Donauschwaben Villages
Helping Hands (DVHH) consist of all volunteers, whose desire is to help
descendants of the German ethnic group "Danube Swabian" discover their
ancestral roots, history, environs, culture and lifestyles.
Our Mission
is to collect and
provide historical and genealogical information
for the former Danube Swabian (DS) villages
situated in the six regions which were part of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918: Banat,
Batschka, Slavonia - Syrmia, Swabian Turkey,
Hungarian
Highlands, and Sathmar.
Our website is
chock-full of data, having been developed
using input from this very forum of
volunteers to flesh out all the aspects of
the Danube Swabian people. The DVHH Village
Coordinators hope to bring you closer to
your ancestral village.
DVHH Membership
The DVHH would
like to have
your membership
support to help
us continue the
Donauschwaben
legacy into the
future. The DVHH
maintains,
preserves and
shares a unique
and unparalleled
free collection
of Donauschwaben
resources on our
premier website,
telling the rich
stories of our
past and making
them available
to a new
generation.
2009 Contacts
Our project volunteers are not professional genealogists,
but many can provide you with the same
information. If you are looking for specific
information regarding your family, or
need assistance in your research,
please subscribe to our mailing list
sponsored by Rootsweb -
DVHH-L Mailing
List,
administered by
Eve Brown and
Roy Engel.
Address your
request to the entire list, and thereby
increase your chances for better
and faster results, and your
message will be archived in the Rootsweb
database.
Volunteering
The DVHH
Project always appreciates, and is in need
of, those who can volunteer to work with us
in any capacity. Whether it be assisting
with the preparation of materials to be
published, answering email queries, starting
a new village website, look
ups, committees, mentoring, or simply sharing
your ideas. We believe everyone has
something they can offer. Come join our
group of 'Helping Hands' and help us make
the DVHH even more helpful to fellow
researchers.
Special
Features
In addition to our ever-growing main
and regional sections check out our special features:
Interviews into the lives of some of our
extraordinary Donauschwaben contemporaries, who
have proven to be
Movers
and
Shakers.
Those who
have conducted time consuming research in our
behalf are remembered like
Footprints
on
Our
Hearts
List.
Learning primary insights into our
ancestors life are captured in
Letters
From
the
Homeland
through
our
translation Assistance
Program.
Recipes
submitted
by
DVHH
members
who
want
to
pay
tribute
to
Mothers
&
Omas
Cooking
Donauschwaben
Style!,
with
a
generous
dash
of
love.
WWII
refugee
camps,
also
known
as
Displaced
Persons
Camps,
existed
throughout
Europe
after
the
war.
Despite
the
hardships,
extreme
poverty
and
hunger,
at
least
the
language
proved
to
be a
‘natural
fit’
for
the
Donauschwaben
inhabitants.
Destination: The Americas
It is the intention of this DVHH site to
provide information, encourage historical and genealogical research and to
explore those original destinations and the situations in which these
pioneer Danube Swabians lived to provide a postscript to their early years
that mark the beginnings for the next phase of our history. We invite you
to join in the discovery, exploration and research of the various
destinations with our Archivists or share some destinations of which we are
currently unaware.
Commemoratives,
honoring and preserving the memory of the Danube
Swabian through
Museums;
Memorials
and
Remembering Our DS Friends
who
have
contributed
to
the
Danube
Swabian
Community.
Milestones & News
How the DVHH
got started . . .
Just
glad to help, Jody. It seems that searching for our ancestors makes one
want to help others like they did.. Today many have
lost the art or haven't wanted to keep it alive. I
know my ancestors struggled to keep alive through
all sorts of challenges and yet, I'm sure, when
someone needed a helping hand or a kind word, they
did what they could knowing that "the shoe could be
on the other foot" at any time. I like to think that
my ancestors passed on this desire to be kind in
their genes to their descendants and it's up to us
to find it and use it and make them proud of their
progeny. Don't you agree?
Beryl
Henry, May 2002
The DVHH founded by Jody McKim as a project dedicated to
assisting researchers learn more about their ancestors and
their heritage. The idea began as a results of the
above email Jody
received from Beryl Henry, May 2002. It was a response to a query
Jody received while on the
Banat-L list regarding her surnames in Lenauheim.
This act would inspire the founding of the DVHH. Jody
recalls...
Beryl Henry offering to do lookups
in her Hans Hockl's book and the Stader Books. She
also sent me the link to
www.banaterheide.de and guided me through the site,
which is in German.
A few days later she sent me a hand-transcribed list of
information regarding my family, which must have taken her hours
to write out. I thanked her and received the above
message.
I read Beryl's
message over and over. Her words
soon became a source of inspiration to me. I
begun to think of what I could do to help fellow
researchers find their way and in English. I then put
together a project proposal which would become the DVHH.
Beryl
had no idea that her message would inspire the creation of
the Donauschwaben Villages
Helping Hands Project. Beginning in
mid-December 2002, with the help of a core team: Chris Kech,
Kim Geiger and myself, along with Mike O'Brien, who stepped
into the scene to donate web space for the project --we put
the DVHH online January 15, 2003. In the early
days, DVHH supporters Alex Leeb, John Busch and Diana
Lambing helped us remain steadfast; and as time passed
volunteer who has joined us has added to the our helping
hands.
I
dedicate my efforts to the DVHH and to all people
like Beryl, who give a "helping hand."
"Never doubt that
a small group can change the world.
In fact, it is the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead
Thank You,
Jody McKim
DVHH Founder & Webmaster
