(Translator’s Note. The author digresses in sharing personal stories and memories of Christmas pageants and such)

The Treffen-Reunion at Seligenstadt

The Second World War

Up until the German invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, the German population had been left unmolested. Shortly before the war broke out, the men of military age were all called up for service and all of them reported for duty and all of them returned home safely after the capitulation and collapse of Yugoslavia.

From the outbreak of the war to the arrival of the German army’s march through Gross-Bastei was only a matter of a few days. Nothing happened, but the German population was afraid because they had learned that in other places men were taken hostage and jailed, so it is no wonder that they were relieved and welcomed the German troops.

Several of the German soldiers attended the Good Friday service at the prayer house and they expressed an interest in knowing the origins of the various German families back in Germany, the information which few of the families could provide to them.

A few months after the entry of the German troops and after the declaration of the independence of the State of Croatia, word spread of attacks by armed men taking place in the countryside. They were called: Chetniks (Serb Nationalists). In order to be able to defend the village, the Germans of Bastei received several guns (rifles) and went on night patrols with Serbs from the village. Only the Germans carried arms. These night patrols lasted until March 15^th 1942. On that night Johann Partz who lived in Gross-Bastei was shot in the stomache through his front door and died the next day. These “freedom fighters” also wounded a young Croat, who died of his wounds a month later.

The leaders of the German villagers had to decided what course to take in light of these first two deaths in their community. Should they leave their destiny in the hands of others or would they defend themselves and their homes which their grandparents had struggled to build up for them. The men decided they would defend the village and word might spread so that the Partisans would leave them alone.

June 5^th, 1942 would disprove that supposition.