Friday, June 9 – Novi Sad (Neusatz)
Helmut, Stasa, Mary Ann, Sue, Jim, and Daryle joined me at 7 a.m. to check out Kudritz before we left on the planned itinerary. We got some pictures of the church and cemetery, but most of the headstones were toppled face down, so I didn’t get pictures of the ones I hoped for, although I got a few that may be of interest.
The weather has been cloudy, wet and cool again for the last few days and today was no exception. It rained again overnight, so the long cemetery grass was soaking wet and there were numerous puddles to be avoided. We had hoped to pick the others up at 8 and drive to the top of the Werschetz mountain for a panoramic view, but the mountain was shrouded in cloud and we felt we would be short of time, so we set off.
Some of the group wanted streetscape pictures of Plandiste and pictures of specific houses, so we drew up a plan of attack and dropped a few people off to cover their routes on foot, then picked everybody up again. We set off in the rain, passing through Lazarevo (Lazarfeld) to a much too big lunch in Zrenjanin (Gross Betschkerek). We set off again after 2 p.m. for Rusko Selo (Ruskodorf) where Jim’s cousin had been the parish priest at the end of WW II when he was sent to the Russian coal mines for five years. (He wrote a book about his experiences that Jim has translated into English. It makes an interesting read.) Jim got a few pictures, and then we were off to Ravni Topolovac (Kathreinfeld).
We followed the directions of one of the locals, but missed the cemetery. Then somebody noticed the steeple of a small chapel poking up above the scrub brush and trees. We waded into the bush and found a few tombstones and some crypts that had been opened and the bones scattered. It was very sad. Our search was almost totally fruitless, as the area was so badly overgrown that it was very difficult to penetrate and impossible to see more than a few feet. During our search, Stasa learned from a local that they have been raising funds to clean the place up and hope to begin this summer. They feel bad about it and they can’t get the local authorities to do anything.
By this time the weather had begun to break and it was turning into a rather nice day.
We headed back through Zrenjanin to Ecka (Etschka). There was a large, beautiful old church there that seemed to be more or less unused. Frank did not have much luck in the cemetery, but the Minnesota girls and Daryle had a stroke of luck just before we left when they found a Schaag relative.
From there we set off for Knicanin (Rudolfsgnad) one of the most notorious post-war internment camps in which thousands died. Frank’s family had lived there before they moved to Zichydorf. On the way there, passing through the village of Perlez, Stasa spotted a Serbian Orthodox priest that he knew and we stopped to say hello. (It turns out that he is the son of the priest we met in the Mayor’s office.) The priest insisted that we drive him to his car so that he could lead us to the Rudolfsgnad Memorial, where we stopped for some pictures. Then it was off to the cemetery where we found that the German section had again been allowed to become overgrown and impenetrable. Maybe it is better that way. At least it is relatively safe from destruction.
It is interesting to note that the German parts of the Romanian cemeteries were relatively well maintained, while the German parts in Serbia had been allowed to return to nature. This is probably due to the fact that the German population of Serbia has been gone more than 50 years, while the Germans in Romania have mostly left in the last 15 years and there are still some left behind to care for the remains of their family members.
From the cemetery, we were led to the site of the former Catholic Church, now a park, and the school that Frank’s father had attended. Finally we set off across the Theiss River for Novi Sad, encountering a few hills again on the mostly flat plain. We arrived at the hotel about 8, had an excellent, but too big meal, and retired to our respective rooms about 10. I took a walk and found a children’s festival underway. They have numerous horse statues in the streets, painted by artists, much like Regina’s Pigs in the City art competition. I think the horses are just a little bit more elegant.
The weather has been cloudy, wet and cool again for the last few days and today was no exception. It rained again overnight, so the long cemetery grass was soaking wet and there were numerous puddles to be avoided. We had hoped to pick the others up at 8 and drive to the top of the Werschetz mountain for a panoramic view, but the mountain was shrouded in cloud and we felt we would be short of time, so we set off.
Some of the group wanted streetscape pictures of Plandiste and pictures of specific houses, so we drew up a plan of attack and dropped a few people off to cover their routes on foot, then picked everybody up again. We set off in the rain, passing through Lazarevo (Lazarfeld) to a much too big lunch in Zrenjanin (Gross Betschkerek). We set off again after 2 p.m. for Rusko Selo (Ruskodorf) where Jim’s cousin had been the parish priest at the end of WW II when he was sent to the Russian coal mines for five years. (He wrote a book about his experiences that Jim has translated into English. It makes an interesting read.) Jim got a few pictures, and then we were off to Ravni Topolovac (Kathreinfeld).
We followed the directions of one of the locals, but missed the cemetery. Then somebody noticed the steeple of a small chapel poking up above the scrub brush and trees. We waded into the bush and found a few tombstones and some crypts that had been opened and the bones scattered. It was very sad. Our search was almost totally fruitless, as the area was so badly overgrown that it was very difficult to penetrate and impossible to see more than a few feet. During our search, Stasa learned from a local that they have been raising funds to clean the place up and hope to begin this summer. They feel bad about it and they can’t get the local authorities to do anything.
By this time the weather had begun to break and it was turning into a rather nice day.
We headed back through Zrenjanin to Ecka (Etschka). There was a large, beautiful old church there that seemed to be more or less unused. Frank did not have much luck in the cemetery, but the Minnesota girls and Daryle had a stroke of luck just before we left when they found a Schaag relative.
From there we set off for Knicanin (Rudolfsgnad) one of the most notorious post-war internment camps in which thousands died. Frank’s family had lived there before they moved to Zichydorf. On the way there, passing through the village of Perlez, Stasa spotted a Serbian Orthodox priest that he knew and we stopped to say hello. (It turns out that he is the son of the priest we met in the Mayor’s office.) The priest insisted that we drive him to his car so that he could lead us to the Rudolfsgnad Memorial, where we stopped for some pictures. Then it was off to the cemetery where we found that the German section had again been allowed to become overgrown and impenetrable. Maybe it is better that way. At least it is relatively safe from destruction.It is interesting to note that the German parts of the Romanian cemeteries were relatively well maintained, while the German parts in Serbia had been allowed to return to nature. This is probably due to the fact that the German population of Serbia has been gone more than 50 years, while the Germans in Romania have mostly left in the last 15 years and there are still some left behind to care for the remains of their family members.
From the cemetery, we were led to the site of the former Catholic Church, now a park, and the school that Frank’s father had attended. Finally we set off across the Theiss River for Novi Sad, encountering a few hills again on the mostly flat plain. We arrived at the hotel about 8, had an excellent, but too big meal, and retired to our respective rooms about 10. I took a walk and found a children’s festival underway. They have numerous horse statues in the streets, painted by artists, much like Regina’s Pigs in the City art competition. I think the horses are just a little bit more elegant.
posted by Celeste | 12:31 PM
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