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The
Neu-Pasua Homeland Committee and Its
Task
The Emigration of our
Ancestors
Neu-Pasua,
A Short Homeland
Book
By Mathias Huber
Translated by Henry Fischer,
Edited by Rose Vetter
At the general Treffen
(assembly) of the Danube
Swabian Expellees
Organization held in Reutlingen in June 1951
there were many of our
countrymen present from
our home community
Neu-Pasua. A small
group of them talked
among themselves and
agreed to eat their noon
meal together at the
local Ratstube and spend
a leisurely together.
As agreed about 30 to 40
persons appeared at the
restaurant, almost all
of them countrymen from
Neu-Pasua. Even prior
to the Treffen the
necessity for founding a
Homeland Committee had
been raised by some
former residents of
Neu-Pasua who saw its
importance and gave
serious consideration to
it. The Neu-Pasua
former residents who
were present were from
Reutlingen or lived in
its close proximity or
in not too distant
regions and during their
dinner conversation they
were all of one mind to
found a Homeland
Committee. The
formation of the
committee required the
election of persons who
would carry out all the
necessary requirements
to ensure the success of
the work to be
undertaken. Whenever
possible they needed to
live in close proximity
to Reutlingen and could
be reached quickly
whenever necessary.
Names were put forward
that resulted in the
following listing in
alphabetical order:
Ludwig Alter, Jakob Deh,
Jakob Göttel, Adam
Hellermann, Mathias
Huber, Michael Huber,
Anton Hudjetz, Georg
Jentz, Philipp Kendel,
Friedrich Kühbach, Jakob
Rometsch and Philipp
Staufenberger.
In order to give the
reader a glimpse of the
work done by the
Homeland Committee to
date, I will give a
short summary of the
purpose that the
committee set for itself
and its consequent
performance.
The organization and
carrying out of Treffen
and the necessary
arrangements. There
have been seven
Neu-Pasua Treffen that
were arranged and held
during the following
years: 1952, 1954,
1956, 1958, 1964, 1969
and 1973. All of these
assemblies were well
attended by our
countrymen. A program
was developed and
closely tied to each
Treffen and the
preparation and
implementation required
much time and effort.
These programs
included a memorial
service at the
Reutlingen cemetery;
festival worship
services; an evening of
celebrating our folk
customs, along with
dancing, a social time
and reunion. The sixth
Treffen was combined
with a timely
exhibition: Everything
that reminds us of
Neu-Pasua, along with an
interesting stamp
collection of our
countryman Georg Dewald
and a coin collection of
our countryman Jakob
Schumacher. All of the
Treffen without
exception were warm
friendly gatherings and
highly esteemed by our
countrymen whereby our
solidarity and love for
our old and new homeland
were given expression.
At all of our Treffen
our countrymen from the
daughter settlements and
those related to
Neu-Pasua were always
invited and participated
in them.
At Pentecost 1953 the
brochure written by the
author of this book was
published under the
title, “The War Victims
of the Danube Swabian
Community of
Neu-Pasua”. Several
members of the Homeland
Committee assisted in
gathering and compiling
the information.
Beginning in 1953 and in
the years that followed
the matter of
compensation for those
driven out of their
homeland was
undertaken. It would
take too much time to
get into the particulars
of individual cases.
Still I offer a few in
concise form. The
extent of the number of
personal claims for
compensation from among
the population of
Neu-Pasua living in the
Bonn Republic was in the
neighborhood of 2,000.
Only a small proportion
of the compensation
claimants were capable
of submitting the claim
on their own. This
was due to the fact that
our home village was
located within the
former Military Frontier
District which required
community approval for
the undertaking.
Because of that the
resolution of the claims
was more complicated
than it was for other
communities. In
addition during the war
years 1941 until 1944
there were major changes
in the boundaries of the
pasture lands and the
village of Neu-Pasua
itself. During
this process there were
many persons who joined
the Homeland Committee
that had the necessary
knowledge with regard to
the compensation
legislation and were
able to assist many of
our countrymen to
complete their
submissions with proven
good advice and
supportive action.
Two members of our
committee were
spokespersons for both
short and longer periods
with the government
ministry related to the
compensation. Here
we would like to mention
the fact that the
Director dealing with
reparations from
Yugoslavia within the
government ministry, our
countryman Leopold Egger
of Semlin (Franztal)
went to great lengths to
meet the requests coming
from our former
community. In
response to requests of
our Homeland Committee
our countryman Egger
personally provided the
evidence with regard to
community property and
the established
boundaries in order that
they could be acted
upon.
As a result many of the
farming families of
Neu-Pasua were assisted
in making successful
claims. We are
gratefully indebted to
him.
Collaboration in the
publication of the
Homeland Book which was
published in 1956. It
was written by Dr.
Irmgard Hudjetz-Loeber
commissioned by the
Homeland Committee and
includes the very
worthwhile contribution
of Pastor Jakob Rometsch:
the Family Register from
1791-1956. In addition
to there were other
portions provided by
other members of the
Homeland Committee. We
are justly proud of our
Homeland Book. The
edition consisted of
2,500 printed copies and
has since become
unavailable. Along with
the Homeland Book a
series of pictures in
postcard format
developed by Pastor
Jakob Rometsch were also
published which had been
sold to a great degree.
At the same time as the
book was published a
ground plan of Neu-Pasua
on a scale of 1:3000 was
also published.
In this plan every house
is identified by the
name of its occupant,
and as such is a
document of great value
to all of our former
villagers.
For
this exceptional work we
express our thanks and
give recognition to our
countrymen Adam Lebherz
now of Balingen.
The Orphanage Siloah: Members of the Homeland
Committee Friedrich Kühbach, Jakob Rometsch
and Mathias Huber have
worked alongside of the
Orphanage Union dealing
with its affairs over
many years.
At the various Treffen
that have been held, the
donations have been
forwarded to the home
for several years.
During the Christmas
holidays there were
house gatherings in the Reutlingen area in
support of Siloah. At
the Treffen in 1969 a
stone memorial
commemorating the war
victims of Neu-Pasua was
commissioned and is now
imbedded in the wall of
one of the children’s
homes in the youth
village in Isny.
The House of the Danube
Swabians:
Included in the honor
roll of the supporting
communities that
provided the financing
for this house in
Sindelfingen, the
village of Neu-Pasua is
identified as one of the
patrons.
These funds
resulted from the
response to an appeal
made by the Homeland
Committee to all of our
Neu-Pasua countrymen.
Members of the Committee
themselves made
significant personal
contributions. At the
head of the list of
donors was our
countryman Georg Jentz
who donated 1,000 DM on
behalf of himself and
his family.
Reutlingen, June
1974
M. Huber
[Published at DVHH.org 18 Aug 2009]
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