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THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS - No. 314 November 30, 2020, © 2020 by The Burgenland Bunch All rights reserved. Permission to copy excerpts granted if credit is provided. Editor: Thomas Steichen (email: tj.steichen@comcast.net) BB Home Page: the-burgenland-bunch.org BB Newsletter Archives: BB Newsletter BB Facebook Page: TheBurgenlandBunchOFFICIAL Our 24th year. The Burgenland Bunch Newsletter is issued monthly online. The BB was founded in 1997 by Gerald Berghold, who died in August 2008. |
| Current Status Of The BB: * Members: 2986 * Surname Entries: 8875 * Query Board Entries: 5844 * Staff Members: 13 |
This newsletter concerns: 1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER 2) AN AMERICAN’S FIRST TIME IN BURGENLAND (by John Lostys) 3) HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES: - AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION CRISIS (by G. J. Berghold) 4) ETHNIC EVENTS 5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES (courtesy of Bob Strauch) |
1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)  Still
wearing my mask... hope you are too!This month's bits and pieces (Article 1) contains an explanation, a recommendation, some new transcribed records, an obituary (of a past BB staffer), some commentary on transcribed and translated Medieval Hungarian recipes, a rather long piece on edits to our FamilySearch pages, new records at GenTeam, and (sadly) an update on the corona virus situation in Austria. I conclude with our regular tidbit features, the monthly BB Facebook report, book sales and a words-for-thought item. Article 2 is the first part of John Lostys' story of visiting Burgenland 40 years ago, entitled An American’s First Time In Burgenland. He has an interesting style, as he recalls much about his feelings during this trip. Enjoy this part, then standby for future episodes! The remaining articles are our standard sections: Historical Newsletter Articles, (no) Ethnic Events and Emigrant Obituaries.   Why
No Newsletter Last Month: I seem to have (inadvertently) stirred up a bit of concern for my welfare (in these
concerning times) by failing to publish a new newsletter last month. Generally, I try to warn readers when I know I
will not be publishing a monthly issue... this time, some unexpected competing activities, poor planning on my behalf, and a
little writer's block and lethargy all conspired to cause the end of the month to arrive with a largely incomplete
newsletter effort. Wasn't planned that way but it happened. Instead of leaving you hanging last month, I chose to use the "newsletter notice" email system to notify you of the lack of a new newsletter, though my message was uninformative as to why... which was a mistake: I received numerous replies inquiring if I was OK! Anyway, I was, and am, and I'm appreciative of your concern. As you can tell, this month's newsletter is here in print, so all remains well with me. I hope you can say the same! -- Tom  Interesting Book Series:
If you enjoy historical espionage thrillers, there is a series of books by Richard Wake that begins in Vienna and makes its
way to Switzerland and France. Alex Kovacs, the lead character, is Czechoslovakian by birth, but feels himself to be
more an "Austrian," a citizen of the defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the late 1930s, the darkness is gathering in Europe
and the Nazis are marching, both in and outside of Austria. Alex can see what’s coming, as can his friends. When an
opportunity presents itself—a chance to thwart the Nazi invasion of Austria—he agrees to join an espionage network... and,
six books later, he and his friends are still resisting the Nazi's.Vienna at Nightfall is the first book in the Alex Kovacs series. The other books (so far) are The Spies of Zurich, The Lyon Resistance, The Limoges Dilemma, Paris in Disguise, and The Agony of France. While only the first book is set in a place familiar to Burgenländers and deals with the invasion (Anschluss) they faced, the series draws you in and Alex never lets go of his Austro-Hungarian roots. Author Richard Wake's first career was as a British newspaper reporter, columnist, and editor. Writing historical fiction set in Europe during the inter-war period was an aspiration, one that become a successful reality. The books are inexpensive paper-covers ($4.99) and can be found on Amazon here). I enthusiastically recommend the first book... you'll have to decide yourself whether to pursue the rest.
We currently have 1492 members - that’s 23 new members this month and 81 since the beginning of October.
We have been keeping our spirits up with some authentic Burgenland melodies, courtesy of Walter Schmidt. He
has been sharing his songs daily this week and we have really been enjoying them! |
2) AN AMERICAN’S FIRST TIME IN BURGENLAND (by John Lostys)  My
grandmother and I were born in the same city, New Haven, Connecticut. She was born in 1900 and I was born in 1957. When she
was a little girl, before World War I, her mother took her back to her village, Deutsch Minihof, located in the Austrian
state of Burgenland. A couple of years after the war, in 1920, my grandmother returned to America and never went back to
Austria (or, as she would say, to “the old country”). In 1980, when I finished college in Pennsylvania, I bought an inexpensive charter flight to Zurich and an Interrail pass. The pass was good for travel on most trains in Europe for one month. The pass cost $127, about one-week’s salary for me at that time. This was my first trip to Europe. My grandmother, Agnes Gibiser (née Pinter), still had a childhood friend, Rosa Posch, in her village. Growing up I had heard so many wonderful, colorful stories of Rosa and my grandma’s times in Austria, and I was finally going to visit the sites of their stories. It felt great. Having studied German for three years in high school, I was eager to use it on my trip. The first leg of my trip was from Zurich to Vienna. The scenery was stunning as the train curved around mountains, blue-green waterfalls, and the sunny glaciers. Just like in the “Sound of Music.” I was sure the rest of Austria would be the same—or maybe even better! After three brilliant days in Vienna, I headed down to the information office in the bustling train station, Westbahnhof. I wanted to take a train to Deutsch Minihof; however that village did not have a train station.  The nearest station was Mogersdorf.
The train official carefully checked and noted the train numbers and times for my journey. With the paper schedule, I
climbed on the next train to the city of Graz, which was the first stop and also the home town of my grandfather.After a 10-minute rush in Graz—getting off the car with my bags, buying some tasty roasted chestnuts with Shillings, and finding the proper track—I got on the second train. Half an hour passed and the conductor came by and checked my rail pass. I inquired when we would arrive at my final destination. The conductor’s eyebrows shot up. He said that I was on the wrong train, heading south not east! The best thing would be for me to get off at the next stop, in five minutes, and head back to Graz. I quickly grabbed my belongings and got off. Well, the next station wasn’t really a railroad station but more a simple wooden platform in a sea of corn fields. The land there was flat with some nice greenish-brown rolling hills. I looked at a map. Yugoslavia was a little further down the tracks. Good thing I got off when I did. I did not want to spend the night in Yugoslavia. I walked to the other side of the tracks, and waited 20 minutes for the next train back to Graz. As the train came slowly into the station, I noticed a man was hanging out of the window. How strange since I was the only person at that station. As the train got closer, I noticed that the person had something in his hand, a roll two feet long and one foot round. When the train finally pulled in, the roll turned out to be a sleeping bag—as a matter of fact, it was my sleeping bag! I had left it on the south-bound train; they found it and were able to switch it to my north-bound train for me. I like Austria, things run like fine clockwork there. An hour or so later, I was on the right train to Mogersdorf, but I realized that I would be arriving after dark. Rosa did not have a telephone in her home. My grandmother had written to her but did not tell her what day I would arrive, let alone what train I would be on. I would have to get from the station to her farm by my own means. With nightfall, my imagination kicked in. As the train slowly heading east in the dark, I kept on thinking of Jonathan Harker’s journey to Dracula’s Castle. That castle is in Europe too.  Trains
at that time had OBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen = Austrian Federal Railways) maps on them and I noticed
that the frontier with Hungary was right after the Mogersdorf stop. That was where Bela Lugosi came from, wasn’t it? There
was a couple back in the Graz station that had the exact same accent Lugosi had.We all know from our high school geography that, if we continue in the eastern direction, the next country after Hungary is Romania, and the first part of Romania is Transylvania. Every kid knows that Dracula’s Castle is there. Does the real Dracula travel this far west? Maybe he has an Interrail pass too? They do have night trains here. It is so easy traveling in and out of countries with an Interrail pass. I checked the chain around my neck. While I did not have a silver cross, I did have a Saint Christopher medal. Do Saint Christopher medals ward off vampires too? I checked the train car for a priest to ask but there were none. Jesus, Maria und Josef! Where is a priest when you need one? As the train progressed eastward, it seemed to be getting darker outside. There were fewer and fewer street lights and buildings. The train seemed to be going slower and emptying out too. Half of the people got off at Feldbach and Fehring. That did not leave many people on the train. That is funny, when I started the journey that bright morning in Vienna, the trains had lots of people on them. Westbahnhof also had lots of taxis and buses outside. Would there be many taxis waiting in Mogersdorf? After Jennersdorf there were just three people on the train. I asked them if they knew of Deutsch Minihof, but they just looked at me. It was just like the Dracula movie when Jonathan Harker asked his fellow passengers in the coach where Castle Dracula was. I should have packed some garlic and holy water, and, of course, a real cross. I will next time. The train reached its final destination. I climbed out of the car with my sleeping bag and backpack. Oh, my God, this too was not a train station, instead just a simple platform surrounded by flat fields, the sole light coming from the train. After a few minutes the conductor turned off the engine, and the light went out. Suddenly it was pitch-dark.  When you are alone outside in the
dark, at night, it is amazing how your senses magnify. There was a chill in the air. I could smell the scent of cow manure
and stale smoke. In the sky you could see clouds scudding by and sometime stars and a crescent moon behind the clouds. A
church bell pealed faintly in the background. Then in the distance, I saw lights.To be continued... |
3) HISTORICAL BB NEWSLETTER ARTICLES Editor: This is part of our series designed to recycle interesting articles from the BB Newsletters of past years. Twenty years ago, Gerry Berghold published a "personal opinion" article about immigration that, had I not informed you otherwise, you likely would think it had been written this very month. I'm recycling it because I think it is spot-on for 2020, even though it was written in 2000! [This last sentence, less the "2020," are the exact same words I used in 2010 when I first recycled it... I suspect they will remain true into the foreseeable future!]  THE BURGENLAND BUNCH NEWS No. 90 November 30, 2000 AMERICA'S IMMIGRATION CRISIS (a personal view from G. J. Berghold) One of my perquisites as an editor is the opportunity to express my views. I try not to abuse the privilege but there are times when events stir me. In this instance I feel that some of our current pundits may not have learned much history. By recent mail, I received a newspaper called Middle American News (M. A. News, Raleigh, NC, J. Woodruff, Editor), which asked for my support and subscription. It purports to be "a visible platform for middle Americans" (defined as "average citizens like you and me" - but, those of you who pay attention to numbers, know that averages can put you at either end of the scale.) Well written and featuring a number of syndicated columnists, the paper contained a "Special Report: America's Immigration Crisis." Without going into all the pros and cons of immigration, the report advocates that immigration is not good for America and should be severely curtailed if not eliminated. It also suggests that Americans of European extraction are being threatened by the large numbers of non-European races who are entering the US. Shades of Henny Penny: "the sky is falling down, the sky is falling down!" This same view has been expounded every time a successive wave of immigrants reached our shores. It's the philosophy of "I've now got mine, raise the draw bridge!" The English were fearful of the Germans, the Germans were fearful of the Irish, the Irish were fearful of the Italians and eastern Europeans and so on. Three generations ago, our own eastern European ancestors were under attack and the 1924 Alien Immigration Acts were passed as a result. Our ancestors were also seen as a bad lot... they looked 
different, they had a different culture, they couldn't speak English, they weren't educated, they ate strange food, they
conducted religious services in foreign languages... they were poor undesirables. Yet these were the same "undesirables" who
joined mainstream America and made the cement for the Panama Canal, made US steel products the envy of the world, helped
build the automobile industry, out produced the axis in a war of material, fought their cousins in two world wars, helped
rebuild a devastated world, and raised and educated their descendants to be Americans. Today, their descendants (you and me)
have been absorbed into mainstream American life and the only remains of "difference" are names, an interest in our "roots",
and perhaps a desire to visit and establish ties with the "Heimat." So it will be with the new immigrants, provided we don't
allow ourselves and our government to do something stupid like either denying immigration outright or unduly encouraging it
with massive, government-sponsored give away programs. We must also be absolutely certain that programs will not exacerbate
racial or ethnic differences. Likewise, we can't allow immigrants to pursue ancient enmities in the new world. What is done
is done; apologies or redress for the actions of generations long dead is ridiculous in the extreme. We must always work
toward "Americanization," not "Balkanization." Immigrants must be made to realize that to share in what America offers,
first and foremost, they must become Americans. Given these caveats, let the immigrants come.Immigration is a resource to be managed like any other. Whenever cultures collide, strange customs and language differences will generate problems. We can solve those problems at the local level and we'll all be the better for it. We must continue to tell the world at large that we'll always accept those seeking what America has to offer. No, I won't buy the Middle American News, much less support it, because I believe it is our divergent backgrounds, fostered and nourished by immigration, which have made us the wonder of the world. I'm first and foremost an American but I also feel that I am a Burgenländer. You'll notice I put "American" first. So should we all, even though we pay homage to our respective roots, roots that supply the metal for the great American mix. |
4) ETHNIC EVENTS (none! ...blame the virus!) LEHIGH VALLEY, PA (none) NEW BRITAIN, CT (none) ST. LOUIS, MO (none) UPPER MIDWEST (none) |
5) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES Erwin Dex  Erwin F. Dex, 68, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, passed away October 10, 2020 after a brief illness unrelated to Covid-19. Born October 1, 1952 in Grossmürbisch, Austria, to the late Adolf and Maria (Hütter) Dex, his family emigrated to the United States in 1956. During his life, he lived in multiple places in the Lehigh Valley area, mostly Bethlehem. He graduated in 1970 from Freedom HS. It was then that he became a US citizen and applied for apprenticeship with the Carpenter's Union Local 600. During his career, he worked for Duggan at Marcon, retiring at the age of 52. He was known by his friends for his dry wit, political passion and willingness to help with home projects. He was a member of the Beethoven Waldheim Social Club and many beverage establishments in the Lehigh Valley. Survivors: Erwin is survived by his longtime companion, Janet Kerilla; sister, Erna Mahl of Bronx, NY. He is predeceased by his parents, Adolf and Maria; stepmother, Elizabeth; stepsister, Irene Kronberger. Services: Services will be private at the convenience of the family. He desired to be cremated and when travel permits, his ashes will be scattered in his beloved homeland of Austria. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Cantelmi Long Funeral Home, Bethlehem. A memory tribute may be placed at www.cantelmifuneralhome.com. To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store. Published in Morning Call on Oct. 14, 2020 Johanna Degen (née Luipersbeck) Johanna Degen, 90, of Clifton, New
Jersey, passed away on October 13, 2020.She was the beloved wife of the late Reinhard Degen who passed away in 1996. Born in Punitz, Austria, she immigrated to the US and lived in Yonkers, NY, before moving to Clifton in 1968. A parishioner of St. Clare's Roman Catholic Church, Clifton, Johanna was also a member of the Burgenländer Society, Passaic. Before retiring, Johanna was a housekeeper for various families for many years. Johanna was the devoted mother of Michael and his wife Lynn of Flemington, NJ, and the late Ronald, who passed away in 2016. She was also the loving Omi of Michael, Jr., and Charles as well as the dear sister of John Luipersbeck of Clifton, and the late Mary Unger, Viktoria Heilemann and Rosa Seper. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 17, 8:45 a.m. at the Shook Funeral Home, 639 Van Houten Ave., Clifton, and 10 a.m. at St. Clare's RC Church, Clifton. Interment will be at East Ridgelawn Cemetery, Clifton, following the funeral services. Visitation will be Friday, October 16, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, or Boys Town, www.BoysTown.org, in memory of Johanna. www.ShookFH.com. Published in The Star-Ledger on Oct. 15, 2020 Emerich M. Szep Emerich M. Szep, age 95 of Clifton,
New Jersey, died Wednesday, October 14, 2020.Born in Reinersdorf, Austria, he was the son of the late John and Elizabeth (Grohotolsky) Szep. He was the husband of the late Josephine (Biss) Szep. He worked for the American Can Company in Passaic for many years. Mr. Szep was a proud US Army veteran of World War II, a purple heart recipient, and a member of the 702nd Tank Battalion "Red Devils," Company A. He enjoyed attending many of their reunions over the years. Mr. Szep was a former member of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Passaic. He was also an avid bowler. Mr. Szep is survived by his daughter Michaelene Goodman; his son Jim and his wife Kathy Szep; his grandchildren Jerome Goodman, Gregory Szep, Douglas Szep, Hope Marie Goodman-Rogowski; seven great-grandchildren; and his dear sisters Helen Knopf, Mitzi Bianchini, and Anna Soldrich. All services were entrusted to Moore's Home For Funerals, 1591 Alps Rd, Wayne and private by request of the family. Memorial donations in Mr. Szep's name may be made to Boys Town, PO Box 8000, Boys Town, NE 68010, www.boystown.org or Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675, woundedwarriorproject.org Published in The Record/Herald News from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19 Amalia Acs (née Buswald) Peacefully, on May 18th 2020, Amalia
"Molly" 'Acs, 83, from Mansfield, Ontario, Canada, passed away with the love of her life, Franz (Frank) at her side, and her
family close by.Beloved wife of Frank, Mother to Frankie (d. 2018), Peter (Cathy), and Christine (Austin) Boake, Grandmother to Gifford (Jana), Markie (Andrew) and Terra (Andrew); Caitlin (Greg) and Bailey; Jessica, Timothy, Heather. Great-Grandmother to Amalia (Molly); Greyson and Asher. Born on a rural farm in Rohr im Burgenland, Austria, the youngest of 9 children, Amalia met Frank in Vienna working in the vineyards on the hillside overlooking the Danube River. Frank made the journey to Canada and promised to send for her. He kept that promise and she set sail to reunite with him in Toronto, one year later. The Pine River Chalets at the base of Mansfield Ski Club became Amalia’s home, where she loved to be with her children and grandchildren. From her love of skiing, yodelling, and ringing cowbells at club races, she became “Oma” to all who knew her. Amalia was passionate about golfing, gardening, and sewing. Cooking was her pride and joy, often singing and dancing in the kitchen as she created incredible family meals of goulash and dumplings, cabbage rolls, schnitzel and apple strudel. Amalia had captivating, bright blue eyes and her soft hands touched countless hearts. Even through her many battles, Amalia never gave up and amazed so many with her courage and determination to endure. The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Nurses and staff at Campbell House in Collingwood. Your love and kindness gave us the strength to overcome these particularly difficult times - holding our loved one when we could not. A private family funeral will take place on May 26th, 2020 in Mansfield with a celebration of life hosted at a later date. Donations in Amalia’s honour to The Hospice Georgian Triangle Foundation are appreciated: 240 Erie Street, Collingwood ON, L9Y0X8 www.hospicegeorgiantriangle.com. Hildegard Kohlmann (née Pfister) Hildegard Kohlmann of New Britain,
Connecticut, passed away peacefully at the age of 85 at home on Nov. 16th surrounded by her loving family.Hildegard was born in Rax, Austria and came to live in New Britain, CT at the age of 14 with her family. She graduated from Mary Immaculate Academy and met the love of her life Benno Kohlmann at a German festival. They were married in 1958 and recently celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary. Hildegard worked at the family owned Brother's Dry Cleaners on North Street with her adoptive father Karl Pfister, his wife Rose, sister Stephanie, and other family members for 61 years before retiring. She loved socializing with friends and customers that stopped by the store. She was a member of the Women's Guild, St. Peter's Church, German Junior Women's League, Singers of the Austrian Donau Club, and the Alpenland Tänzer, Inc. She was truly a people person, good natured, kind and joyful, always giving of herself to others. She had a way and a light about her, and everywhere she went, a million lights of love surrounded her. She loved traveling to festivals and celebrating her Austrian/German heritage, cooking for large functions held at the Austrian Donau Club with her sister and group of friends. She also enjoyed gardening, cutting the grass, ocean swimming, long walks in winter, singing and dancing, the beach house in Guilford, camping, trips to Vermont and everything nature. Hildegard/Oma is survived by her husband Benno, sister Stephanie Lepke, 2 sisters in Austria, her brother in Sweden, a son Ben Kohlmann Jr., daughters Rosemarie Nyborg and husband Randy, Heide Tarchini and husband John, granddaughters Kristen Hartenbaum husband Jon and great-grandson Rocco, Lisamarie Patenaude and husband Jeffrey, nieces, nephews, cousins, and Grand-doggies Stella, Gus, and MJ. Thank you to VITAS Healthcare for the care and compassion brought to Hilde. Words can't express our appreciation. A memorial service and a celebration of Hildegard's life will be held a later date. In lieu of flowers donations in her memory can be made to Divine Providence Parish, 195 S. Main Street, NB CT 06051 and the Scholarship Fund, Austrian Donau Club, 545 Arch Street, NB CT 06051. To send a condolence or share a memory, please visit www.FarrellFuneralHome.com Published in Hartford Courant on Nov. 29, 2020 |
| END OF NEWSLETTER (Even good things must end!) |
|
Burgenland Bunch Newsletter, copyright © 2020 by The Burgenland Bunch |
News
The
Mischendorf collection consists of the complete transcription of the 735 marriage records found in FamilySearch
digital collection 
Ernest
Chrisbacher, Early BB Staff Member, Dies, 1933-2020: Jody McKim Pharr, Founder & Webmaster of DVHH
(Donauschwaben Villages Helping Hands), sent a note apprising me that Ernest had died last May. I knew that Ernie had
been ill with cancer for a number of years, but I had not been alerted to his death, thus this delayed message. 
Further, that she was interested
in having those recipes translated from Hungarian to English. It was not clear to me whether this new member was looking to
hire a translator or was hoping for good-will, gratis translations. 
But I also
sent her a link to the above image, asking if I was interpreting it correctly... and she said, yes, mostly...
the problem was that the note said the villages has become part of the new recording district based in Németlövő
(not Pornó!)... and she pointed out that the page prior to the one with the above note contained an image of the
registrar book's cover, and it showed the title marking provided to the right. 
Corona Virus Lockdown in
Austria, Again: Austria announced Saturday, Nov 14, that it was tightening its partial lockdown, including closing
non-essential stores and shifting schools to online teaching.
The
Facebook Bunch (from Vanessa Sandhu):
Update
for book "The Burgenländer Emigration to America": Here is this month's update on purchases of the English issue of
the 3rd edition of Dr. Walter Dujmovits' book "Die Amerika-Wanderung Der Burgenländer."
Quote of the Month: