11/05/2001 
Dr. Thomas Reimer 11/05/2001
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To the Events 1997-1998 Chronicle
2001/06/01-02. 27th Convention. The 27th bi-annual convention of the KDL in Germany will be held as usual in Karlsruhe. There will be traditional dances, etc. Among the participants at the public discussion about Carpathian German culture past and present are Prof. Joerg Meier, of Bochum University, and Dr. Milan Ftacnik, the slovak Minister of Education. Those who can go should, for, as Oskar Marczy observes in the Karpatenpost, how many more times will there be a convention? At the KDL headquarters in Stuttgart, Mrs Langanke retired in December, and was succeeded by Andrea Suss and Ingrid Kolb. Since the KDL is totally understaffed, do not feel upset when correspondence etc takes a little longer. Always remember to include postage! (From the US, $2 in bills will do).
2001/05/26-06/04. The first Slovak census since 1991 wil be held from May 26 to June 4th. As in the US, government support for minority cultural activities depends on numbers. In 1991, a large number of Carpathian Germans did not dare declare their ethnicity, frightened by 50 years of oppression. Hopefully, this time, they will not hide.
2001/03/24 The Arbeitskreis Johannesberg (an AK is constituted by less members than an Ortsgemeinschaft, or OG, village community). held its last meeting, and then dissolved. The last witness of ethnic cleansing became too old, and no younger people were willing to replace them. Probably, in the next few years, more village Landsmannschaften, whether AKs or OGs, will follow.
2001/03/24. The Carpathian German historian Joerg Hoensch died, 65 years old at the eve of retirement. Born in Freudenthal/Moravia into a family from the Upper Zips, he taught since 1972 at the University of the Saarland in Saarbruecken. In his works about Slovakia, Prof. Hoentsch followed all too often the rule, when in doubt, blame the Germans. He also associated with Ferdinand Seibt of the Collegium Carolinum, who has tried to revise through creative accounting the number of Germans killed in 1945-46 under the Benesch-decrees from 250,000-300,000 down to 40,000. ( For details about that brand of revisionism, see Fritz-Peter Habel's critique on the history page).
2001/03/07 VDA Prize to KDV. The over 125-year old VDA (Verein fuer das Deutschtum im Ausland) awarded its 2001 Prize of 50,000 DM (about $22,000) to the Karpatendeutscher Verein in Slovakia. Present at the award ceremony was Rudolf Schuster, president of the Slovak Republic. He spoke but studiously avoided mentionning the Benesch-decrees. However, Bartolomaeus Eiben, the chair of the KDV, reminded the audience of the pain these unjust and racist laws still caused.
2000/11/25-26 IKEJA leaves KDV. IKEJA, the youth organization of the KDV in Slovakia, became formally independent of the KDV. The new IKEJA chair is Josef Herbulak. From the Carpathian German publications, one gathers that the rift was caused by the kind of intergenerational bickering common to all organizations, ethnic and otherwise. However, the Carpathian German minority in Slovakia is very small, and one can only hope that this rift will not have unforeseen but deadly consequences for the survival of our little group.
2000/10/28-29. Carpathian German meeting, this year at the United German-Hungarian Club, 4666 Bristol Road (c. Bristol & Spruce) in Oakford near Philadelphia. Elections of the board of trustees, then socializing, folk-dancing, dinner, prayers by Rev. Schweitzer from St Immanuel's, (whose father is from Eisdorf/Zips, like my Opa), a raffle and an exhibit. On Sunday, common breakfast, and more socializing. A very nice atmosphere, even for teenagers.
2000/08/25-27. Second Carpathian German Day in Pressburg/Bratislava to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the KDV, which has grown to 4,342 members in 36 local branches. About 800 Carpathian Germans from Slovakia, Germany and Austria came. The Slovak government, and the German and Austrian embassies were represented. As Oskar Marczy noted, the chances for survival of our little group are not too bad, all things considered. During a recent visit by President Schuster in Stuttgart, Marczy and other KDL officers spoke with him about the Benes-decrees. Schuster was friendly but stated nothing could be done.
2000/07/12. Madeleine Albright, our Czech-born American Secretary of State, gave Jan Kavan, the Czech foreign minister, an official diplomatic note in which the US government declared any challenge of the Benesch-decrees to be against US interests. This in the same week the US government had Germany (with Austria soon to follow), compensate people who suffered during the Nazi regime from the confiscation of their assets and forced labor solely because of their ethnicity, and did not yet receive any share of the $100 billion paid by Germany and Austria since the 1950s. To deny at the same time Germans whose assets were confiscated and who often had to perform slave labor after the war solely because of their ethnicity the protection of the law shows a perverted sense of morality at the very least. However, since no compensation fund has been set up by the Czech government, should a class-action suit be filed by Sudeten Germans in the US against Czech firms and insurance companies that benefitted from theft and slave labor, then it is likely that any judge will disregard that "statement of interest," as they have the right to do.
2000/06/17. The Carpathian German Cultural Museum in Karlsruhe/Germany opened an exhibit focusing on two Carpathian German artists, Hans Weiss and Andreas Antony. Weiss, born in 1931 in Malthern/Zips, was deported in 1945 and ended in Manchester, CT. He created a company making specialized electronic parts, including for NASA, the Dynamic Metals Product Company. After retiring in 1989, he focuses on painting, often dwelling on memories from home. Antony was born 1947 in Goellnitz. His family remained, and in 1994 he was able to receive the abandonned plant of the furniture metal-parts manufacture founded by his great-grandfather in 1868. It had been confiscated in 1945 and closed in 1975. Production has resumed. The exhibit of 60 paintings of was a success.
2000/02. The Numbers Game. The Statistical Office of the Slovak Republik released a short time ago updated population data, based on births, deaths etc. in the absence of a comprehensive census. Officially, 5,413 citizens are registered as ethnic Germans, though the KDV members, knowing their more cautious friends and relatives, estimates that 10-15,000 Carpathian Germans live in Slovakia. There are families in which some siblings have registered as Slovaks, and others as Germans. This number undercounts a substantial number of people, e.g. in the village of Hopgarten/Chmelnica in the Northern Zips, which, with one of the most thriving KDV branches, officially has not one ethnic German. The distribution of registered Germans may be of interest. The following numbers are per district:
Pressburg/Bratislava: 1,384
Hauerland:
Heiligenkreuz/Ziad nad Hronom: 295
Preschau/Presov: 465
(with 134 in Handlova/Krickerhau, Gaidel/Klac^no 58, Zeche/Malinova 113, Deutsch-Proben/Nitrianske
Pravno 137, and Schmiedshau/Tuzina with 89)
Trentschin/Trenc^in: 787 (with most, 682, in Priwitz/Prievidza)
Sillein/Zilina: 473 (with 290 in Bad Stuben/Turc^ianske Teplice)
Neusohl/Banska Bistrica: 443
Zips: Kaschau/Kos"ice 1558.
2000/02. The 3 newsletters of the Landsmannschaft gave some useful statistical information.
In Germany, the loss of the sole KDL Kulturreferent (see below) and of any support from the
Federal government threatens the survival of the KDL this very year. The budget needs are about
DM 200,000, or $130,000, because the KDL also does social and advocacy work for Carpathian
Germans in need. Not all members seems to have recognized the seriousness of the situation--even
the sale of the benefit pure silver medals, a wonderful gift for grandchildren, has lagged
below expectations. They cost only $30, and include an informative booklet. Buy them today from
the KDL in Stuttgart! In Austria, the KDL-Oe continues to publish its 1800 copy-Heimatblatt,
basically a historical journal, with an overall budget of 480,000 Schilling (or $40,000, half
of which is used for the Heimatblatt), coming from dues and donations.
2000/02. Several people who did much for the preservation of Carpathian German culture are
retiring. Gertrud Greser,leader of the KDL in Slovakia, is succeeded by Bartholomaeus
Eiben, a vocational school teacher from Metzenseifen, Gabriele Kintzler, chief
editor of the Karpatenblatt since 1994, after founder Julius Kiss died, by Vladimir Majovsky,
IKEJA chair Eduard Buras" by Ingrid C^urnek from the Bodwa Valley. One
immediate task is to deal with the cut in the subvention from the Slovak Republic from 2.1 Million
Crowns (about $45,000) to 1.72 Million (about $37,800).
In Germany, Dr. Victor Munteanu, the sole cultural worker of the KDL, paid since 1991 by
a grant from the German government to work on preserving Carpathian German culture and with the
social needs of Carpathian Germans in Germany and Slovakia, fell victim to the policies of the
new leftist-green government. Thoroughly reeducated, these "new Germans" feel uncomfortable when
encountering victims of genocide who happen to be German. Many such grants were up for renewal in
1999, and the new government showed how much it cared for its people by cancelling every single
one of them for Germans from the East. Larger Landsmannschaften can collect enough money to pay
some staff. For small Landsmannschaften, this may be a mortal blow.
2000/02/10. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan stated to Austria that under no circumstances would the Czech Republic alter the Benesch-Decrees. It is to be hoped that the European Union will apply pressure to change his defense of genocidal laws contrary to the UN Charter and common decency. Kavan is on a roll, though, and reiterated his statements on Feb. 28 in Die Welt.
2000/01/14. Some Carpathian Germans achieve biblical ages. In Deutschendorf (Poprad)-Felka, Wilma Schlepek, born Achaz, celebrated her 104th birthday with her family and the local KDV. In Weil am Rhein, Theresia Edlinger, ethnically cleansed in 1945 from her native Pressburg, celebrated her 100th birthday.
1999/11-12. The deported Carpathian Germans donate a lot to support the churches in the old home that now serve other ethnic groups which took them over according to the Benesch-Decrees. Hopefully today's young Slovaks appreciate that effort (Carpathian Germans as a group are not wealthy), but also understand how much Christian love such support takes as long as the Slovak Republic does not abolish these postwar decrees which made, and still legally make, Carpathian Germans into 2nd class citizens. Just as examples, mentionned in the Karpatenpost of January 2000, for the renovation of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Krickerhau/Handlova, exiled Germans collected DM 34,000, and for the church in Unterturz DM 19,850.
1999/11/11. Benes^-Decrees/Benesch-Dekrete. As the Standard (Vienna) of Nov. 13 reported, during a debate between Austrian legislators and Slovak justice minister Jan Carnogursky on Nov. 11, the latter defended the decision of the Slovak parliament to condemn the Benesch Decrees as immoral YET at the same time to refuse to alter or cancel them. This position is saddening, especially considering the goodwill Carpathian Germans have shown to the Slovak people throughout the Czech occupation and after 1993, when they greatly helped the Slovak Republic counter the negative image created by mainstream German media more sympathetic to the Czech Republic. On the Czech side, Die Welt of Nov. 12 reported that Sudeten Germans in the United States proceed with the preparations for their class action suits against Czecho-Slovak insurance companies who obeyed the orders of the postwar Beneschist regime to hand over their policies to the Czech state. Even Ed Fagan, the star lawyer who represented Jews who had lost their insurance and bank accounts when during the war the Nazis took them, expressed interest in joining the case. Though, owing to 60 years of US media-hatred against Germans, the victims won't be able to enjoy the public support that would force the Czech insurance companies to settle, the legal rulings in favor of Jewish victims of Nazi racism apply to German victims of Czech racism as well. Keep reading about this interesting case!
1999/06/24-26. The 4th annual Carpathian German Festival in Kesmark. About 500 people performed. There were singers and dancers from the German minority of Kischinew (Moldavia), Lemberg (Ukraine), Reschitz (Rumania), Deutschnogen (South Tyrol), Germans from the Federal Republic, and a brass band from the Slovak minority in Nadlak (Rumania). Local groups came from Zeche, the Oberzips, Kaschau, and, as hopeful sign for the future, the children's song group Strahl (Ray) from Deutschendorf (Poprad). There were 3 groups from the Croatian minority in Slovakia, while the children group Goralik from Kesmark represented the Slovak people. Several Slovak ministries sent delegations, as did the embassies of Germany, Croatia, Hungary, Ukraine and the European Union. The songfest included an exposition of paintings by Carpathian German artists. Though, because the fest has lost its novelty--its the 4th time already--the public was a bit less dense than at the first two, its organization and planning are to the credit of the KDV and especially its cultural leader Eduard Burasch.
Kesmark is a small city of about 20,000 people, with few decent hotels, and info is tough to get. A few years ago, my mother stayed at the pretty resort of Alt-Schmecks (Stare Smokovy), and commuted. Just for info, there is the Club Hotel, run by Janka and Georg (Juraj) Gantner, Namestie Dr. Alexandra # 24, SK-06001 Kez^marok, phone 00421/968/524051, FAX 00421/968/524053. A good person to contact is Adalbert (Vojtech) Wagner, city councilman and chairman of the area Carpathian German Society (KDV). Office at Priekopa 2, Kesmark, tel/fax 421/968/522389. The city has a small english website
1999/06/15. Alfred Marnau, born 20 April 1918 Pressburg, died in London 15 June. Marnau, a great Carpathian German writer and poet, moved in 1938 to London. As noted in his obituaries in the Karpatenblatt, the Karpatenpost, the Heimatblatt and the Karpatenjahrbuch, towards the end of his life he connected again with his people. His only daughter Corinna, born in 1956, a Catholic nun in France, writes her poetry in French, and not at all in German. May he rest in peace.
1999/06. It is the 85th anniversary of the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serb secret agents, which led the European great powers to fall upon each other. Then, it is the 80th anniversary of the notorious Treaty of Versailles, which, together with the other Parisian treaties (Sevres, Trianon), parachieved the catastrophe and destroyed European comity for two generations. The Wilson administration, whose gratuitous intervention into the war precluded a peace of exhaustion between both sides in 1917 (see Winston Churchill statements in 1936, for instance), bears a heavy responsability for the rise of Adolf Hitler, Eduard Benesch, and the host of butchers, large and small, on both sides.
1999/06/06. The evangelical-lutheran Church in Dobschau (Dobs"ina) will hold a special service in German to honor those who participated in the last confirmation held in German there 55 years ago, and soon after lost their homeland.
1999/06/04-05. Carpathian German convention in Karlsruhe/Germany, with representatives of all
three Landsmannschaften. Among the guests of honor were Dr. Straub, president of the state
legislature of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Milan Gasik, State Secretary of the Slovak Ministry for
Culture, Pavel Hrus^ovsky, vice-president of the Slovak parliament, Jan Foltin, ambassador
of Slovakia in Germany, and many others. In his speech, Mr. Hrus^ovsky promised that the new
Slovak Republic won't follow the example of the Czechs in interwar Czechoslovakia, but will
respect its minorities. The attendance of so many high-ranking Slovaks alone shows this respect
--so far, the Czech government ignores its Sudeten German victims and countrymen.
Unfortunately, attendance was weaker than before. But so many Carpathian Germans are getting
very old. Many have died as well in the past years. A novelty was the sale of a pretty pure
SILVER MEDAL to commemorate the 50. anniversary of the KDL. It costs DM 50 plus postage (send $40),
the surplus helps KDL. This is really needed. E.g., the convention received a grant from the new
SPD government in Germany of 15000 DM ($9000), less than half of what the old CDU government had
contributed in 1997 and earlier years. To order the medal, send your order (with money-order, not
check) to the KDV in Stuttgart.
1999/05/30. Rudolf Schuster, the Carpathian German mayor of Kaschau (Kosic"e), was elected President of Slovakia with 57% of the popular vote in the second round. Since his youth, Schuster was member of the Communist Party. Despite constant suspicions about his ethnic background in the very nationalistic CSSR, Schuster had a good career under a regime that was, until 1953 when Stalin died, as evil as the Third Reich after 1940, and after that still totalitarian. His ethical background is marred, and he is not known to have shown any closeness to his people. To what extent his election will help bring justice to the forlorn Carpathian Germans (abrogation of the Benesch-Decrees, restitution of property at least to the 6000 still living in Slovakia), will have to be seen, since the position of the new Dzurinda government and the old Meciar government are not different in this respect. In his post-election interview in the German daily Die Welt of 5/30/1999, Schuster soulfully called the Benesch-decrees "grausam und ungerecht," (cruel and unjust), but then stated that they could not be voided in Slovakia "until the generation that suffered them is gone." (who is to get justice, then?), and, anyway, Slovakia must follow the Czech Republic in this. What cynicism! Is Slovakia not independent? Can't it repair a Czech-created injustice, the way mature civilized societies are supposed to do, especially when they want to join the European Union. At the same time, the Dzurinda government keeps pressing for "reparations" for Slovak suffering in World War II, forgetting that the Slovak Republic was a voluntary ally (there was not one contrary vote in the Slovak parliament in 1939) of Germany then. Dzurinda and Schuster's arguments not only seem morally oblique, but also show how 55 years of national-czech and communist propaganda have twisted historical memories.
1999/05/22. Germans from the Theresienthal in the Karpato-Ukraine met in Gaildorf, and even old Anton Zauner was able to attend. The area also receives help from Carpathian Germans in general. Those living in Bavaria collected a.e. DM 3,000 ($2,000) for the struggling German Department at the University of Uzhorod, whose members, like Dr. George Melika, work hard to save local Carpathian German culture.
1999/04/15. The European Parlament in Brussels adopted a resolution asking the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovenia (in ex-Yugoslavia) to abolish postwar laws that discriminate against former citizens solely because of their ethnicity, i. e. the Benesch-Decrees, and in Slovenia the AVNOJ-Decrees, before joining the European Union, thereby rejecting the advice of the Council of Ministers which wanted the Czechs certified as democracy without shadows from the past. On May 20, 1999, the Austrian Parlament (Nationalrat) passed a resolution condemning the Benesch-Decrees and demanding that the Czech Republic abolish these before being able to join the EU, which is based on respect for individuals. Czech nationalists are alarmed, for this may delay Czech membership and access to the fleshpots (EU-subventions) of the rich West. Right now, Slovak politicians refuse to void the Benesch-decrees by pointing to the Czech Republic
1999/03/??. It seems that the Slovak government either closed the sole German kindergarten in Pressburg, or at the very least closed the building it used. (The news from Karpatenblatt 4/99 is a tad ambigous). Remember to support our schools. Once gone, there will no Carpathian Germans left in a few years.
. 1999/03/27. At the annual Easter meeting of JEV, the youth organization of the KDV, the IKEJA, was made a regular member (in Easter 1996, it applied, and in 1998 became a probationary member). This means IKEJA will now meet and work closely with other German and non-German minority groups in Europe. The Easter Seminar 2001 will be hosted by IKEJA. New probationary members are the Jugendring of the Germans from Russia and the Youth Society of Burgenland Croats (Austria).
. 1999/03/20. Otto von Habsburg, oldest son of the last Emperor-King of Austria-Hungary and senior member of the European Parliament, visited Kaschau ot the invitation of mayor Rudolf Schuster, a Carpathian German. Many Carpathian Germans turned up to honor a great Humanist, a fighter for a peaceful Europe, and the symbol of a time before, in the wake of the evil and absurd treaties of Versailles and other Parisian suburbs which purported to end World War I, the continent exploded in hatred.
1999/02/03. After visiting Slovakia, a delegation from the German Bundestag led by vice-speaker Dr. Rudolf Seiters met with Carpathian German leaders, notably Gertrud Greser, in Pressburg. The meeting was polite and perhaps will lead to continued support for Carpathian German schools.