Bukin History page

Bukin History page

Bukin - from settlement, 1749 to expulsion, 1944/45

Bukin would now be 250 years old

(by Andreas Pfuhl)

Editor's Note: This story was taken from the BUKIN Ortssippenbuch with permission of Andreas Pfahl who helped to build these Bukin pages

The community of Bukin, with its inhabitants and 200 years of joy and suffering, it can also be compared to a book. Its settlement and history began in 1749 and lasted for its German inhabitants until 1944/45.

We would all like to read Bukin's 'life-story' over and over again from Start to finish. It unfolded over the years to encompass many events and was formed by the village inhabitants. Many of the book's pages, however, are not legible to the eye. They are meant for the heart to read between the lines. We also find pages only written by tears. Many pages of the book of Bukin remain blank because the lifespan of the village was intended to be longer, but it is precisely the final chapters in a book which are important and carry great meaning. Perhaps in a few years' time we will find out what these final pages contain, should political changes take place. As the space available to me in this edition of the 'Ortssippenbuch Bukin' is limited, l will give a brief history and overview of the main topics concerning Bukin.

Many peoples were attracted by the idea of creating settlements in the wide plains and the valleys of the middle Danube as long ago as the years BC. Then came the Romans, Slavs and Hungarians. After the 13^ Century the Turks invaded in order to conquer the Christian West. This threat continued for almost 300 years until the powerful Turkish army was finally defeated in the Battle of Vienna on September 12, 1683. This victory could only be achieved through the solidarity of all Christian denominations throughout Europe, but it was not for another 35 years of battle that the 'Turkish peril' could finally be defeated.

Many thousands of young soldiers and civilians lost their lives here in the brutal battles.

At this time many members of the South and West German duchy and principality were among the officers and troops. They became familiär with the area bordering the Danube, Drava, Sava and Tisa, which was to be settled äs a safeguard against the Ottoman aggression. Among the most prominent men of the time were, for example, Charles of Lorraine, Kahlenberg, 1683, Ofen, 1689, Mohäcs, 1687, Max Emanuel of Bavaria, Beigrade, 1688, Mohäcs, 1687, Ludwig of Baden, nicknamed 'Türkenlouis' (Louis the Turk), Slankamen, 1691, and finally, the 'edler Ritter' (noble knight), celebrated in a song, Prince Eugene of Savoy, Zenta, 1697, Peterwardein, 1716 and Beigrade, 1717, among others.

In order to comprehend the threat and Situation of that time the military border must be mentioned in addition to the above-mentioned names and dates from the Turkish wars. As opposed to the western part of the Balkan peninsula (with its high mountains in Albania and Montenegro coast on the Adriatic) the eastern part is easily accessible because of its wide, relatively open countryside - ideal for an army to march through, and frequently taken advantage of. To protect themselves against these 'invading arsonists' from the south-east the Habsburg emperors set up the Austrian military border in 1522, which remained in effect until 1881. This border

territory provided the basis for the existence of the Habsburg monarchy for over three and a half centuries. This defense strategy proved successful but cost a great deal of money and lives!

As a result of the defeat against Prussia under Frederick II in 1741/42 Empress Maria Theresia was forced to relinquish the fertile area of Silesia. This loss was bitter and very painful for Austria as it also meant the loss of tax returns, harvest and recruits etc.. In addition to settling private lords of the manor in Hungary, the Viennese royal court now increased their efforts to recruit colonists from their home-countries and from the German areas of the Holy Roman Empire, thus reinforcing Austrian power by the fast and intensive settlement of capable men. At the same time this also supported the military border so that the bastion of Christendom stood firm. This should also compensate for the complete loss of the Silesian granary.

In these eventful times Bukin was also settled, for the most part by Germans from around the Saar and from Lorraine. This is shown by entries in the Bukin church registers from 1751. Entries have also been traced and documented for Bacs and Novoselo from the time of settlement in 1749. Thus the genealogical book about the families of Bukin will be a sound reference work.

The above-mentioned description of the country between the Danube and the Tisa -

named Pannonien - was no gilt-edged invitation to settle there. Even by today's

standards we have to admire our ancestors for their courage in moving closer to the

greatest peril to the Christian West to an extremely dangerous part of the empire.

They left their homeland, parents, siblings and friends forever.

With this new beginning in the middle Danube area they hoped to gain for

themselves and their children the advantages guaranteed by the settlement patents

of the Viennese treasury.

The most important points were:

• A spacious house with garden for each family

• Good quality arable land, draught and breeding cattle and farming equipment

• money and tools for manual workers

• Exemption from the military and recruitment for the eldest son

• Free travel to the area and free board for the transitional period

• Building of hospitals

• Exemption from tax and any type of duty for 10 years

Later Emperor Joseph II granted freedom of religion with the result that also Protestant settlers arrived after 1781. While working through details of baptisms around 1791 we discover that on April 25* of that year Jakob Sulzbacher converted to Catholicism at the age of 48, with Michael Kunder as godfather. On May 11'", 1794 Conrad Fertig followed suit, aged 29. In both cases they were baptised by Joseph Kastner, who was Bukin's fourth parish priest from 1788 to 1797.

To secure shipping on the Danube, Bukin was settled by German colonists in 1749, at the same time as Apatin. The village next to the Danube was the second with the name of Bukin (Buki). According to the research of the archiepiscopal librarian of Kalocs, Paul Winkler, a village including a Benedictine monastery existed as early as 1245, before the Tartar wars. The second Bukin was founded after the Turkish wars by Serbians whose name registers also still exist. From the fact that the church registers from 1752 include the names Andrits, Anitits, Bertits, Kovacevits, Mutavsits, etc., it can be deduced that some of these Slavs stayed on in the new village. The rest of the Slavs moved to Csonoplja or Stapar, where the Serbians from Apatin had also settled.

As head of the Viennese treasury, Grasalkovich was one of the most powerful lords of the manor in Hungary. His land was therefore extensive, as was his influence at the imperial court in Vienna. His ancestral seat in Pressburg was unfortunately destroyed in a major fire, leaving only a few records which do not include details of the Bukin settlement.

In his book of 1912 Josef Winkler writes about the first days of Bukin that approximately 200 families from the Empire settled in the village and signed a lease in 1752 with the imperial settlement administration as they did not yet own any land. It was not until 1772, 23 years after their arrival, that they were given part of the village acreage as registered land property, known as the land transference for settlers. This land was transferred simultaneously to every settler in all settlements.

In the Middle Ages the record designating the legal situation between the lord of the manor and his subjects was known as 'land transference', 'lord/settler contract agreement' or 'socage'. Enclosed was the register of plots of land belonging to the lord of the manor which were handed over to the subjects in the form of interest loans or transference contracts, for them to farm their own land.

The duties for the Bukin settlers resulting from this legal contract are also obvious. As mentioned above, the first ten years were granted tax-free. However, the settlers were under obligation to remain for at least five years in their allotted accommodation. After this time was up they were allowed to sell up and move house. Civic duties had to be fulfilled manually or by horse and cart, and the work was allotted according to profession. Because of the wilderness around old Bukin; cultivation of the meadows made slow progress. The fields they had been given were surrounded by woodland for a long time, and a great deal of damage was therefore also caused by wild animals. In addition to this the Danube flooded frequently. The newcomers must have lived in great poverty.

On top of all this, it can now be deduced from original death registers that the mortality rate was high. The number of deaths in the first 10 years of settlement was shockingly high. In 1752 alone approximately 200 people died, and whole families were wiped out. Malaria and epidemics killed many. As we can see from the precise data in the table included with the folkloristic research published by Werner Burchard in 1936/37, the Bukin settlers also had to suffer the well-known settlers' saying:

"Death for the first man, need for the second, bread for the third"

In 1751 five births are entered in the new church registers, but the following year there are already 20 baptisms registered. In 1754 the number rises to 60, documents 70 births in 1761, over 80 in 1764 and goes over the 90 mark a year later. It takes until 1779 for the tally to reach over 100, then in 1778 it is over 110, in 1808 over 120 and in 1836 over 140. The record of 170 births is made in 1871. In the following years the rate gradually decreases until the First World War. After the war there is a natural increase for several years and then a decrease because of a 'limitation' of no more than two children per marriage. This trend is shown by birth rates of 66 in 1940, 71 in 1941 and 63 baptisms in 1943.

If one adds together the number of live births in Bukin between 1751 and 1932 and subtracts the number of infant deaths, the result is 19,505 births, 15,950 deaths = a surplus of 3,555 people. To compare this with Bulkes, a settlement created in 1787 but with far better economic conditions, from its beginnings in 1787 until 1932:13,783 births, 8,434 deaths = a surplus of 5,349 people!

These few details show how disadvantaged the early settlers were in the hands of Maria Theresia or the private lords of the manor. Under Joseph II, however, the houses were always ready for their arrival and fitted out with the benefit of the workers' newly acquired expertise, etc.. The new settlers also received on arrival the transference of ownership for the meadows they had been promised, and were therefore spared incessant need and bitter poverty. Our Bukin ancestors, on the other hand, had to surmount the difficulty of making a new start, which they achieved by pulling together.

Our ancestors were hit badly in 1808 when the Danube flooded, destroying the whole village. This catastrophe had dreadful consequences, for the villages had no savings as yet to build new houses. Frequent flooding also destroyed the crops, leaving no food for livestock.

The hard hit Bukiners sent a petition to Emperor Franz I requesting remission from taxes and socage because the crop failure had left them unable to pay. The fields were partly flooded for six years at the beginning of the 19^th Century, and on top of this the inhabitants had to do the agreed socage on public buildings (church, presbytery, parish house), which were constantly damaged by floods. Maintenance also had to be kept up on dams, village streets and field tracks.

Because the remaining houses in old Bukin were in danger of collapsing, the inhabitants decided in 1808 to build a new village with all its public institutions on higher ground just over a mile north of the Danube.

Cost estimates amounted to about 205,000 florins. On July 28^th, 1808 the Bukin parish council presented the Emperor with the petition, along with a list of the individual positions. The judge (mayor) at the time, Johann Storch, and his jury (committee members) Leonhard Dupp, Georg Haag and Peter Schmidt absolutely insisted that the eight listed ..requests" of the Bukin parishioners be met. These would be their prerequisites for moving to the new site.

The Emperor's reply suited their needs, apart from making a few small curtailments. The 1600 or so inhabitants realized that moving to a new site and building a new village was inevitable, but it was very hard for them to give up the village of 276 houses which had been their new home for almost 60 years, not to mention losing household equipment and other economic goods. Nonetheless the flood damage meant that the new village had to be built quickly, and it was soon surveyed. From 1809 to 1811, 312 houses were built, as can be seen on the map of Bukin. In the books by Josef Winkler from 1912 and by Benedikt Helmlinger from 1974 we find precise details of Bukin's history and its inhabitants.

The 100 pages of Winkler's book provide us with special impressions of the village, because it was written in bukin's heyday in 1912. The occasion was the jubilee celebration of the consecration of the church on June 24^th, 1812, the Saint's Day of St. John the Baptist, the church's patron saint. Another new edition would be very valuable to future generations. The names of the Bukin families are listed in various population registers between 1755 and 1794. They are listed with their house numbers from old Bukin because of the taxes and duties they had to pay. It is very informative to peruse the list of the 312 new houses in Bukin with their new inhabitants from 1812, the names of the heads of household and the size of each plot of land.

Also listed are the fields of the families on Bukin acreage, which was not that large at the time. It was not until later that the Bukin inhabitants bought more fertile arable land - an important prerequisite for prosperity. In the period from 1812 to 1914 they were of course met with repeated set-backs and catastrophes. Austria's involvement in the war led to currency devaluation plus war- and recruitment tax. Bukin also felt the ill effects of the 1848/49 revolution. Forced recruitment was practiced by both the military and by revolutionaries passing through. Over a long period the inhabitants protected themselves by hiding their young sons in suitable hiding-places, which mostly proved successful.

Recurrung epidemics also claimed many victims, as medical knowledge of the time was too limited and unsatisfactory to counter these diseases. The first parish doctor to come to Bukin was Franz Rath, 1838-1845, and from this time on there were six further parish doctors working regularly in the village. It was not until 1928 that Stefan Reiter opened the first chemist's at 419, Jagergasse. It is clear from these few details what difficulties the Bukin families were faced with when acute illness befell them. At this point I would especially like to mention that it was particularly the grandmothers who had a broad knowledge of how to treat illnesses and injuries. Out of a sense of self-protection, our ancestors were also very knowledgeable about veterinary medicine, and were able to treat animals quickly. The first veterinary surgery was set up in 1861.

At the end of the 19"' Century Hungarian nationalism also had an effect on our community, and the village was renamed Dunabokeny. Influence was also exerted on the parish council and the schools to suppress the German language. Resistance was encouraged among all German inhabitants in the whole of the Swabian settlement area, and particularly by Adam Muller-Gutenbrunn, who was even made to emigrate to Linz. However, the German efforts were not successful and the national minorities in Hungary had to accept the discrimination forced upon them. In this phase of excessive nationalism came the murder of the Austrian heir to the throne, Archduke Ferdinand, on June 28^th, 1914 in Sarajevo, leading to the outbreak of the First World War.

When war was declared all young men had to go to war. Many never returned. According to a compilation by Katharina Pfuhl in the Book of Bukin, pp.325/26, 122 were killed in the war. In the war years 1917/18 older men (40 to 50-year-olds) were also enlisted, which limited the work possible in house and home and also in Bukin's workshops. Sometimes prisoners of war were set to work, voluntarily or otherwise. We can no longer determine the far-reaching effects of World War 1 on the village and its inhabitants, because our grandparents did not keep diaries. Through the number of soldiers killed, over 120 families suffered the loss of a son or young father. As a result, many children never knew their fathers, a loss they carried with them for a lifetime.

At the end of the war, in 1918, the majority of the soldiers were able to return to their families in the village. Many were badly injured and had to be reintegrated with a wooden leg and crutches. Others spent years in captivity, sometimes only returning to Bukin after an adventurous escape through Asia. The political division of the Habsburg monarchy added to the grave consequences for the people of Bukin, meaning that the whole of South Backa was integrated into the newly created kingdom of the Slovenes, Croatians and Serbians. This consequence of the Paris treaties brought many disadvantages for our parents' and grandparents' generation because they suddenly found themselves citizens of a foreign state against their will. The new power disrespected the promised rights of national minorities and declared Serbian as the national language, a language which was foreign to our families. Even the minutes of society committee meetings had to be written in the new national tongue, although many villages in our settlement area contained only German inhabitants.

The events in the parish of Bukin from 1918 to 1944 should be examined in detail from a modern perspective, in order to recognize the beginnings and goals of the Serbians who were then in power. Sources exist in the form of ,,Historia Domus" -parish chronicle of Bukin, ,,The Danube", weekly newspaper for Catholic Germans in Backa 1935 -1944, by Adam Berenz, the ,,Call to the People", magazine for national revival edited by Dr. Jakob Awender and local newspapers edited by Germans and Serbians. On p.208 of the Book of Bukin in a report on the parliamentary elections of 1925, Father Benedikt Helmlinger writes that Father Georg Potz, Peter Ballay and Christoph Schmidt were arrested as supporters of the German Party. They were taken to Palanka where a violent high court judge physically attacked them and used vile language towards them. With threats he attempted to coerce the representatives of the German Party to persuade their fellow-citizens to vote for the radical Serbian party. If the GP were to win, all official positions in the parish and the school would be filled by ,,South Serbians"!

In the meantime, however, no other than the candidate for the Serbian radical party had heard of the Bukiners' arrest and made higher level inquiries. The men were set free and both police chief and high court judge transferred to an undisclosed town. The latter almost certainly did not receive a just punishment, however, since even at that time such attacks were the order of the day all over Backa. At an election meeting Dr.Stefan Kraft and several of his fellow-candidates for parliament in Belgrade were beaten up with wooden clubs. Dr.Kraft only survived the attack because of swift medical intervention. This intolerance of the Serbians also had an effect on the village societies. New societies were permitted or forbidden according to the general political climate in order not to appear to foreign observers to be breaking the law.

The Belgrade promises regarding minority rights signed and guaranteed on June 4^th, 1920 in Trianon were not upheld. Nor did the victorious powers France, England and the USA ensure effective control. Apart from a few small exceptions all appeals to the government of the kingdom of Serbians, Croatians and Slovenes (SHS) were unsuccessful.

It only became known later that Ilija Przic was awarded the King's Sveti-Sava Prize for a work containing the following statement: ,,The enforcement of the treaty protecting minorites has injured the honour of our new state!" The treaty was therefore denied and every reference to it regarded as an act of hostility towards the state. Even at that time the Serbians celebrated a great victory, as their striving to extend their power was successful with the help of the allies.

To compensate for the lack of cultural autonomy of the Swabian settlers, the Swabian Settlers' Cultural Association was founded on June 20^th, 1920 in Novi Sad, led by their spokesman, Dr.Stefan Kraft. Through this protective association the Germans intended to counterbalance the effects of all repressive measures by the state. The organization was politically and confessionally neutral and was intended to support above all the cultural, economic, educational and religious interests of the German population in the new state. Their basic standpoint was explained from the start as being ,,true to the state and true to the people", thereby publicly expounding loyalty to the new state. Its programme, with its motto Mother tongue, homeland, Christian belief, was accompanied by means of relevant measures (conferences, training of youth representatives).

This difficult position had occurred because the people's right to self-determination in the case of gross injury proclaimed by US President Wilson did not apply to the Hungarians and the Germans. A majority of 790,454 non-Slavs (Germans, Hungarians, Romanians) stood against a minority of roughly 589,959 Slavs (Serbians, Bunjewatzians, Slovaks, Ruthenians), so that the result of a plebiscite about the positioning of Wojwodina in Hungary would have been positive. However, the Serbians prevented precisely this by faithfully promising their new citizens minority rights, equality and cultural autonomy. It should work along the same lines as for Serbians, Croatians and other nationalities possessing civil rights in pre-war Hungary.

The Swabian settlers and Hungarians had known their surrounding Serbian, Croatian and Slovakian neighbors since they had first settled. This tolerant community of peoples had functioned as a small Europe for over 200 years. Because of the new circumstances the old Serbians now domineered from south of the Danube. Once the danger of a plebiscite was past, they immediately forgot all promises. Not even the League of Nations in Geneva remembered its task of running neutral controls and making sure the contract was adhered to. It was the beginning of the end for our group, although the population were not able to see the extent of this and how close they were to the edge.

This culture shock, with the signs of betrayal by the new state of Slovenia/Croatia/Serbia, hit the Bukin inhabitants and all Swabian settlers very hard. The great war losses had seriously changed many families, and many had also lost their savings in war bonds, as the old Empire was now destroyed and bankrupt. These losses had a long-term effect. From 1923 onwards life was made even harder by inflation. Many investors went bankrupt as purchasing power suddenly fell to 20 -25% of the original value. I have personally heard several tragic stories.

What Josef Winkler describes as the Bukiners' proverbial thrift, added to their sense of realism, gets them through this difficult time until the mid '30s. They were also helped on their stony path by the ,,Agraria" (previously farmers' help), a co-operative self-help organization for buying agricultural machinery and selling village produce. The prices also made it possible to cover costs once again. The trade agreements between Yugoslavia and Germany from 1935/36 now enabled the delivery of modern ploughs, mowers, seed-planting machines, rakes and threshing machines. They even had a few tractors and combine harvesters. It was the beginning of a new era promising relief and a better future. The introduction of machines did however mean reorganizing the existing work as well as gainful employment in agriculture.

With economic improvement came an increase in demand for labourers in every area. According to statistics from 1940, 162 craftsmen and businessmen were licensed to trade. Tallied together with the self-employed farming families, this would make a record number of ..self-employed" workers in relation to the total village population. Along with these come the labourers, who earned their bread for them-selves and their families as seasonal workers, day labourers or piece-workers. This group could be examined in detail as to which category they fit into according to today's discussions about ,,the self-employed and the apparently self-employed". Many apprentices were trained in the village and many also came from elsewhere because the Bukin craftsmen were known throughout the country for their skill. After their apprenticeships several of the ..outsiders" remained in the village because they had met their brides. The genealogical book of Bukin also gives us details of these new men, their subsequent families and as yet unknown backgrounds. Village life was in constant motion because work always depended on the changing of the seasons and the influence of the weather.

The royal dictatorship and Yugoslavia's new constitution of September 3"", 1931 led to a gradual change in foreign policy. Under Prime Minister Dr.Stojadinovic a close economic relationship with Hitler Germany was formed. A brisk trade began, involving the delivery of raw materials, particularly copper, needed for arming the 'Reich'. Most of the population were however unaware of this for a long time. The renewed foundation of the Swabian German Cultural Association in 1935 gave birth to a new political climate in the village. Once the ..revivalists" began to find their feet, a hard, uncompromising battle erupted. On p.211 of his book, when reporting on these times with what we now know to be their catastrophic result, Father Benedikt Helmlinger writes that to start with this battle was fought on an intellectual level. The ,,revivalists" of the SGCA struggled for power and in the end succeeded - to the undoing of all the Swabian Germans. By dishonest methods and means Dr.Stefan Kraft and the other founders were forced out. The head of the revivalists was Jakob Kramer, neighbor to several of the Bukin farmers. For this reason his radical ideas caused a particularly vehement clash of contrary opinions in Bukin.

On about 14 pages of his book about his home town (pp.207-221) eye-witness Benedikt Helmlinger reports in detail on this dark, undignified section of the Bukin community. He writes, ,,From time immemorial there had been no split or enmity which affected the whole parish. The Bukiners had always been peace-loving, friendly, humorous, hospitable people, which those from our former neighborhoods will still confirm today. Our ancestors, parents and grandparents were German and always remained so. Most of them could only speak in their mother tongue. They were not intolerant nationalists. However, in the last five or six years things changed. A stream of thought produced in the Third Reich and brought to us destroyed love, peace and harmony; turned the parish, friends, neighbors, relatives and not infrequently even families against each other".

With the blitzkrieg between Germany and Yugoslavia on April 6"\ 1941, our village was also touched by the war. Some time earlier representatives and citizens had been arrested by Serbians and taken to the fortress of Peterwardein. The whole village lived in fear and agitation as to what would happen next. The Yugoslavian army surrendered 10 days later. With this came armistice, and everything happened in a rush - the hostages returned, as did those soldiers who had fought for the Yugoslavian army. The German soldiers and their units withdrew, and finally the Hungarian military arrived, as Backa had been annexed to Hungary for the second time in its thousand year history. As a result of changing the official language in public life, in the schools and other institutions, this meant rearranging the village community anew. All inhabitants had now become Hungarian citizens.

In this phase of radical change came the news that Germany had declared war on Russia on June 20^th, 1941, a new shock for the whole population because our parents' and grandparents' generation had bad memories of the First World War with its suffering and its consequences. Premonitions as to how it would all end were only expressed behind closed doors. The German Wehrmacht illegally recruited throughout the settlement area. Around 20 sons from Bukin were mislead by this illegal action and joined voluntarily the German Wehrmacht. As some of them were still minors their parents were made to sign their agreement. Since many of these boys were soon killed, one can imagine the anguish with which their families now had to live. Along with the hard loss of a son, husband or young father came the deprivation of Hungarian citizenship and the threat of deportation for the whole family. This was not to happen immediately but as soon as the war was over.

Also later, in 1942, when 18 - 30-year-old men and boys and in 1943, when 18 - 35-year-olds were called up for ..voluntary service", the consequences were extremely severe. All of these men expected to lose their Hungarian citizenship and were threatened with evacuation. The Hungarian government finally tolerated this because Germany was a guarantor for their keeping N.Transylvania and the re-annexed S.Backa. The Swabian German Cultural Association and the Association of Germans in Hungary regarded their advertising for the Waffen-SS as their ..national duty". The means of exerting pressure they used in doing this was bitterly experienced by their victims and later reported in private conversations. These soldiers had only the choice of serving with the Hungarian military or deciding for the Waffen-SS. The majority chose the latter alternative. Their decision was • swayed by being able to speak German and also by the provision for widows and orphans in the event of a soldier's death. The German provisional allowance was far higher than the Hungarian.

The requirements changed when the Waffen-SS struck a third time in 1944 and Hungary legalized conscription to the SS on April 14^th. This affected men between the ages of 18 - 50. Father Benedikt Helmlinger describes the events on p.217 of his book on Bukin. In the war years 1942 - 1944 the two factions in the village remained at odds. ,,Black and white" stuck fast to their opinions. Villagers were even more weighed down by the burden of rapidly increasing numbers of men killed at the front. Soldiers on leave at home only talked of their experiences very generally and in coded form. Any precise evaluation of how the war was going and how it would end was only expressed among close family members or friends. These subjects were an intrinsic part of village life, even though the front lay far away. When the allies landed in Normandy current war news clearly deteriorated. When the Romanians from the south-east section went over to the Russians in August 1944, some perceptive people became aware of how the war would end. The fatal signs could no longer be ignored. Because of the disagreement within Bukin which had been carried in from outside, the intercourse between the villagers was extremely difficult after the summer of 1944. The unity which had always been present in times of general danger or need was no longer to be found. The recent years had destroyed the good relations between members of the community. This also applied to the whole Swabian German national group and its spokesmen, with the result that necessary and unanimous decisions about the current situation were neglected and the important issue of all Germans emigrating together was not dealt with. Individuals talked to each other about the right thing to do, but as nobody knew what that was, they were unable to advise each other.

At this difficult time therefore several decisions had to be made which were based on the personal opinion of the head of the family, parents, grandparents, friends or relatives. In these days major decisions were often triggered by day-to-day events and coincidences. Bitter disadvantages arose from this confused epoch, as can be told by the survivors. On October 14"', 1944 approximately 1,650 people left Bukin in an emigration convoy. Some of the covered carriages already stood loaded for departure weeks in advance. Their journey's destination was Germany. What they did not know was where to go and how to get there.

Two days previously, the acting district judge, Anton Welsch, and the head of the village, Jakob Laubert, had called an assembly involving almost every villager. Both men were well-respected and the topic of emigration was highly controversial. Jakob Laubert recommended emigration, although his family would remain in the village. Anton Welsch recommended staying in Bukin, because a committee of respected Serbians had been formed in Palanka (Dr.Petrivic, a dentist, Dr.Bunda, a lawyer, Dr. Marusic, a vet, etc.), who would lend their protection to the people of Bukin. In this last get-together the Bukiners made their peace with each other and buried the hatchet. Tears flowed incessantly while people made their goodbyes and hoped for a speedy return. This dramatic event on October 14^th, 1944 heralded the start of the dissolution of the village community of Bukin.

Those who experienced the following hours and days will remember them as long as they live, for the events scarred them for life. Just as the first settlers left behind home and in some cases family, the Bukiners now also went through separation from family, friends and neighbors. All faced an uncertain future, since the war was already all but lost. There exist detailed reports about the fates both groups of Bukiners suffered over the following months and years, about those who left and those who stayed. Almost everybody was subjected to appalling suffering and humiliation at the hands of the victors, and many died.

Those who had decided to stay in Bukin suffered most cruelly. They had to stand back and watch while the rabble from the surrounding Serbian villages came by night to loot the emigrants' houses. A few days later on October 27"', 1944 the Russians came. The front had reached Bukin. Along with the Russians came the partisans. From this point on there were no holds barred. The inhabitants had to suffer indescribable deeds. Robbery, murder and muggings were a daily occurrence. I experienced this time as a 10-year-old boy since my family had also stayed. As early as November 17"', 1944 all the men in the village were taken via Palanka to Neusatz for forced labor. Fifteen men were shot. At Christmas, 1944 girls over 16 and women and mothers up to 40 years old were taken to Russia for forced labor. Thus the few remaining grandparents, mothers and children were left at the mercy of the often inhuman victors. We all lived in constant fear for our lives and for those of our nearest and dearest. Only those who have had to endure a similar fate, stripped of all rights and exposed to the arbitrary violence of partisans, can comprehend the suffering and the injury to human rights.

intended to counterbalance the effects of all repressive measures by the state. The organization was politically and confessionally neutral and was intended to support above all the cultural, economic, educational and religious interests of the German population in the new state. Their basic standpoint was explained from the start as being ,,true to the state and true to the people", thereby publicly expounding loyalty to the new state. Its program, with its motto Mother tongue, homeland, Christian belief, was accompanied by means of relevant measures (conferences, training of youth representatives).

What Josef Winkler describes as the Bukiners' proverbial thrift, added to their sense of realism, gets them through this difficult time until the mid '30s. They were also helped on their stony path by the ,,Agraria" (previously farmers' help), a co-operative self-help organization for buying agricultural machinery and selling village produce. The prices also made it possible to cover costs once again. The trade agreements between Yugoslavia and Germany from 1935/36 now enabled the delivery of modern ploughs, mowers, seed-planting machines, rakes and threshing machines. They even had a few tractors and combine harvesters. It was the beginning of a new era promising relief and a better future. The introduction of machines did however mean reorganising the existing work as well as gainful employment in agriculture.

With economic improvement came an increase in demand for labourers in every area. According to statistics from 1940, 162 craftsmen and businessmen were licensed to trade. Tallied together with the self-employed farming families, this would make a record number of ..self-employed" workers in relation to the total village population. Along with these come the labourers, who earned their bread for themselves and their families as seasonal workers, day labourers or piece-workers. This group could be examined in detail as to which category they fit into according to today's discussions about ,,the self-employed and the apparently self-employed". Many apprentices were trained in the village and many also came from elsewhere because the Bukin craftsmen were known throughout the country for their skill. After their apprenticeships several of the ..outsiders" remained in the village because they had met their brides. The genealogical book of Bukin also gives us details of these new men, their subsequent families and as yet unknown backgrounds. Village life was in constant motion because work always depended on the changing of the seasons and the influence of the weather.

Also later, in 1942, when 18 - 30-year-old men and boys and in 1943, when 18 - 35-year-olds were called up for ..voluntary service", the consequences were extremely server. All of these men expected to lose their Hungarian citizenship and were threatened with evacuation. The Hungarian government finally tolerated this because Germany was a guarantor for their keeping N.Transylvania and the re-annexed S.Backa. The Swabian German Cultural Association and the Association of Germans in Hungary regarded their advertising for the Waffen-SS as their ..national duty". The means of exerting pressure they used in doing this was bitterly experienced by their victims and later reported in private conversations. These soldiers had only the choice of serving with the Hungarian military or deciding for the Waffen-SS. The majority chose the latter alternative. Their decision was • swayed by being able to speak German and also by the provision for widows and orphans in the event of a soldier's death. The German provisional allowance was far higher than the Hungarian.

The requirements changed when the Waffen-SS struck a third time in 1944 and Hungary legalised conscription to the SS on April 14^th. This affected men between the ages of 18 - 50. Father Benedikt Helmlinger describes the events on p.217 of his book on Bukin. In the war years 1942 - 1944 the two factions in the village remained at odds. ,,Black and white" stuck fast to their opinions. Villagers were even more weighed down by the burden of rapidly increasing numbers of men killed at the front. Soldiers on leave at home only talked of their experiences very generally and in coded form. Any precise evaluation of how the war was going and how it would end was only expressed among close family members or friends. These subjects were an intrinsic part of village life, even though the front lay far away. When the allies landed in Normandy current war news clearly deteriorated. When the Romanians from the south-east section went over to the Russians in August 1944, some perceptive people became aware of how the war would end. The fatal signs could no longer be ignored. Because of the disagreement within Bukin which had been carried in from outside, the intercourse between the villagers was extremely difficult after the summer of 1944. The unity which had always been present in times of general danger or need was no longer to be found. The recent years had destroyed the good relations between members of the community. This also applied to the whole Swabian German national group and its spokesmen, with the result that necessary and unanimous decisions about the current situation were neglected and the important issue of all Germans emigrating together was not dealt with. Individuals talked to each other about the right thing to do, but as nobody knew what that was, they were unable to advise each other.

The situation improved for our family when a Serbian family of four (parents, son and grandmother) from Mohovo was billeted on us. They, like many others, allegedly came to Bukin because of the front on the Syrmian side. In reality they had all had themselves assigned to wealthy houses with the thieving intention of coming into possession of our fortune as soon as we had been driven out. This way there was nothing to stop them from appropriating a lovely household without lifting a finger. This successful ..occupation" saved us from other looters because the houses had already been allocated. Our Christian hospitality was thus shamefully exploited and abused. Although these people shared our table from around November 22^nd, 1944 until we were driven out on March 25"', 1945, they gave us no hint as to what lay in store for us.

So it was that none of our family nor any of the villagers had any idea that we would all be rounded up and driven out of Bukin on Palm Sunday, March 25^th, 1945. Because of the imposed curfews we were cut off from all news, and clueless. I can no longer remember what my mother, my grandparents, my sister and I packed to take with us, but it could not have been very much, as 3 partisans made us leave the house by force of arms within less than around 10 minutes. We could not get help from our ,,guest family" because no-one was there apart from the old grandmother. She said everything would work out and we would be back home in a few days. This conversation was in Serbian, which I did not then understand very well. My mother replied, ,,No, Grandmother, we are having to leave our home today against our will and by force of arms. From now on we have lost our home. We will never see it again." These desperate words deeply upset us while the partisans drove us out onto the street.

In the street we could already see lots of people being driven from the lower middle street. We had to line up and walk north. After a short time we arrived at the assembly point at the upper end of the Waldreihe. Everyone remained there until all had been driven from their homes and we received the commando to depart. It must have been about 10 o'clock when the sad inhabitants of Bukin were driven towards Towarisch. Instead of attending the Palm Sunday church service we found ourselves on a wretched march. It was a beautiful day in March and the prevailing heat of the sun brought added difficulties because many were dressed too warmly. The reason for this was that the partisans only tolerated the clothes on our backs and personal possessions that could be carried in a small bag. I only saw some of the difficulties and burdens borne by the people on this march of suffering, which lasted until we arrived in Gajdobra that evening. The remaining members of our family were occupied with their own demanding progress the whole way. After we had been in Gajdobra for a fortnight we were all herded into the local churchyard for the night, packed together in a very tight space. We were all very afraid, believing that nothing good would come of this. Immediately after daybreak we could see the partisans running around. When there were enough of them they set up several tables in the middle of the street. Our people were pushed there in groups, registered, robbed, assaulted, sorted, abused, humiliated and insulted. Only evil fanatics are capable of such cruelty. No civilized words exist to properly describe what happened at that time. Subsequently all Bukiners were losers. Children, grandparents, mothers and the sick were transported to Jarek, a true death-camp, whose purpose we had already heard of. Healthy people who were fit to work were selected for forced labor in Gajdobra.

As we had been robbed with brute violence by our tormentors we now hardly possessed the necessary clothing. Money and valuables such as gold jewellery now lay heaped in the robbers' metal tubs. Daylight robbery in front of the village church and then separation from one's family. The victims of this occurrence were deeply injured, and we were clearly shown the hopelessness of our situation. The survivors of this catastrophe have dreadful stories to tell of these years of suffering. Nowadays, the television pictures from the rest of Yugoslavia about the atrocities in Croatia, Bosnia and currently in the Kosovo prove what similarly happened 5 decades ago to the German population of the settlement area!

Not a single perpetrator of the genocide against the Swabian Germans has been punished. What cruel injustice for over 65,000 victims whose names have all been recorded and proven. The NATO bombing on March 25'", 1999 - 54 years after the Bukiners were driven out - will hopefully mark a turning point. It should at last be possible one day to establish worthy memorials also on our countless mass-graves.

By committing murder and employing violence the Communist powers-that-be have broken international law and illegally appropriated Bukin, our birthplace and home. Blinded by their national fanaticism all Germans in Yugoslavia were declared enemies of the state. The consequences of this are well-known. The end of Bukin is only a part of these events and their fatal results for us.

After several generations our ancestors' arduous construction work beginning in 1749 brought them the success they had hoped for. For around 200 years they wrested the necessary harvests from the land and the ever dangerous Danube so that they even achieved considerable prosperity. They met the surrounding nations with friendship and tolerance. In this area of the middle Danube they enjoyed the freedom they had striven for when they first settled there. They had also made an extremely good impression on their neighbors. Through no fault of their own the whole group became a victim of both world wars. For Bukin alone the Second World War cost the lives of 674 close family members. These final years of destruction brought with them a very high and very painful death toll, the highest number of victims in the whole history of the village. Bukin's population at the time stood at 3,350, which makes it a loss of 20.12%. This far overreaches the death rate of the early settlement years.

In 1946/47 many of us had recovered from our lack of direction during the war time and had new destinations in mind. Bukin's former inhabitants were now dispersed all over Europe, some interned, some prisoners of war. The sorely afflicted people of this time needed hope: hope of help from still-living relatives, but also hope of their own self-confidence. One tried and trusted reason for this attitude was our innate belief of our ancestors, which relieved suffering. In several cases family members found each other quickly, while for others it took years for their reunion to come true. The gaps which were never to be filled were painful, and for many the wounds still go very deep!

As living Bukiners and survivors and children of our ancestors who settled there, we can look back gratefully to them and to our old home in the Backa. We are also grateful for the 50 years in our new homeland, the first home of our ancestors, where, with stamina, hard work and modesty, it has been possible for us to be reintegrated into a free society. Since this book is completed, many will be able to find the answer to the question ..Where do our ancestors come from?" in the Bukin family bible. This research into origins will include many, so that Bukin and its inhabitants will be a popular area of research into the next millennium. The publication of the genealogical book of all Bukin families will be a worthy contribution to commemorating settlement 250 years ago. With this portrait of the community of Bukin from its settlement in 1749 to its fall in 1945 I intended to give the old Bukiners and their descendants an authentic description of events I witnessed myself from my childhood onwards. The available books about Bukin will inform the interested readers about the period from settlement up to 1939. We would be very pleased if other former Bukiners would write some of their memories for publication in one of the coming editions of the ,,Bukin Bells of Home".

Regensburg, November 1999

Andreas Pfahl