ZVA WEB SITE
Since our founding in February 1996, our web site has been hosted by the Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS). For most of that time the webmaster was John Movius. Recently, FEEFHS decided to move its web hosting to Brigham Young University. I am not clear on all the political maneuvering that followed, but the end result is that John Movius is taking most of his clients with him to a new web site. Faced with an entirely unknown situation staying with FEEFHS or the familiarity of remaining with John, I chose the latter. The new URL is http://cefha.org/zva/zva-fp.html. In the short term there is a problem with addressing that should be resolved within days. If you are anxious to access ZVA pages, go to http://cefha.org and do a search for Zichydorf. The pages are all listed, but you will have to substitute cefha.org for www.dcn.davis.ca.us/go/ in the URL. Some are there, some are not.
CHURCH RECORDS FROM 1850-1900
No news on this front. Still trying to work through László Rudolf to obtain results.
2005 SASKATCHEWAN CENTENNIAL BOOK
Work continues on planning for this book. Please continue your work of writing your family’s story and contact Glenn as soon as possible to coordinate your efforts. Time is getting short! We are looking for a title for this publication. We have decided to turn that job over to you. Please submit your ideas to Glenn by mail or email or bring them along to our next meeting. Whoever submits the chosen title will receive a FREE BOOK!
NEW AT THE LIBRARY AND ON THE WEB
Prinz Eugen: The History of the 7 SS-Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen” by Otto Kumm. In early 1942 the German war machine ordered the creation of a division from among the Germans of Yugoslavia. Although originally planned and designated as a volunteer division, the number of volunteers was insufficient and the ranks had to be filled by arm twisting. The division was recruited from Banat and Siebenburgen, trained through 1942 and entered combat in January 1943. For the next two and a half years it marched through forests, up and down mountains, and across rivers and streams through Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dalmatia, Montenegro, and Serbia south of the Danube in pursuit of Tito’s Partisans.
Although most of our ancestors came to North America almost fifty years before these events, many of our distant relatives and many more recent immigrants were quite close to these events. (Zichydorfer Karl Kaiser was one of the regimental commanders.) This book is an excellent opportunity to better understand the times these people faced. It also contains a beginning chapter on the tradition of the Hungarian Military Border settlement area and an ending chapter about Prinz Eugen himself. It is a difficult read, full of unit designations and foreign-language place names. The maps are all at the back, necessitating frequent page flipping to follow the narrative and many of the smaller place names are not on the maps. If you are a serious reader, it would be a good idea to have another detailed map at hand.Between Hitler and Tito: Disappearance of the Ethnic-Germans from the Vojvodina by Zoran Janjetovic is a rare publication indeed. Most publications concerning the post-war hardships of the Ethnic-Germans in Yugoslavia lean heavily toward one side or the other. Either the Serbs committed war crimes against innocent farmers, or the Germans committed war crimes against innocent peasants and got what they deserved. In this work, Janjetovic quotes from many German sources and the very few Yugoslavian sources that are available to present a balanced picture. He is quite sympathetic to the displaced German population, but, at the same time, he explains the background to the Yugoslavian resentment. He points out that other minorities were also persecuted, although not to the same degree, and that not only Serbs were the persecutors. Also key to understanding these events is the political situation. The new Communist government feared a large, unreliable minority within its borders and was committed to nationalizing private property and to rewarding people who had supported it during the war. These political factors , combined with long-standing ethnic resentment doomed the Donauschwaben to suffering and exile. This work is a “must read” for anyone who wishes to understand the post-war treatment of the Donauschwaben.
After almost two years trying to locate The Banat German Hungarians who came to southwestern North Dakota by Theresa K. Bogner Montee-Nelson, I finally obtained a copy for our library. It seemed a safe bet that a good local history of North American Banaters would be a useful research aid for finding relatives, even if there were no direct connections to Zichydorf. Unfortunately, this book is not a good local history. It is a disorganized hodge-podge of lists, newspaper clippings, book excerpts, and pictures in four volumes totaling more than 1,000 pages that is part family album, part local history. It deals with Banaters around Dickinson, North Dakota, with special emphasis on the towns of Lefor and Gladstone. While poorly executed, it is not totally without value. There are many familiar names and many settlers came from towns near Zichydorf. I even found one Zichydorfer, John Roeslein, in two separate copies of the same list in volumes 3 and 4. Undoubtedly, some of our members will find connections, but it will be hard work.
ZVA member Harold Miller has contributed two rolls of microfilm to the SGS library. These films record the Alien Registration and Declaration of Holdings forms for St. Paul, Minnesota in 1918. St. Paul had a Zichydorf community similar to Saskatchewan’s and many Saskatchewan families had connections to it. In fact, some people who settled in Saskatchewan first spent some time in St. Paul and vice versa. Extractions from these films appear on the ZVA web site, but the films are now available for anyone who wants to do more detailed research or make copies.
ZVA member Betty Harle has contributed two family histories to the SGS library: Adam and Katharina (Knapp) Hasenfratz and Their Descendants: The Search for Land – Freedom – Opportunity: Zichydorf to Saskatchewan and Johann and Susanna (Veron) Arnusch and Their Descendants: The Search for Freedom and Opportunity: Georghausen to Regina. Both books are very well done and should prove interesting to the average reader. If you are interested in any of these families, they are absolutely essential.
Also new at the library is Mitglieder des AkdFF und deren Forschungsgebiete, a listing of AKdFF members as of December 31, 2001 and the surnames they are researching (indexed).
Try these web sites:
Memories of the arrival of the Russians and Partisans in Zichydorf in 1944 by Barbara Hochban-Unger at http://members.rogers.com/kenho/History/1-Barb/BarbUnger.html
An Austrian email listserver (German) at http://list.genealogy.net/mailman/listinfo/austria-l
Black Forest genealogy at http://www.websters.net/blackforest/
7th SS Freiwilligen Gebirgs Division “Prinz Eugen” (many Zichydorfers served in this division) at http://www.forces70.freeserve.co.uk/Waffen%20SS%20Text+Images/7th%20SS.htm
Feldgrau.com – research on the German armed forces 1918-1945 at http://www.feldgrau.com/
Good map site at http://www.multimap.com/wi/65716.htm
German Antiguerrilla Operations in the Balkans (1941-1944) – the Prinz Eugen division was deeply involved – http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/ops/docs/german_balkans.htm
Latin terms & phrases at http://www.bmi.net/jjaso/Latin_Terms_and_Phrases.html
Dave Dreyer’s ship updates: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~banatdata/DDB/HomePage.htm
Canada’s 1940 national Registration at http://www.tbaytel.net/bmartin/natreg.htm
Hungarian immigration to Canada at http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/europesouth.html
Auswanderer nach Ungarn (all in German) at http://home.t-online.de/home/jgallo/hgl/auswanderer.htm
RESEARCHER LIST
The following people have been added to the online researcher list:
C Loos, Lawrence J., #416 – 2243 Hamilton St., Regina, SK, S4P 4B6, Canada; Phone: 306-352-4529; Email: ljloos@sasktel.net; Searching: Franz & Margaret (Stadtfelt) Loos
C Achtzener, Tom, 2211 10 Ave. South, Lethbridge, Alberta, T1K 0C3, Canada, Phone: 403-380-2000 (winter 928-785-9853), Email tbacht@telusplanet.net (winter systole4u@yahoo.com or tomnbevz@yahoo.com), Searching: Achtzener/Mayer.
C Rachert, Andrew, #137 – 3360 Old Okanagan Hwy., Westbank, BC, V4T 1X9, Canada, Phone: 250-768-3377, Searching: Rachert, Rochert
C Keeling, Arlene, 114 Presley Avenue, Scarborough, ON, M1L 3R1, Canada, Email: arlene.keeling@sympatico.ca, Searching: Ritter
C O’Shaughnessy, Dorothy, 559 Hull Court, Burlington, ON, L7N 3E1, Canada, Phone: (905) 632-6492, Email: gus118@cogeco.ca, Searching Lambrecht
C Hugel, Joseph, 1042 Streamway Cres., Mississauga, ON, L4Y 2P4, Canada, Phone: 905-279-2288, Searching: Hugel
C Hochban, Tim, 2819 Woodmere Drive, Panama City, FL, 32405 USA, Phone: 850-769-3111, Email: timande1ke@mac.com, Searching: Hochban
Please note the following updates and corrections:
C Schwarz, Joe & Elisabeth Phone: 440-734-4642; Email: joethebarber24@hotmail.com
C Fr. Barry Anwender, 1701 Cowan Cres., Regina, SK, S4S 4C4, Canada; Phone: 306-586-0449, work 306-586-5655; Email: bjanwender@mac.com
C Stoeber, Jack, Email: jlstoeber@sasktel.com
C Miller, Delores, Box 1166, Weyburn, SK, S4H 2L5, Canada; Email: brendee@sk.sympatico.ca
C O’Brien, Mike Email: mobrien@milleker.org
C Ritter, Arnold, Email: a.ritter@sympatico.ca
C Eichhof, Penny, Phone 952-496-1123
C Flichel, Eugene, R.R.#4 3085 Fourth Line Road (balance unchanged)
C Busch, Al, 103 Patricia Dr., 13212
C Gibbard, Shirley, Email: sggibb@ca.inter.net
C Fleury, Donna, Email: fleuryd@telus.net
C Niesner, Adam, Email: aaniesnersr@msn.com
C Dornstauder, Frank, Email: frankd22@sasktel.net
C Ewen, Dolores, Email: dewen1@telus.net
C Ortman, Wayne, 2401 Eastview, Saskatoon, SK S7J 3E8 306-956-2226 wortman@accesscomm.ca
C O’Brien, Mike, 540-822-5077 Program: TMG 5.0
C Hugel, John, #409-2909 Arens Road East, Regina, Sask., S4V 3A8
C Johnston-Hill, Lori, Fax: 306-565-0800
C Haack, Dean, Box 1080, Gravelbourg SK S0H 1X0
C Fritz, Bazil, #18 – 189 Lockwood Road, Regina, Saskatchewan, S4S 3G6, Canada, Phone: 306-585-2806, E-mail: bfritz@sasktel.netÂÂ
MEMBERSHIP AND DUES
Paid for 2003: J. Shenher, J. Miller, G. Schwartz, B. Harle, F. Dornstauder, E. Flichel, A. Busch, J. Lang, T. Dash, J. Molter, C. Ortman, C. Noll, K. Niedermayer, B. Petz, A. Fulford, M. O’Brien, S. Kragh, R. Borschowa, J. Mayer, S. Schultz, P. Eichhof, N. Stetner, J. Hugel, M. Rist, E. Hugel, A. Ritter, T. Franks, D. Miller, L. Johnston, L. Loos, T. Novak, B. Anwender, S. Gibbard, T. Achtzener, S. Ryan, J. Meyer, B. Fritz, K. Lambrecht, Joseph Hugel, A. Rachert.
REGINA BRANCH MEETING
Regina Branch will meet at 2pm on Sunday, May 4, at Access Communications (Cable Regina), 2250 Park St (north door by the ball diamonds). Mark your calendar and bring some Zichydorf friends. Special presentation on technology including computer programs, photos, etc.
Zichydorf Village Association News
edited by: Glenn Schwartz
2274 Baldwin Bay, Regina, SK, S4V 1H2
Internet: http://cefha.org/zva/zva-fp.html email: gschwartz@accesscomm.ca