Krndija in Slavonia The following information is a summary of portions of the Krndija Heimatbuch by Matthias Stolz published in Graz in July 1987. Slavonia is the eastern portion of Croatia between the Drava and Danube Rivers with Esseg (Osječke-Baranjska) as its chief city. In the far distant past it belonged to the…
Category: Slavonia
Syrem, Slavonia, Baranya
Syrem, Slavonia, Baranya The Cauldron Srem: When the Beasts Ruled “Whoever cannot work will not be allowed to live” Semlin The German population in Srem and Slavonia was scattered and isolated and lived among Croats and Serbs who formed a majority in the mixed communities in which many of them lived. But alongside…
Syrmien, Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia: Part Three
Die Deutschen in Syrmien, Slawonien, Kroatien und Bosnia By Valentin Oberkersch (Part Three) The Folk Group Organizations With the foundation of Swabian German Cultural Union (SDKB) in June 1920 in Neusatz, there were representatives from ten Syrmien and two Bosnian communities in attendance. Slavonia was the only area of German settlement that was no represented. …
Syrmien, Croatia, Slavonia, Bosnia: Part Two
Die Deutschen in Syrmien, Slawonien, Kroatien und Bosnien ByDr. Valentin Oberkersch (Selections, Summaries and Translations) (Part Two) The German Schools Both Maria Theresia and Joseph II had put a great emphasis on the establishment of schools in the new settlements they supported and stipulated that the schools were the responsibility of the State (1770). Prior…
Danube Swabians in Syrmien, Croatia, Slavonia and Bosnia
Die Deutschen in Syrmien, Slavonien, Kroatien und Bosnien Written by: Dr. Valentin Oberkersch (Translated with his family’s permission 2006) Translated by Henry A. Fischer (The following is a translation and summarization of key sections of Dr. Oberkersch’s book that would be of interest to English speaking Danube Swabians whose families came from Syrem, Slavonia, Croatia and…
The Partisan Raid on Gross Mlinska and It’s Aftermath
The Partisan Raid on Mlinska on 10.09.1942 The German settlements in western Slavonia and Croatia in the vicinity of mountains and surrounded by huge forests, were soon the target and goal of incursions and raids by the Partisans. Besides, there were things of value to get there. Both Djulaves and Bastaji had already been…
Klein Bastei: Part Four
Chapter Thirteen The Second World War Up until the German invasion of Yugoslavia in April of 1941, and even after the entry of German troops on Maundy Thursday, we Germans in Bastei were left unmolested except for a few incidents involving certain personalities, and we went about our work mostly unaffected by it all. …
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…
Klein Bastei: Part Two
The Settlement of the Liberated Danube Basin It was obvious to the commanders of the Austrian forces that the liberated areas were in a devastated condition. It was almost deserted, because the local populations had fled to save their lives, the former cultivated fields were in ruins, and the low lying areas had turned…
Klein Bastei in Slavonia
The Story* of a German Village in Salvonia In Croatia (This translation does not include certain sections of the book, which however, are acknowledged in the text) By Heinrich Heppenheimer An Introduction The Geographical Disposition of Klein Bastei The Historical Past The name “Bastaji”, (Bastei, bastion, fortress) indicates that it comes from the time…