by Anton
Neidenbach
From ‘Grossjetscha
im Banat’ - Translated by Diana
Lambing
Published at DVHH.org 2003, by Jody McKim Pharr
The 23rd of August
1944 heralded a difficult time for the German minority in
Romania, and thereby also for our compatriots in
Grossjetscha. There were a whole lot of big changes in
our lives economically, socially and culturally.
On August 23rd 1944, Romania declared war on Germany.
From that day on, people noticed that a new era had begun
in our Swabian villages.
It is not intended to relate personal experiences or
feelings here, only to put down in writing the facts as
they were seen and experienced.
The arrest of German men in the Swabian villages began
already around September 10th 1944. During the night of
14th/15th September, members of the Romanian border
troops fled from the direction of Hatzfeld and through
our village. Then on September 15th towards 4 p.m. the
first German soldiers arrived. It was the advance of
German troops from Yugoslavia towards Temeswar. First,
members of the Behren group came through our village and
then the 4th SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadierdivision. Temeswar
was not taken; Soviet troops had moved in on September
17th. The German troops pushed forward as far as the
outskirts of Temeswar and stayed for approximately three
weeks in Western Banat; this enabled many Banat Swabians
to escape. However, only a few families fled from our
village. For around three weeks, the front was between
Grossjetscha and Kleinbetschkerek. At the beginning of
October 1944, the German troops pulled back and our area
was occupied by the Russians. They only stayed in our
village for one day.
Autumn 1944 passed by and everyone waited to see what
would happen. First, we heard the thunder of cannon in
the battle for Hungary and later, when this had died
down, we heard other sad things. There was talk about
Germans from Yugoslavia being taken to Russia. Nobody
really believed that such a fate would await us, too.
Nobody knew that our destiny had already been
decided. It had already been discussed in official
places during the autumn of 1944. We, the German
minority, were to carry out reconstruction and reparation
work too, as we were deemed guilty of a war
which we had not wanted.
On January 14th 1945 it became reality. The village was
surrounded by soldiers and very early in the morning
groups of them went from house to house and led women and
men to the new school, where they were held prisoner. All
18 - 35 year old women and 17 - 45 year old men were
taken. Romanian and Russian soldiers, accompanied by a
representative from the town hall, had lists with names
of everyone who fell into these age groups; they were all
taken. The only exceptions were women with children under
a year old, pregnant women and the seriously ill. The
Romanian soldiers came from Hatzfeld during the night of
the 14th January and brought the lists with them. So we
can see that this action had been planned for some time.
The only criteria for deportation was to be of ethnic
German origin and fit to work. Some tried to hide in
order to avoid deportation, but only a few succeeded as
the soldiers were very thorough in their searches. On
January 19th, the first Grossjetschaers were taken to
Hatzfeld and on January 22nd the first transport set off
from there. A total of 312 people from our community were
deported. The first transport went to Dnjepropetrovsk and
Dnjeproderjinsk and our people in these camps worked
mostly in the factories. Those villagers picked up later
were also taken to Hatzfeld, locked in a farmhouse
overnight and then taken to Perjamosch by sleigh or horse
and cart. There, they were held at the convent until
January 26th and then put into wagons. This transport
went to Wolodarka in the Donpass; there were two camps
there, too - one in Wolodarka and one 9 km (5 miles)
away. The remaining people were then deported to the
Urals. The journey from home to their final destinations
were made in cattle wagons. There were usually 32 people
in each wagon, or 40 - 45 in the larger wagons. There was
a small wood-burning stove in the middle of the wagon. In
one corner of the wagon a hole had been cut out and a
bottomless bucket placed over it - this was the toilet.
The journey lasted between three and four weeks.
Whilst the people of our village were still reeling from
the shock of having to say goodbye, the deportees
traveled through the cold Russian winter towards an
unknown destiny. There were so many tears, so much sorrow
during those days that even thinking about it today
compels us to silence.
Upon arrival, they were put into the camps which were
surrounded by two rows of barbed wire and the familiar
watchtower on each corner. Organizing work was quickly
done. As mentioned earlier, most people who were at
Dnjepropetrovsk and Dnjeproderjinsk camps worked in the
factories. Those at Donpass worked mostly in the coal
mines. In the beginning, we still had food brought along
with us from back home; every one of us clung to the hope
that an end to the war would bring freedom for us, too.
Unfortunately, this was not to be. Everyone who remained
able-bodied had to stay for five years. Camp life was
hard. One was driven to and from work. We received our
food ration. After 1948 we were given more freedom and
the food improved. During the five years in the camps,
and on the return journey home, 49 people from
Grossjetscha died, which gives a death rate of 15.7% of
all deportees. This was an incredibly high number. In
1945, four men died; in 1946 there were nine deaths; 1947
saw the greatest sacrifice of life: 30 compatriots died.
In 1948 there were four deaths and in 1949 two lives were
sacrificed.
As the death rate of 15.6% for the age range between 17
and 45 cannot be compared at all to a normal lifespan, it
must be clear to everyone what sort of living conditions
had to be endured. The cause of death in most cases was
under nourishment, the result of lice infestation and
other illnesses. Heavy labour, under nourishment, the
cold - all these led to the many lives sacrificed, but
also the fact that an increasing number became incapable
of work. For this reason, some people were sent home
already in the autumn of 1945. There were only a few, but
at least they could bring back news from the camps to the
families back home. During the autumn of 1946 and the
spring of 1947, more and more people became unable to
work. This time, they werent sent home, but to the
then Soviet zone of Germany. Most people worked there for
a while and then made their own way back home. This
journey home was often fraught with difficulties. Why
those supposedly returning home were instead sent to
Germany can probably be explained by the Potsdam
Agreement of 2nd August 1945 which planned that all
Germans from the Eastern bloc should be deported.
However, Romania is not mentioned in this decree. The
sick and unfit for work were sent home in 1948, too, but
this was directly back to Romania. At the end of November
1949 the last of the deportees returned home. It was a
bleak winters evening, but there was elation in
many family homes. At the same time, however, there were
many houses in the village where no lights burned, where
it was silent; this was where no-one needed to wait any
longer - they knew that their loved ones were resting in
a solitary grave somewhere far away. More tears.
The amount of sorrow and
misery suffered during the years between 1945
and 1949 can never be put into words.