^{The News}
Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

Hello Szmolyan descendants. Magda Zakanyi (Szmolyan on her mother's side) passed away August 30, 2011. She was a wonderful lady who helped create the Szmolyan family tree dating back to the 1800s.

Source: http://boards.ancestry.ca/localities.eeurope.bulgaria.general/104.3/mb.ashx

Persönlich kennte ich sie nicht, aber selten schrieben wir einander. Wenn Du glaubst, könnt ihr bei BB bemerken. (Personally I do not know her, but we wrote each other often. If you wish, you can notice at BB.)

Magda lived in Toronto, Canada, and listed the following surnames and villages: SZMOLYAN, UNGER, SKVARICS, HABETLER, OSZTOVICS, RUPANOVICS. Bandoly (Weiden), Fusthegy-Sirokany (Raurigel-Allersgraben), Hodasz (Hodis).

 

Margaret Kaiser passed on a note about an upcoming Hungarian Folk Music Event on Oct. 12th at the Hungarian Embassy in Washington, DC (3910 Shoemaker Street Northwest, take Tilden from Connecticut toward Rock Creek Park). One of Hungary's most talented, young bands, Bürkös, will perform.

The schedule is:

6:00 pm - Meet & Greet the Musicians and their Instruments

6:30 pm - Táncház (folk dance) for Kids

8:00 pm - Concert with Táncház to follow

This event is free, donations are accepted. Prizes for the best folk outfits! For more information contact Szilvi at szfk@balazsfamily.org.

 

BB member Kathy Etl Middendorf writes a family newsletter, The Etl Annals, subtitled "A newsletter of an Austrian/Hungarian family in America," that she shares with me because of my role with the BB and because I have a variation on the Etl name, Öttl, in my family tree, that may make me a distant part of the Etl family. In her Summer 2012 Edition, she posed the question: can a first cousin, once removed, return?

 

The BB and BR&R books, published this summer, are now available for ordering.

Although the purpose of these books was only to serve as printed resources for visitors to the Güssing Auswanderer Museum (Klaus tells me that the prior edition of the BB book was well-used), we are making them available on an e-publishing, print-on-demand site, in case anyone wants a copy for themselves. They were published without an ISBN number, thus eliminating some cost, but they each have many large (A4) pages, so the printing cost (alone) remains high.

If you are interested, the links to each book at epubli.com are:

https://www.epubli.com/shop/buch/Burgenland-Bunch-2012-Klaus-Gerger/17786

https://www.epubli.com/shop/buch/BHR-Klaus-Gerger/17783

Alternatively, the pdf files of the text of the books are available online on the BB site at BB Book and BH&R Book. You are welcome to print you own copy of the books or just peruse them there.

Meanwhile, Klaus Gerger and Walter Dujmovits showed off the books at the August BG picnic (handsome books, aren't they?).

The books are now back on display at the Museum (OK, Walter and Klaus are handsome too! ;~).



On a personal note... a few days back, in late September, was the 40th anniversary of meeting my wife. We would marry within three years, joining her pure Finnish line to my mixed-Germanic (one-fourth Burgenländer) line. My mother's birthday was on the same date, making it easier to remember both of these events (though I'm not sure which one most helps me remember the other one). Another three years would pass before we would create a joint line by having twin sons, making them each one-eighth Burgenländers. Sixteen months ago, one of those sons and his wife provided a grandson who is just one-sixteenth Burgenländer, adding his mother's Irish-Italian blood to an already complex mix. All this goes to say that, while there is nothing wrong with the focused genealogical research we do on Burgenland, it seems apparent that future generations will be less likely to have such a concentrated interest... but we'll let those generations deal with that!



Bob Strauch updated me on the ongoing "noise" issue at the Coplay Sängerbund in the Lehigh Valley. He says:

"As for Coplay Bund, the PA Liquor Control Board board of directors voted months ago to repeal that statewide noise law and let the clubs operate under the noise ordinances of their local communities. I thought case closed, but no. The LCB held a hearing at the Bund at the end of August on the matter and have yet to make a final decision. Outdoor events have been going on the whole summer. They installed a noise meter above the bandstand - a red light goes off if the music gets too loud."

2) BURGENLÄNDERS IN CANADA

First, my disclaimer: I do not have any direct-line emigrant ancestors who settled in Canada; the closest I come is Johann L Halbauer from Wallern, brother to my great-grandmother, who apparently spent a few years in the US (leaving no documentation) before moving on to Canada, where he lived out his life. I have but two items that document his existence in the Americas... a circa-1894 photo taken in Minnesota and an "address" of Alberta, Canada, that appeared in the obituary of my great-grandmother (his sister) in 1938. Family lore says he remained a bachelor and donated his property to a Canadian nunnery on his death. There is a 1906 Canadian census record from the Strathcona District of Alberta, Canada (near Edmonton) that might be him, though the last name is not spelled exactly correct; it says this person emigrated to Canada from the US in 1904. There is also a 1921 Canada/US border crossing of a John Halbauer of the right age... but it gives no Canadian address. Given this hazy knowledge of his history, my interest in Canadian Burgenländers is of a general nature... perhaps by learning where Burgenländers settled in Canada, I might find clues to Johann. Thus this article.

As you might expect, there are no comprehensive sources of information specific to Burgenländer emigration to Canada. One of the best I found that references the more-general category, Austrians to Canada, is by Michaela C. Schober and is online at http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/Encyclopedia/A-Z/a26/1 (it references Walter Dujmovits' book, Die Amerikawanderung der Burgenländer for much of its Burgenland-specific data). My article below is largely based on the Encyclopedia article, though I do concentrate on the aspects that are most specific to the emigration of Burgenländers.

As a bit of background, the parent site, http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca, is a digitization project, led by Lynn Copeland of Simon Fraser University, that addresses the emigrant groups who went to Canada. It is an attempt to gather together the existing collections of information about emigration to Canada. The site states that "research into Canada’s multi-ethnic communities has been hampered by the relative lack of availability of non-English language materials and other artifacts originating from minority groups. Archives and libraries have long worked with individuals and cultural communities in Canada to collect and preserve the historical record of their experience; but these documents are seldom available beyond the walls of the institution. The intent of Multicultural Canada is to provide free and greater access to these existing collections."

The site also hosts online access to the Encyclopedia of Canada’s Peoples, which was originally created and published by The Multicultural History Society of Ontario. It provides extensive essays on the many ethnic emigrant groups; the above link references its entry on Austrians. There is also an essay on Hungarians, however, Burgenland has been placed under Austria, thus my concentration on the Austrians essay. For those of you with Canadian roots, I strongly recommend this site.



Background

The Encyclopedia entry says that people in Canada who identify as Austrians may have come from areas that are now the countries of Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Croatia, as well as parts of Italy, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, and Serbia. It goes on to say that the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s demographic composition included ten major nationalities, with German-speakers, or Austro-Germans, comprised 23 percent of the empire’s population. The majority of the German-speakers lived in provinces that were to become present-day Austria but there were also many who lived in other parts of the Austrian half of the Empire, in particular Bohemia, Moravia, Galicia, Bukovina, and Carniola; still more were found in various areas of the Hungarian kingdom (Burgenland, Transylvania, Banat, Spiš/Zips county, and so on). The Austro-Germans of the Empire often described themselves by regional names, such as Danube Swabians from the Banat, Saxons from Transylvania, Zipser Germans from Spiš county in Slovakia, or Galician Germans. Notwithstanding their place of residence, the Empire’s German-speakers were often described simply as Austrians.

When the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I, the Austro-German territories in the western part of the former monarchy formed a republic called German-Austria (Deutschösterreich), which immediately expressed a wish to unite with Germany. The victorious west refused to allow such a union. Consequently, a newly independent state called Austria came into being. After its defeat in World War II, Austria, like Germany, was divided into four occupation zones (American, British, French, Soviet), but in 1955 the Allies withdrew and Austria was declared a neutral state. By that time, any sentiment for unity with Germany had virtually disappeared; instead, a sense of Austrian national distinctiveness was promoted and has taken firm root among the population.

Despite their existence as a distinct people, Austrians continue to speak various dialects of German and to use standard German (Hochdeutsch) as their literary language. In contrast to other German-speaking countries of Europe, the vast majority of Austrians (80 percent) are practicing or nominally Roman Catholics. Catholic traditions tend to pervade Austrian life, although Austria is a secular state.

Migration

The migration of Austrians to Canada took place over a long period, beginning with quite small numbers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, mainly as soldiers or crew members of ships of the Ostend Company. Emigration on a large scale did not occur until the end of the nineteenth century and remained numerically insignificant until the 1930s. The vast majority of early immigrants from the region were of Slavic origin, although individuals and families came from all the German-speaking Austrian provinces. As we know, with the exception of Burgenland and to some extent Tyrol and Voralberg, inhabitants of present-day Austria did not emigrate in large numbers. The Austrian community in Canada, therefore, consists primarily of immigrants who came after World War I and particularly after World War II.

Three phases of immigration can be identified: the thirty years before World War I, the inter-war period, and after World War II. Prior to 1918, most newcomers were from the eastern Austro-Hungarian provinces and belonged predominantly to the farming classes. These Slavic peasants were described as Ruthenians, Galicians, and Bukovinians. The province of Galicia in 1903–4 supplied 7,729, or 78 percent, of so-called Austrian immigrants to Canada, and Bukovina in the same year provided 1,578, or 15.9 percent.

Between 1901 and 1914 some immigrants of Austrian origin also came to Canada from the United States, where it had become more difficult for farmers to establish their sons on their own farms. They were wooed to Canada by the prospect of free land and the policies of Clifford Sifton, minister of the interior in the Liberal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier from 1896 to 1905, who encouraged farmers to settle the Canadian west. (My Johann Halbauer was likely among these immigrants.) Per Walter Dujmovits, the earliest known Burgenland immigrant was Heinrich Schneider from Wallern, who settled in Regina in 1902.

In addition, many organizations and agencies, including domestic and foreign navigation companies, were involved in the recruitment of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A clandestine agreement between the Canadian government and the North Atlantic Trading Company was concluded in 1899 to carry out the systematic recruitment of members of Europe’s farming classes, preferably Scandinavians and Germans. However, since it encouraged too many “undesirable” immigrants, particularly Galicians and Ruthenians, the dominion government abandoned the agreement in 1906.

After WW-I, the Republic of Austria struggled with a weak economy. In 1919, the Österreichische Auskunftsstelle für Auswanderer (Austrian Information Office for Emigration), later called the Wanderungsamt (Migration Office), was founded with a goal to provide information to potential emigrants, as Austrian authorities now regarded emigration as an answer to mass unemployment; it even provided some financial assistance.

However, Austrians were excluded initially from Canada because of their prior wartime associations. Canadian immigration regulations of 1923 classified Austria as a “non-preferred” country and limited access to “agricultural and domestic workers and sponsored immigrants.” Two years later the Canadian government came to an agreement with the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways that allowed the railways to bring in more immigrants from non-preferred countries. Nonetheless, Austrian immigrants were not to be admitted to Canada unless they were willing to settle as farmers or work as farmhands or domestics. According to Austrian statistics, 79.8 percent of immigrants to Canada in 1928 had an occupational background in agriculture or forestry, 10.9 percent were dependents, 7 percent were domestic workers, and only 1.4 percent were industrial workers or artisans. Dujmovits writes that the first known Burgenländers going directly to Edmonton came in 1926. "These were the brothers Martin and Alois Kaufmann of Langeck and Adolf Raaber from Kukmirn. By 1930, there followed other Burgenland immigrants, mainly from Stegersbach, Neuberg, Göttenbach and Grafenschachen. Some of the immigrants did not settle in Edmonton, Alberta's capital, but moved on to the north. They lived in the area between the Little and Great Slave Lakes."

The Great Depression led the Canadian government to change its immigration policy again in 1930. Admissible immigrants now had to be “members of the immediate families of men already established in Canada and farmers with enough money to start farming at once.” However, the 1925 agreement with the railways was cancelled the following year. The numbers of Austrian immigrants dropped sharply from 663 in 1930–31 to 45 in 1931–32. In this inter-war period most Austrians, regardless of destination, emigrated from the provinces of Burgenland, Styria, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and Carinthia and were between twenty-two and fifty-five years old. Approximately 30 to 40 percent were women.

Walter Dujmovits reports that among the pioneers of that time was Mitzi Marinits, who immigrated from Stegersbach in 1928 with her husband Charles and their daughter. She was unusual in that she ran a boardinghouse, where Burgenland men could get "Burgenland" cooking and a bed for 20 cents a night. This helped them over the homesickness and loneliness of the difficult first years.

Walter reports that, overall, 2,077 Burgenländers emigrated to Canada from 1922 to 1934 (10.5% of the total emigrants from Burgenland during that period).

Immediately after World War II, Austrians were again interested in emigration. The reasons were many, but they were primarily of an economic or political nature. Occupied for a decade by the military forces of Britain, France, the United States, and the Soviet Union, Austria faced enormous problems, especially in the eastern part of the country (including Burgenland), which was within the Soviet-occupied zone. Limited housing, low wages, high inflation, and political insecurity were strong motives for emigration. Austrians believed that Canada was a land of unlimited opportunities and could provide them with a better future.

However, until February 1948, citizens of Austria were denied admission to Canada  because they were classified as “enemy aliens.” Even then, Canadian inspection facilities had yet to be established in Austria so only those Austrians who had relatives in Canada and who had been cleared for security could obtain visas. In 1949, the first Canadian immigration office in Austria was opened and, in 1950, new immigration regulations made it easier for Austrians to settle in Canada. After 1952, a special program was created to bring agricultural workers, general laborers, domestics, nurses, and skilled and semi-skilled workers to Canada. But new Canadian immigration regulations in 1967, the so-called point system, again led to a higher refusal rate among Austrians because it placed more emphasis on formal education, skills, and occupational demand than previous policies.

Post-World War II immigrants came from all the Austrian provinces, but a large percentage were from Upper Austria and Styria and from Burgenland, which had a long tradition of emigration. Most were in their twenties and almost half were women. The majority belonged to the middle class and were generally crafts people, skilled workers, professionals, or entrepreneurs. The tendency of the last group to emigrate rose in the 1960s.

According to Canadian statistics, anywhere from 30,000 to 150,000 so-called Austrians immigrated to Canada between the 1880s and World War I. The more likely figure is about 200,000, although only 5,000-10,000 were immigrants from the Austria as defined by post-World I borders, including those who had migrated via the United States. During the inter-war period an estimated 5,000 to 5,500 Austrians immigrated to Canada. Almost 35,000 individuals designated as Austrians have immigrated since the late 1940s, a figure that might be larger than the number of true Austrians. Between 1953 and 1979 about 24,000 ethnic Austrians came to Canada; of them, more than 17,000 arrived before 1960. From 1980 to 1992, 2,600 claimed Austria as their country of birth or country of last permanent residence. Since the 1980s the number of Austrian immigrants has been negligible. According to the 1991 census, nearly 94,000 Canadians said they were exclusively (27,135) or partially (66,780) of Austrian background. However, members of the community believe that the number of Austrians of single origin is higher. Their estimates range from 80,000 to 100,000.

Arrival and Settlement

Most of the people from the Austro-Hungarian Empire who came to Canada at the end of the nineteenth century settled in the prairie provinces and became farmers. The majority of immigrants to what is now Alberta established themselves in the Edmonton area (this is where my Johann Halbauer apparently went) or near Lethbridge, where a mixed colony of “Austrians” existed. Some Catholics settled northwest of Edmonton at Rivière Qui Barre. German-speaking colonists from Galicia, most of them Lutherans, began arriving in the Dunmore district, southeast of Medicine Hat, in 1887 and 1888 but moved in 1890 to the Edmonton area, where farming conditions were thought to be better.

All the German-speaking immigrants from Bukovina between 1890 and 1900 established themselves in present-day Saskatchewan. A sizable group of Danube Swabians from the Banat also settled there around 1900. German-speaking immigrants from the Habsburg monarchy lived in ethnic settlements such as Mariahilf, Lemberg, Neudorf, Edenwold, and Kendal; the last of these was founded in 1901 by people who originated primarily from Galicia, Banat, Bukovina, and Austria. German-speaking Catholics settled almost exclusively in Saskatchewan; some of them came from the present-day Austrian province of Burgenland, which was then part of Hungary. Because they shared a language and the Catholic faith, they were able to create a new community with other German speakers despite their different places of origin. Before World War I, Austrians, among them many Burgenländers, who came from the United States to the Canadian prairies, brought with them experience in dealing with North American conditions. The patterns of settlement among these immigrants were as diverse as their cultural backgrounds. The majority lived in rural areas, both in closed communities and in ethnically mixed districts. They were to be found in denominationally homogeneous blocks, on solitary farms, or at the edge of the northern wilderness.

Almost all immigrants to the prairies in the inter-war period joined existing colonies. Between 1926 and 1935, more than 87 percent of Austrian immigrants settled in the western provinces, in particular Manitoba (71.4 percent). Most Austrians in the prairies still lived on farms or in small towns. In 1931, only 5.6 percent out of a total of 17,061 Austrians in Saskatchewan lived in the cities of Regina and Saskatoon, 4.6 percent out of 6,737 in Alberta were located in Edmonton, and 7.6 percent out of 8,858 in Manitoba resided in Winnipeg. From 1926, Burgenländers began arriving in Edmonton. Some of them did not settle there but moved north and settled in the area between Lesser Slave Lake and Great Slave Lake. Immigrants from Burgenland also settled in other provinces, for example, in the Okanagan valley of British Columbia.

After World War II, about 50 percent of Austrian immigrants gave Ontario as their intended destination, followed by Quebec and Alberta; British Columbia ranked fourth. During the third phase of immigration, Austrians went primarily to the urban centers. They have not formed ethnic enclaves there, although some Austrians may have chosen German areas in the 1950s and early 1960s. Such areas exist in Winnipeg and Edmonton and have existed in the High Park and Scarborough districts of Toronto. In 1991 Ontario had the largest Austrian population, with 31,310 claiming Austrian ancestry (both single- and multiple-origin responses); it was followed by British Columbia (24,535), Alberta (15,805), Saskatchewan (9,015), Manitoba (6,440), and Quebec (4,995). Today, approximately 70 percent of Austrian Canadians live in cities and towns.


Map of predominant areas in west-central Canada settled by Austrians and Burgenländers

Economic Life

The experience of peasants and migrant farm workers from the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not prepare them for Canadian agriculture. However, in spite of initial hardships, immigrants from post-1920 Austria, whether they were farmers, craftsmen, or businessmen, eventually became prosperous and comfortable. Most of the immigrants who arrived in the inter-war period had to work in agricultural and service occupations. Many immigrants, particularly those who were not agriculturalists by background, were disappointed—at first, about their employment as farm workers and later, when they were finally able to afford their own land, because of the poor conditions.

Despite the immigration regulations, most Austrians sought employment outside agriculture. Once in Canada, those classified as agricultural workers and farmers looked for employment as soon as possible as industrial workers or skilled tradesmen, or they established small businesses in cities and towns. Many of them prospered as stonemasons, tailors, paper-hangers, and mechanics.

Most of the immigrants in the post-1945 era knew some English and were familiar with urban life, and the many skilled tradesmen, technicians, and professionals among them were able to find employment immediately after they arrived. They might initially have to work outside their trade to survive, however, because of limited English or the non-approval of work papers, certificates, or diplomas. Graduates of Austrian universities, particularly licensed professionals, generally experienced few difficulties. Some Austrian women worked as domestics, who were almost always in short supply. Even well-educated women were employed for a short period in this domain, since in the early 1950s it was frequently the only way to gain admittance to Canada. These women tried to find other jobs as soon as possible.

Community Life

With a few exceptions, Austrians did not form special ethnic organizations until the post-World War II period. Their social life centered mainly around the church. Occasionally they supported German social and cultural associations. A few secular organizations, such as the Austrian German Society “Gemütlichkeit” of Winnipeg (later, called the Austrian Hungarian Society), were established before World War I. Its objectives were to provide sickness and death benefits, to promote the settlement of Manitoba by assisting immigrants to find land, to establish a library, and to help members to learn the English language. During the inter-war period, social and cultural activities were provided by the Austrian Club in Waterloo, by the Club Vergissmeinnicht (Forget-me-not), and by the Club Edelweiss in Edmonton. These organizations no longer exist.

Today, Austrian organizations can be found in the major cities such as Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, and Vancouver. Most were formed to help recent immigrants integrate and to provide a wide range of social and cultural activities. The Austrian Club “Edelweiss” in Toronto evolved in 1950 from the Canadian Society for Austrian Relief, which had been formed four years earlier to “help people in Austria to struggle out of the dust and depression of the post-war days.” The large Burgenländer community in Toronto established a relief office for newcomers from Burgenland within its own organization in 1963, but the decrease in new immigrants has resulted in greatly reduced activity.

Family and Kinship

Present-day Austrian-Canadian families have on an average 1.5 to 2.0 children, and the birth rate is declining. Among second-generation Austrian Canadians, intermarriage is common. Kinship ties are of only minor concern.

Culture

The majority of Austrian immigrants have striven for full linguistic and cultural integration into the Anglophone or Francophone community within the first generation. Usually, German is only spoken at home, with German-speaking friends, and in the ethnocultural organizations. Twenty percent of first-generation Austrian Canadians speak exclusively or primarily German at home, almost 40 percent speak German and English, 35 percent use English exclusively, and 5 percent either speak mainly French, French and German, or another language. Most members of the second generation know at least some German, but only a minority have native-speaker competence. The cultural identity of the adult second generation is largely or entirely Canadian, although many of them are proud of their Austrian heritage.

Theatre, in the form of amateur performances of Austrian popular plays, is sometimes provided by the clubs, which serve also to preserve various folkloric or national traditions. Examples include the Schrammelgroup (Viennese music) of the Austrian Society of Ottawa and the Junior Schuhplattler group of the Austrian Club “Edelweiss” in Toronto. The Austria Vancouver Club has sponsored its own professional singing group, and the major activities of the Austrian International Club in Kingston are dancing and folk singing.

The Burgenländer Club Toronto annually holds an evening of traditional dancing dedicated to St Martin, the patron of Burgenland. Other organizations and clubs, such as the Austrian Society of Montreal (Société Autrichienne), the Canadian Austrian Society of Toronto, the Austria Club Windsor, and the Austrian Canadian Society of Calgary (Österreichisch-Kanadische Gemeinschaft), have annual events in the grand tradition of New Year’s Eve balls, the Viennese Strauss ball, and the Viennese ball.

Education and Religion

Most Austrian children have been enrolled in the public system. The majority of those who have gone to Catholic schools have been from strongly religious families. About half the children of first-generation Austrian immigrants also attend supplementary schools to learn the German language; however, many soon drop out. Exclusively Austrian schools do not exist, either in the public system or as supplementary institutions.

According to the 1981 census, approximately 51 percent of Austrian Canadians are Catholic, almost 38 percent are Protestant, including Mennonites, Hutterites, and Mormons, and about 11 percent do not belong to any Christian denomination or are members of other religious groups. This distribution does not reflect the denominational composition of Austria, where almost 80 percent of the population is Catholic, at least nominally. There are no congregations that are exclusively Austrian.

Politics and Intergroup Relations

Traditionally, Austrian Canadians have not been active in Canadian politics and are therefore underrepresented in public life. First-generation Austrian Canadians have been engaged primarily in establishing themselves in Canada.

Austrians in Canada also have not been involved in the politics of the homeland, partly because Austria is a democratic state and so does not arouse concern among its emigrants, and partly because second-generation Austrian Canadians are usually not interested in events in their parents’ country. However, during World War II, the Canadian Friends of Austria worked for the independence of Austria. With the end of the war in Europe and the re-establishment of the Republic of Austria, their activities ceased.

During World War I, not only German-speaking immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire but also Croats, Ruthenians, and others who had little if any loyalty to the Empire experienced severe discrimination. Stigmatized as “enemy aliens,” some six thousand persons of Austro-Hungarian origin who were considered dangerous were interned. Many were military reservists. German-language institutions, including newspapers, were dissolved or banned, naturalization was suspended, and all enemy aliens had to report regularly to the authorities if they hoped to avoid internment. Their property was often damaged or destroyed. A severe shortage of workers led to the release of many internees in 1916. After the war, however, some Austro-Hungarians were involuntarily repatriated to Europe.

Although anti-German, and by default anti-Austrian, sentiment was not as pronounced in Canada during World War II, nevertheless Austrian immigrants and Austrian-born Canadians had to report regularly to the Canadian authorities, and a few were interned. Until the late 1960s, Austrians occasionally experienced discrimination and were stereotyped as Nazis. However, they were much less affected by such treatment than were Germans.

Group Maintenance and Ethnic Commitment

Individual commitment to the community, which is usually limited to first- and second-generation Austrian Canadians, is rooted in the cultural aspects of life, such as music, dancing, food, and the celebration of Christmas in the traditional way. As early as the second generation, members of the community are unlikely to marry within their own ethnic group. Austrians have easily assimilated into Canadian society, and the majority are Canadian citizens.

Further Reading

There is little published on Austrian immigration to Canada with the exception of a chapter by Monika Pelz (pp 569–90) in Auswanderungen aus Österreich. Von der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur Gegenwart, (Traude Horvath and Gerda Neyer, eds., Vienna, 1996). Two general studies on the pre-World War I Austrian immigration are useful: Auswanderung und Auswanderungspolitik in Österreich (Leopold Caro, Leipzig, Germany, 1909), and “The Austrian Emigration, 1900–1914,”  by Johan Chmelar (pp 275–378) in Perspectives in American History, vol. 7 (1973). The study by Walter Dujmovits, Die Amerikawanderung der Burgenländer (Stegersbach, Austria, 1975), is concerned with Burgenländer immigrants to the United States and includes a survey of this group in Canada.