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

1) THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER (by Tom Steichen)

This month's random bits and pieces (Article 1) begins with two requests for assistance, the first from a Master's student at Vienna University, who is doing a research survey, and the second from a historian commissioned to create the 750th anniversary volume for the municipality of Großpetersdorf, Burgenland, and the 4 villages that are part of it, Welgersdorf, Kleinpetersdorf, Kleinzicken and Miedlingsdorf. I'll give details below but both are worthy projects that need your support. We follow these with yet another romp through Austrian SPÖ politics... things are getting interesting! The next bit talks about a solar panel park going online, the first of what is expected to be many such installations. From there, I report on the 250th anniversary of the Reformed church in Oberwart, the oldest such church in Austria, and tell you something about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by FamilySearch. I close with a job advertisement from the Austrian Consulate General in New York City.

Our regular tidbits include the monthly BB Facebook report, book sales, no recipe (you should consider providing one!) and a cartoon.

The remaining articles are our standard sections: A Historical BB Newsletter article, Ethnic Events and Emigrant Obituaries.



Vienna University Student Needs Interview Subjects: Nikola Blagojevic, a Master's candidate at Vienna University in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, needs digital interview subjects for a class project regarding Burgenland's natural environment. I have confirmed that he is, in fact, a student there and that this is a legitimate request. Therefore, I am asking you to assist him by participating. I will present his request then add a few additional comments.



Nikola writes:

Dear BB members! I am a student at the University of Vienna conducting research on the Perception of the Environment at the National Park Neusiedlersee-Seewinkel for my ethnographic course. The research also encompasses the perception of the general environment of Burgenland. Due to the intended digital methodology of this project, I wish to talk via email with people from the United States who are affiliated with the Burgenland ecosystem in some way.

As we know, nature is almost always intertwined with our lives, so I would like to hear about your personal experiences or family stories related to Burgenland. In order to achieve this, I have prepared a number of questions that can be answered by email. Of course, if there are other things you would like to add or talk about in relation to Burgenland's environment, please do so. My email address is niko.bvic@gmail.com.



Editor: Nikola's project centers on the Neusiedlersee and the Seewinkel (but also includes the whole of Burgenland). Still, he has special interest in those of you who are familiar with this part of Burgenland. He also has special interest in BB members who live in Burgenland or frequently visit it. If you fit these categories, please strongly consider responding. Nonetheless, participation by people interested in other parts of Burgenland are needed.

Nikola has prepared nine questions, shown below, that he asks you to respond to. Please copy these questions, paste them into an email, then provide written responses. Nikola provides some guidance on the level of detail desired but you may respond as you see fit. Your responses should be sent to: niko.bvic@gmail.com. Nikola may have follow-up questions to clarify or expand answers.

(If you are unable to move the questions to an email, just write to Nikola and ask him to provide them directly in an email.)

Also, according to data privacy laws and school policy, Nikola is required to obtain written consent from each interviewee to be able to use your data, thus you will need to give your consent. The University of Vienna provides a standard consent page and corresponding privacy notice for this purpose, which I have translated to English. You can read them here: Consent/Privacy. However, it is sufficient merely to acknowledge that you have read and agree to these documents, so a one-sentence "consent to use data" has been added to the bottom of the questions. Please fill in your name in the space provided and send it with your answers when done.

Again, I strongly encourage you to respond.



Questions:

Part A: Please provide brief answers to these questions:

1. What is your relationship to Burgenland? That is, are you an emigrant or a descendant of an emigrant, and, if so, when did the emigrant emigrate and from which village?

2. Why did you or your ancestors migrate to the US?

3. Have you ever visited Burgenland? If so, which parts and when?

4. What do you like the most about Burgenland?

Part B: Please provide moderate answers to these questions:

5. Please share any stories about Burgenland regarding its lifestyle and, if possible, about the environment, either in the past prior to migration or in the present. For example, your family stories and experiences.

6. Do you have any contact with any of the Burgenland residents today? If so, do you talk about life and the environment in Burgenland? If so, please describe.

Part C: Please provide extended answers to these questions:

7. Taking into account the aforementioned questions about family history and life in Burgenland, would you say that you feel connected to nature in Burgenland - in the sense that you are familiar with how people perceived the environment and the role it played in their lives, both past and present?

8. Do you know how people in Burgenland take care of their natural habitats? If so, please describe.

9. Are you aware of how nature affects people, and do you know how they perceive the environment in Burgenland today and in the past? For example, agriculture, economy, climate, wildlife, tourism, water, and biodiversity. Please describe.

Consent to use data:

I (place your name here) have read the consent form and privacy notice provided by the University of Vienna and hereby give my consent to use this interview data under the conditions described.



Großpetersdorf 750th Anniversary Book: I recently received a request from Dr. Gerhard Baumgartner, a historian from Vienna. He said that the municipality of Großpetersdorf will soon be celebrating the 750th anniversary of its first documented existence, so wants to publish a history of Großpetersdorf and the four villages belonging to it: Welgersdorf, Kleinpetersdorf, Kleinzicken and Miedlingsdorf. He has been commissioned to put together this volume (I have confirmed this) and is looking for documents and photographs of all kinds of things relating to either the history of the villages or the families that left for the USA, Canada, and South America.

He tells me that he has, so far, concentrated on finding relevant material in the Hungarian archives, but he soon realized that the material about emigration is especially weak. He went on to note that this especially true for Welgersdorf, a place where he has been led to believe had many migrants to the US—apparently about 400—but he says it is a lot of rumors with very few hard facts and very few photographs.

Therefore, he is requesting its emigrants and the descendants of its emigrants to provide documentary materials, both for Welgersdorf and the other villages in the municipality. If you have ancestral items related to the municipality... village and/or emigrant photos, passports, travel documents, heirlooms, diaries, emigrant/emigration stories, etc., please consider sharing these. Dr Baumgartner states that, "All materials will be archived digitally at the city hall. If the owner agrees, some will be published on the city homepage and in the printed volume in September. Owners of published materials will get a free copy of this book."

From this, it is evident that you will retain your original items and copyrights, as only digital copies will be used in this project. And given that digital is how this will be done, it is extremely important that the scans and photos be of as high quality as possible.

Dr. Baumgartner's email address is gerhard.baumgartner57@gmx.at. Please reach out to him for more details if you believe you have materials of interest for this project.

This is another project for which I strongly encourage you to respond if you have appropriate materials!



Power Struggle Continues In The Austrian SPÖ Party: Rhetoric flew again in early March concerning the leadership of the Austrian federal SPÖ party. This round was set off by a skirmish about the Burgenland SPÖ possibly discontinuing membership payments to the federal SPÖ. The federal manager claimed that the Burgenland SPÖ no longer wanted to transfer membership fees to the federal SPÖ while the Burgenland state director said "[he] obviously misunderstood something here." And neither side has backed away from their positions on this.

Federal SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner quickly stated that she will not give in to the "sniper mentality" and the "dirty methods" from Burgenland governor Hans Peter Doskozil's camp. She characterized these "dirty methods" as “threats and intimidation” against party employees and parliamentarians, and the "sniper mentality" as rumors spread from ambush.

The federal manager, Christian Deutsch, said he was confident that "all open questions within the party could be clarified" at the Presidium meeting next week. But, because Doskozil did not run for Presidium office at the last party conference (unlike all other state party leaders), Doskozil needed a “personal invitation” to attend. Given that, Rendi-Wagner sent him a letter requesting "in view of the current situation" that he participate in the Presidium meeting. The governor replied that he will come to discuss "future prospects for social democracy."

Many are viewing this meeting as a first direct showdown between Rendi-Wagner and Doskozil. It follows the disappointing results for the SPÖ in the elections in Lower Austria and Carinthia last month, which has put internal pressure on Rendi-Wagner.

One of the questions the Presidium could discuss is whether there will be an early party congress. The congress is currently set for the 2024 election year and is when the party leadership election takes place. Rendi-Wagner has said she definitely wanted to stand for re-election at a party conference (whenever it is held). Doskozil has not stated if he is ready to stand as a candidate (but recent comments by his predecessor, Hans Niessl, point in that direction).

How such a duel could end is extremely difficult to estimate at this point, but pressure for an early congress signals some discomfort with the current leadership. Both the Socialist Youth and the Upper Austrian SPÖ have made demands for an early congress. Tyrol's SPÖ Deputy Governor said that he "wanted to present his view of things very clearly and unequivocally in the Executive Committee meeting." Upper Austria's party leader, Michael Lindner, has suggested that the party leadership should be "clarified" at a party conference after the April 23rd Salzburg election.

Rendi-Wagner has not spoken for or against an early party congress, nor has the Burgenland SPÖ. It, however, has expressed a preference for a member survey on party leadership. Rendi-Wagner conducted one in 2020 when there were no evident opposing candidates, thus consolidated her position. Whether that would hold true today is in question.

Currently, the Austrian SPÖ Women, the Vienna SPÖ and the Social Democratic Union (FSG) have expressed continued support for Rendi-Wagner.



Mid-March update: It appears that the SPÖ party is heading for an early party congress, rather than the member survey Doskozil prefers. In addition to the Presidium, party chairman Pamela Rendi-Wagner has also scheduled a party Executive Board meeting immediately after the Presidium. While the Presidium can discuss holding a party congress, the Board makes the actual decision. If they do so, it must be held, at the earliest, two weeks after the motion of the executive committee and, at the latest, within two months. Thus, we may see a party congress between the end of March and mid-May.



Mid-March update follow-up: Much to my surprise, the result of the Executive Board meeting was a decision to hold a member survey, not to schedule a party congress. It was my belief (and reportedly generally assumed) that current SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner would prefer a special party congress because she would expect to have more support among those high functionaries. However, a member survey pits Rendi-Wagner against Hans Peter Doskozil in a vote among all 140,000 party members about who should lead the party. This is a much more even battle ground.

The Board decision followed an announcement by Doskozil that he was applying for SPÖ party chairmanship ...but only in the event of a member survey that supported him. I'm speculating, but it seems the Presidium must have had some interesting discussions and that the party Executive Board was more concerned about the leadership situation than I previously thought. The exact procedural guidelines for the member survey will be determined by the Presidium and both Rendi-Wagner and Doskozil said that it is clear that the result is to be accepted by all (relegating a party congress vote to a formality only). Still, it will be some interesting weeks leading up to the survey as each side lays out their positions!



Sonnenpark Schattendorf Goes Online In May: Burgenland Energie has completed its first photovoltaic (solar panel) park. It is in Schattendorf (Mattersburg district) and all residents of the municipality can participate via an energy community. The park is around 15 hectares (37 acres, ~27,000 photovoltaic panels) in size and will go online May 1.

Both households and companies of the municipality can subscribe (for free) to join the energy community. As a member, they get a fixed price for the electricity produced and an average household in Schattendorf is expected to save around 600 euros a year via the participation model.

The park will produce electricity for at least 20 years and will cover around 30 percent of the typical daily household requirement. If they add a storage system, this share will be increased, as they can supply electricity for more hours, and costs for households will be further reduced.

The Sonnenpark in Schattendorf is regarded as a pioneer, as Burgenland has been divided into 270 energy communities and the participation model is to be rolled out throughout Burgenland as more parks are created.



Reformed Church in Oberwart Celebrates Its 250th Anniversary: The oldest standing Reformed church in Austria is celebrating its construction. On 10 January 1773, the first service was performed in the then-new church. Prior to it, the congregation held services in a simple wooden church, but it asked Empress Maria Theresa several times for permission to build a stone church. The process took about five years until permission was granted to build the church, as the Habsburgs were not the great supporters of Protestantism.

Even then, there were stipulations to downplay its status as a church. It had to be built more like a granary than a church (no tower or steeple allowed then) and had to be set back far from the street. Today, access remains via a one-lane Gasse (alley). It would only be with its 100th Anniversary that a tower and other internal improvements would be added.

The tower, when built, was adorned with an imperial double-headed eagle but a star replaced it in 1907. The pulpit and hand-carved pews are still in their original state, and above the pulpit is a pelican nourishing the young with its own blood.



The Reformed are Protestant Christians of the Helvetic/Swiss (Calvinist) Confession. They do not trace their faith back to Martin Luther but to the reformers Johannes Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli. There are about 15,000 Reformed Christians in Austria, with 1,500 of them in Oberwart.

A special feature of the church is its bilingualism: services are held alternately in German and Hungarian, keeping the Hungarian language and culture alive by the once ethnic-Hungarian members. A Reformed Reading Society has existed for more than 130 years, intended to revive and pass on the Hungarian language and culture. The church also has a dance group, a choir and a theater group, all of which should be featured in events during the anniversary.



FamilySearch and AI: I've talked before about FamilySearch (and others) transcribing records by use of artificial intelligence (AI). An example is the 1950 census, where both FamilySearch and Ancestry.com quickly released transcriptions of the census shortly after it was made available to the public. There is no denying that AI made that process quicker... I doubt, though, that it made it more accurate. However, both organizations have human projects underway to review and improve those transcriptions, and there is reasonable belief that they will be improved. I've participated on a small scale by reviewing and correcting the census entries for my own family, and I suspect many other family genealogists have done similar things (if you haven't, I suggest you look into doing so... it's easy!).

But back to FamilySearch... it has indexed more than 2.6 billion historical resources and made them searchable for the public. However, more than 5 billion more documents—documents already collected and converted to digital images—still need to be transcribed to make them searchable in FamilySearch’s database. And they continue to add 1 to 2 million more items every day, increasing the backlog.

With the development of artificial intelligence technology, there is the expectation that this backlog can be worked off within five years. According to FamilySearch senior product manager, John Alexander, “In just a couple of hours, the computer can index more than you or I could do in a whole lifetime if we did nothing besides indexing for the rest of our lives. So in terms of efficiency, it’s very fast."

Currently, it knows English, Spanish and Portuguese, with plans for Italian... but it takes time to get a sophisticated transcribing AI up and running because it has to be taught and trained. “When we show a computer the image, all it sees is ones and zeros—pixels. None of that means anything to the computer,” Alexander said. “And so we have to train it similar to the way we train or teach a child to read, we have to teach it each individual letter and character, we have to teach it the way that pages are laid out, how each line is distinct from the other, all of that takes time and training.”

Whenever AI gets involved, a common question is, “How accurate is it?”

“The computer does make mistakes,” Alexander said. “It might read the name of a street and think that’s the name of the baby—things like that.”

But FamilySearch is committed to quality records, so records that don’t meet a certain quality threshold are not published on the site. Quality-control volunteers review the AI's work and a grade is given to the document based on accuracy. Too low and the index is not published. This is done through a volunteer program on the “Get Involved” page on the website, which allows volunteers to look through the indexed information to check for accuracy. It shows what the AI has read and the volunteer can accept, deny or skip the information. For this reason, computer automation isn’t going to replace volunteer indexers. “If anything, we need more of them,” Alexander said.



Job Opening at the Austrian Consulate in New York City: I received a note from the Austrian Consulate asking that I post a job advertisement for them. They say that they are "currently looking for an employee for consular affairs with a focus on citizenship" and they provided a pdf file explaining the job responsibilities, required personal qualifications, a description of what they offer to employees, and the type of application data needed along with where to send it. A deadline of April 5th is indicated, so if you are interested you should apply quickly.

The message to me was from Denise Weiershaus, Executive Assistant to the Consul General, but the job notice does not say who to address your cover letter to. The job description also indicates that "excellent knowledge of English and German (written and oral)" is a requirement, so I will not translate it for you. You can read the notice here:
Stellenausschreibung Konsularsachbearbeiterin Schwerpunkt Staatsbürgerschaft.pdf



The Facebook Bunch (from Vanessa Sandhu):

Greetings, Burgenland Bunch!

We have reached a monumental milestone this month in our Facebook group! We have surpassed the 2,000 member mark! 2,003 to be exact! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends assembled in one place to collaborate and research our shared heritage. We look forward to welcoming many new members—come join us if you haven’t already! facebook.com//TheBurgenlandBunchOFFICIAL/

Our fabulous member, Martha Orlovits, has been busy creating more cemetery albums for our group. This month, albums were shared for cemeteries in Langeck im Burgenland (Oberpullendorf), Unterkohlstätten (Oberwart), and Glashütten bei Schlaining.

Member Laura Mc has been working to upload Martha’s memorials to Find-A-Grave, so these memorials will be more accessible to those searching for family members interred in these particular villages. Laura has also recently added 891 memorials to the Apetlon Friedhof cemetery on the Find-A-Grave site.

Member Helga Harter shared some very nice memories of her immigration to America from Kirchfidisch. She and her twin sister Gerti came to the United States 60 years ago this month!

Member Fred Knarr shared lots of photos of treasures from Burgenland that his family had carefully tucked away some 35 years ago. Moritz Wagner shared some lovely vintage photos of his family, as well.

Member Ellie Wood is looking for some assistance. She writes “Would anyone be willing to read a two page summary I wrote on the history of Neusiedler District in Burgenland and verify its historical accuracy? I'm writing an extensive family history document on the branches of my family that originally came from that area and am trying to include some background information.” We didn’t have too much help to offer on this query, so we thought that it might be helpful to see if any of our knowledgeable newsletter readers might feel comfortable proofreading this document. If anyone can offer any assistance, please let me know and I will be happy to put you in touch with Ellie.

CONNECTIONS:

Member Susan Buritz Braxton writes “I'm trying to research the Burits family from Felsőkethely/Neumarkt im Tauchental. Most of my relatives list addresses at Nagymedves and Kismedves (Großmürbisch/ Kleinmürbisch). Trying to find information about my great-grandfather János [John] Burits, miller, born in Kethely [Neumarkt im Tauchental], lived in Németcziklény [Eisenzicken] under number 29.”

Member Lisa Anderson Chelstrom writes “Hi All! My great grandfather is Paul Wegleitner b. 1868 in Banfálu/Apetlon (father Matthia Wegleitner b. 1835, mother Katharina Pitzel b. 1837). Both Paul and Katharina emigrated to Minnesota in the late 1800's. I am planning a trip to Austria and Slovakia and would love to visit some of Burgenland, especially Apetlon and Illmitz. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear from you. I'd especially like to try some of the Wegleitner wine, so if anyone has any pointers in those regards, let me know! Thanks in advance!”

If anyone has any information to share with Susan or Lisa, please email me at HooftyRN@msn.com.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy month to come! Take care!

Vanessa



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."

Current total sales are 1717 copies, as interested people purchased 4 more books during this past month.

As always, the book is available for online purchase at a list price of $8.89 (which is the current production charge for the book, as we purposely choose not to make a profit so we can avoid dealing with the income tax consequences and so you can obtain the book at as low a cost as possible!), plus tax & shipping. Unfortunately, the price above is somewhat higher than in previous months, as our on-demand publisher, Lulu, recently raised is printing prices by 9.5%, meaning we must charge more. See the BB homepage for a link to the information / ordering page and for information about current discounts (there is at least one discount on price or shipping available most of the time... if not, wait a few days and there will be one!).

The book is an excellent read for the Burgenländers in your family.



Burgenland Recipes: No recipe this month. Can you share one?



Note: Our recipes sortable list has links directly to the recipes or food-related articles published in our past newsletters. You can access the list by clicking our recipe box (to the right). Thanks to the contributions of our members over the years, we have quite a collection of Burgenland recipes, some with several variations.

However, whenever we use up our unpublished recipes, this recipe section will become dormant. So, if you have a favorite family recipe, please consider sharing it with us. We will be happy to publish it. Our older relatives, sadly, aren't with us forever, so don't allow your favorite ethnic dish to be lost to future generations.

You can send your recipe to BB Recipes Editor, Alan Varga. Thanks!



Cartoon of the Month: (a variation on one I ran a while back)

• Land registration records (Urbariums / tax appraisals). Covers 1715-1945 and includes the name of the property owner or head of family and sometimes names of family members. For 1715 to end of 1800, these records are in the Hungarian State Archives; since 1800, in local county archives and courthouses.

Some of the Urbarium images are available online:
1715 Urbarium (Vas county is not in the available images)
1720 Urbarium
1767 Urbarium
1828 Urbarium

Some of the Urbariums are also available on LDS microfilm #'s 1506129 (Moson Co, 1715), 1529556 (Sopron Co, 1715), 1529570-1529571 (Vas Co, 1720) and 1529572 (Moson and Sopron Co's, 1720).

• Land records and deeds (Intabulations Bucher). Covers 1750-1945 and includes names of landowners and successors, location and description of property, and date of document. For 1750 to 1850, these records are in the Hungarian State Archives; since 1850, in local county archives.

• Poorhouse and hospital records. Covers 1873-1920 and includes name, age, residence, and occupation of patient and names of parents. These records are generally not in usable order but can be found in local county archives.

• Census Records. There are two censuses of interest to Burgenland:

1) The 1828 Hungarian Census, a land and property census with conscription information. Written in Latin, it gives names only of property owners with very little information about the household; Moson County can be found on LDS film #'s 0623058-0623060; Sopron County is found on film #'s 0623111-0623116; and Vas County is on film #'s 0623007-0623014. Consult the film notes at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/231564 to determine the film a particular village is on.

An index and extraction of the listed names for Sopron County is available online from LDS here (the link is hidden due to its length). A similar index and extraction for Moson County is available from LDS on film # 1573238 (Item 18). Vas County has not yet been indexed or extracted.

2) The 1848 Hungarian Census of the Jews, a Jewish household census. Written in Hungarian, it gives names, ages and specific birthplaces of all members of the household. Moson County can be found on LDS film # 719825; Vas County is on film # 719827, Sopron County is not available but the free city of Sopron is on film # 719823.

• Civil Registration records. Began in 1895 and go through the present. Digital copies up to 1920 are available online via the LDS FamilySearch.org link given here (the link is hidden due to its length). These can also be accessed from the BB website. Newer records are at the civil registrars' offices in the town halls, with duplicates in the local county archives. However, the more recent records are available only to immediate family members. Church records, though still kept, were no longer official state records.

• Ellis Island Passenger records. Covers 1892 to 1954. I prefer to search them for specific surnames or lists of all surnames from a particular village by using Stephen Morse's gold form found at: http://stevemorse.org/ellis2/ellisgold.html. Be sure to consider spelling variations and Hungarian names for villages.



BB Records. The Burgenland Bunch website has a number of resources that can document the existence of a family name in a particular village at various times. Among these are:

• The BB Surnames Pages at http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/Surnames/surnames.html, which contain surnames connected to villages and to emigrant destinations. Some entries contain substantial detail.

• The BB Village History files at http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/V_Histories/VH_Frame.htm. While we do not have a village history page for every village, and some we do have are quite thin, it is a source you should try to look at for your village. Selected ones contain surnames from various historical records.

These histories are courtesy of various BB staff members who translated and summarized information from various sources, including:
- Josef Loibersbeck: Um Hirschenstein und Plischa. In: Volk und Heimat 1962
- Harald & Leonhard Prickler: Hoheitszeichen der kroatischen Gemeinden des Burgenlandes. Eisenstadt 1997
- More Hungarian Border Villages from Gyor-Moson-Sopron County (from Hizi Atlas)
- Leuchs Adressbuch, Band 18: Ungarn, Kroatien und Slavonien, 1899-1904, 9.Ausgabe
- Magyar Katolikus Lexikon (Hungarian Catholic Encyclopaedia)
- Dr. Josef Loibersbeck's series "Um den Eisenberg", published in "Volk und Heimat"
- Handbuch der Historischen Stättten Österreich, 1970
- Father Gratian Leser's articles in the "Güssinger Zeitung," 1928
- Extractions from various village "Chroniks"

• The BB Houselist pages, http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/HouseList/HouseLists2.htm, give a snapshot in time (usually around 1856-8) of names of property owners.

• The BH&R (Burgenländers Honored and Remembered) sister-site (http://www.the-burgenland-bunch.org/BH&R/home.htm) contains useful data about over 27,000 emigrants from Burgenland, including their village of origin and place of burial.

• In addition there are various village-specific items available on the BB website such as Father Graisy's book about the History of the houses of Wallern (see Wallern in der Geschichte seiner Häuser), BB Member Ed Malesky's extracts of Select Krobotek Church Records, and the Emigration & Deportation Lists from villages Schandorf, Balf and Pornoapati.



While I'm sure I've missed some potential Burgenland genealogical records, the above list should identify most of them. If you are aware of an additional source of information, please send me a note with details so I can add it to our BB bag of genealogical tricks!

4) BURGENLAND EMIGRANT OBITUARIES

Maria Egresits (née Wild)

Maria Egresits, 90, of Enhaut, Pennsylvania, died Saturday, February 25, 2023 at the home of her daughter, Marianna, in Oberlin.

She was the widow of Lawrence Egresits.

Born in Kópháza (Koljnof/Kohlnhof), Hungary on March 16, 1932, she was a daughter of the late Julius and Anna (Grubics) Wild.

She was a former seamstress at the Deborah Dress Co., Steelton and a member of Prince of Peace Roman Catholic Parish, Steelton. She enjoyed walking, flowers, and Kit Kat candy bars.

Surviving are two daughters, Monica E. O'Neill and husband, Joe of Springfield and Marianna Aldridge and husband, Ken of Oberlin; three grandchildren, Dana Cooper and husband, Andre of Enhaut, Daniel Dutcavich and wife, Megan of Lewisberry, and Tim O'Neill and wife, Jennifer of Philadelphia; 12 great-grandchildren, Alexa and husband, Charles IV, AJ, Alijah, Aiden, Dominic, King, Savy, Micah, Creed, Drake, Sloane, and Willow Maria.

Funeral Services will be held on Monday, March 6, 2023 at 11:00 am in Wiedeman Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 357 South Harrisburg St., Oberlin with Rev. Jonathan P. Sawicki, her Pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Holy Cross Cemetery. A viewing will be held on Monday from 10:00 am until 11:00 am in the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Prince of Peace Roman Catholic Parish, 815 S. Second St., Steelton, PA 17113 or Homeland Hospice, 2300 Vartan Way, Suite 270, Harrisburg, PA 17110. www.pennlive.com/obits

Published by Patriot-News from Feb. 27 to Mar. 2, 2023



Hedvig Takacs (née Venci)

Hedvig Takacs, 84, of Medinah, Illinois passed away unexpectedly on February 26, 2023.

Hedvig ("Heidi") was born on February 8, 1939 to Joszef and Maria Venci in Horvátlövö (Hrvatske Sice/Kroatisch Schützen), Hungary.

On December 9, 1956 at the age of 18, she escaped Hungary with her cousin on foot in the dead of night following the Hungarian Revolution. Her heroic journey to freedom took her from Hungary to a refugee camp in Austria, where she resided before finally arriving in America with the help of her great uncle George Pock. Despite not knowing any English, Hedvig established herself in America working in Chicago as a nanny and, later, at Hammond Organ Company. She was proud to become an American citizen. In Chicago, she met and later married the love of her life Geza Takacs on December 31, 1962, who also was a refugee from the Hungarian Revolution. Their marriage endured for 45 years until Geza's passing in 2007.

Hedvig cared deeply about her roots and traveled back to Hungary many times. She never forgot her family and missed her homeland. She was fluent in three languages and attended business school while still in Hungary. She was a stalwart and tenacious woman who devoted herself selflessly to her precious family, lovingly sacrificing all her time in their support. Her love of God and nature permeated every aspect of her life. She conquered cancer 40 years ago after being given 3 months to live relying on natural immunity-boosting therapies alone, and her story has saved people's lives, giving many hope that a cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence. In 2019, Hedvig suffered a stroke. Her tenacity and strong will to live led to a full recovery, again inspiring others to never give up on their body's ability to heal. She was a beacon for healthy living before it became the trend. Her wisdom has been passed on to her daughters, who continue to champion her cause that health solutions exist outside conventional medicine. Hedvig led an independent life to the very end, peacefully living in a forest that she lovingly planted with native wildflowers. She was a natural-born horticulturist, collecting and proliferating flora from all her earthly travels. She loved being outdoors and enjoyed bird-watching. She had a great sense of style and an eye for design, and she had the gift of making everything she touched look beautiful. Hedvig's greatest joy in life was her family, especially her grandchildren, and she treasured every moment they had together. She was the rock of the family and their hero, and will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered.

Hedvig is the devoted mother of Cynthia Takacs Csato and Melody Takacs, beloved mother-in-law of Peter Csato, loving grandmother of Xavier Takacs Csato and Makoa Takacs Aweau, and cherished sister of Steven Venci.

A visitation will be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Countryside Funeral Home located at 333 South Roselle Rd (½ mile S. of Irving Park Rd) in Roselle, Illinois 60172 beginning with a rosary service. Prayers Monday, March 13, 2023 at 9:15 am at the funeral home to St. Walter's Catholic Church, located at 130 W. Pine St., Roselle, Illinois 60172 at 10:00 am. Interment Maryhill Cemetery, Niles, IL.

Published by Daily Herald on Mar. 6, 2023

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