The Banat colonists are often grouped together with other German-speaking ethnic groups in the area under the name Danube Swabians. Besides Banat, these groups lived in nearby western Bačka, in Swabian Turkey (present-day southern Hungary), in Slavonia, and in Sathmar. All these places were then under Austrian rule.

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Most of the settlers came from Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Bavaria, Franconia, and the Palatinate; another small group can be traced to Middle Germany; however, only a small few actually came from the Swabian regions of what was then known as Further Austria. Therefore, it is unclear how the group came to be called the Banat Swabians. It is probably due to the fact that the majority of the immigrants were registered and embarked at the Swabian city of Ulm, and then were transported with Ulmer Schachteln on the Danube to Belgrade, where they then set off on foot to found their new homeland.

The majority of the colonists came from agricultural areas and were the younger sons of poor farming families, who saw little chance for success in their native land. Under Maria Theresa they received financial support and long-term tax relief. Later many failed to get married because there were not enough women there. Many craftsmen were financially assisted, as were teachers, doctors, and other professionals.

Some of them, coming from French-speaking or linguistically mixed communes in Lorraine, maintained for some generations the French language, and a specific ethnic identity, later labelled as Banat French, Fran�ais du Banat^[1].

Beginning in 1893, Banat Swabians began to move to Bulgaria, where they settled in the village of Bardarski Geran, Vratsa Province, founded by Banat Bulgarians several years prior to that. Their number later exceeded 90 families and they built a separate Roman Catholic church in 1929 due to conflicts with the Bulgarian Catholics. Some of these Germans later moved to Tsarev Brod, Shumen Province together with a handful of Banat Bulgarian families, as well as to another Banat Bulgarian village, Gostilya, Pleven Province. Between 1941 and 1943, a total of 2,150 ethnic German Bulgarian citizens were transferred to Germany as part of Hitler's Heim ins Reich policy. These included 164 Banat Swabians from Bardarski Geran and 33 from Gostilya.

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The majority of the colonists came from agricultural areas and were the younger sons of poor farming families, who saw little chance for success in their native land. Under Maria Theresa they received financial support and long-term tax relief. Later many failed to get married because there were not enough women there. Many craftsmen were financially assisted, as were teachers, doctors, and other professionals.

Some of them, coming from French-speaking or linguistically mixed communes in Lorraine, maintained for some generations the French language, and a specific ethnic identity, later labelled as Banat French, Fran�ais du Banat^[1].

Beginning in 1893, Banat Swabians began to move to Bulgaria, where they settled in the village of Bardarski Geran, Vratsa Province, founded by Banat Bulgarians several years prior to that. Their number later exceeded 90 families and they built a separate Roman Catholic church in 1929 due to conflicts with the Bulgarian Catholics. Some of these Germans later moved to Tsarev Brod, Shumen Province together with a handful of Banat Bulgarian families, as well as to another Banat Bulgarian village, Gostilya, Pleven Province. Between 1941 and 1943, a total of 2,150 ethnic German Bulgarian citizens were transferred to Germany as part of Hitler's Heim ins Reich policy. These included 164 Banat Swabians from Bardarski Geran and 33 from Gostilya.

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The Treaty of Trianon of 1920 was the beginning of the end for the Swabians of Banat. Of course, the end of the empire and the assumption of most of Banat by Romania had many positive effects as well. Towards the end of the 19th century, Hungary had undergone a period of Magyarization, when it attempted to assimilate all of its minorities. With the end of the monarchy, it was possible to have German schools for the first time since 1867. German culture was flourishing: once again there was a German theatre in Timişoara, and across Romania more German newspapers were being established.

Economically, things did not go so well. Black Friday and the subsequent financial crises of the 1930s hit Banat hard. This caused many Swabians to leave Banat to work as cheap labor in such places as Argentina, Brazil, and the United States to seek their fortunes and never return.

Also, after 1933, the majority of Banat Swabians, like most ethnic Germans in Eastern Europe, became supporters of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich in its mission for economic and military strength. In the Second World War, many were drafted into the Romanian army. After 1943, a German-Romanian treaty allowed them to fight with the SS. Towards the end of the war, some Banat Swabians also opposed the Nazis, which executed some of them in Jimbolia (Hatzfeld).

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The Kingdom of Romania, formerly a German ally, changed sides and joined the Allies on August 23, 1944. Overnight, all Germans living in Romania became potential enemies of the state. The approach of the unstoppable Red Army caused a flood of refugees to flee from all parts of the country into Germany.

In Yugoslavian Banat, the Red Army sent another wave of refugees westwards. After the Soviet occupation, came Yugoslav partisans who killed more than a thousand men and forced more into exile. In the last week of the war, not only German soldiers, but entire villages were imprisoned. Lasting from 1944 to 1945, this marked the end of Banat Swabians in Yugoslavia.

Life in Romania was not much better. By 1945, the nation was completely under Soviet influence. The head of the Romanian Communist Party, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, was called a Romanian Stalin. In 1944, much of the German population was deported to labor camps in the Soviet Union. Thousands died. Those who remained (as well as those who fled West) lost their citizenship and were dispossessed. In 1951 more than a thousand German-speakers were displaced and forced to found new villages in the Bărăgan Steppe of southeast Romania. The majority were allowed to return in 1955.

In the 1960s the Romanian political atmosphere relaxed significantly. Gradually the policy of disenfranchising and dispossessing the German minority was retracted. Once again they could enjoy all the privileges of a Romanian citizen.

It was during this time that the final departure of the Banat Swabians for Germany began. The discrimination and economic adversity were too much, and before long, many had developed a desire to emigrate permanently, which also took hold among the Transylvanian Saxons. Although the families of the Danube and Banat Swabians had lived in the area for around ten generations, and even though their culture and way of life had grown to be different from that of Germany, they still wanted to leave.

Several families from both Romanian and Yugoslav Banat fled to Germany and were helped by the French minister Robert Schumann as Banat French, Fran�ais du Banat, to settle in France in 1945-1950^[2].

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In 1965, Nicolae Ceauşescu came to power in Romania. At first he opened the country to the West, but by the end of the 1970s, he had become nationalistic and a great opponent of the ethnic minorities. This did not keep him from making a profit from them though. Under his rule, any German willing to emigrate would have to pay the regime a bounty of up to more than a thousand marks (depending on age and education). In this way over ten thousand Germans left Romania. The departing families would need the right papers to emigrate and to get them, they would have to pay a bribe, or else wait for years. This doubled Ceauşescu's income from the emigrants. Nevertheless, the Banat Swabians' continued going to Germany into the 1980s. The extreme economic crisis of this time, as well as increased persecution of minorities - including a village destruction project - caused 200,000 to

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Of around 750,000 Germans who once lived in Romania, less than a tenth remain there today. The remaining population is too small and aged to build a functioning society. Only in a few places with large populations is there a functioning German cultural life, sometimes helped along by Romanian inhabitants. Still, the Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung is a strong weekly paper, and the German State Theater in Timişoara (Deutsches Staatstheater Temeswar), subsidized by the Romanian government, still produces good German theatre. In the cities of Timişoara and Arad there are still German language secondary schools, attended mostly by Romanian students.

The Banat Swabians that emigrated to Germany are generally well integrated into the society in which they live. They keep contact through cultural organisations (Landsmannschaften). Notably in Vienna and in South Germany, where most Banat Swabians now live, they maintain their customs and dialect, and support those who remain in Romania.

The remaining Germans (including Banat Swabians) in Romania are represented in politics by the DFDR or Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rum�nien (Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania).

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• Johnny Weissmuller (born Peter Wei�m�ller), American actor and swimmer
• Nikolaus Lenau, writer
• Stefan J�ger, painter
• AND I THINK I CAN ADD THE GREAT WRITER� ADAM -MULLER GUTTENBRUNN, BORN IN� ZABRANI.

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BECAUSE MY DEAREST MOTHER WAS A PERFECT SWABIAN! AND PROUD OF IT. AND ME, I FEEL ALSO TO BE SWAB AND I AM 50% FROM MY MOTHER PART AND 25% BULGARIAN AND 25% HUNGARIAN FROM MY DEAR FATHER PART...LIVING IN ROMANIA... DECIDE YOU, WHO I AM!

AT THIS MOMENT THERE ARE FEW SWABS HERE IN BANAT. AS YOU PROBABLY READ, MOST OF ALL DIED OR EMIGRATED IN GERMANY IN THE COMMUNIST PERIOD.

WE WISHED TO EMIGRATE , TOO, AT THE BEGINNING, BUT WE WERE TOO SENSITIVE AND SENTIMENTAL, LOVING BANAT WHERE SO MANY GENERATION OF SWABIANS HARDLY WORKED..AND WE FELT, EVEN IF IT WEAS HARDER, TO REMAIN, AND HERE I AM NOW...UNFORUTNATELY, ALONE.

I WISH TO REMIND AND PAY A TRIBUTE TO ALL THE GERMAN ETHNICS LIVING IN ROMANIA WHO WERE DEPORTATED IN� MARCH 1945 AND HAVE LIVED VERY DIFFICULT LIVES IN USSR, MY GRANDFATHER WAS ALSO DEPORTATED AS GERMAN ETHYNIC AND NEVER RETURNED. HE DIED IN 1946 AT STALINO AND REST IN A COMMON GRAVE, WE HAD NEVER THE POSSIBILITY TO GO TO FIND THIS COMMON GRAVE, TO LIGHT THERE A CANDLE FOR HIM AND THE OTHER VICTIMS AND OUR DEEP SORROW FOR THOSE HE LOST THEIR LIVES WITHOUR REASON OR TO BE GUILTY, FOLLOWED OUR LIVES AND MADE IT SAD... I CANNOT EXPLAIN.. ME, I DIDNT KNOW MY GRANDFATHER, BUT MY MOTHER WHO LOVED SO VERY MUCH TOLD ME ENOUGH TO KNOW AND APPRECIATE AND LOVE HIM, DDEEPLY BUT THE 'JOKE'OF HISTORY NEVER GAVE ME THE CHANCE TO KNOIW HIM IN LIFE. MAY HE AND THE OTHERS REST IN PEACE, HOPE TO FIND THEM IN AN OTHER, BETTER WORLD!

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e in Romania was not much better. By 1945, the nation was completely under Soviet influence. The head of the Romanian Communist Party, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, was called a Romanian Stalin. In 1944, much of the German population was deported to labor camps in the Soviet Union. Thousands died. Those who remained (as well as those who fled West) lost their citizenship and were dispossessed. In 1951

THEY, WHO LOST, UNFORTUNATELY, WITHOUT BEEING GUILTY THEIR LIES.. MA THEY REST IN PEACE... ALL

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Odata cu venirea primaverii, in luna martie, germanii din Romania sarbatoresc schimbarea anotimpului printr-un carnaval cu masti: Fasching-ul, care se organizeaza in Miercurea cenusii, cind se sarbatoreste si Lasata secului. Este ultimul prilej de petrecere inaintea intrarii in postul Pastelui. Cu acest prilej, se confectioneaza masti ce imita personaje din povesti, iar la sfarsitul petrecerii cele mai reusite creatii sunt premiate. Grupuri de prieteni se aduna si merg din casa in casa unde sunt serviti cu carnati, bautura si bani, dar mai ales cu gogosi. Sarbatoarea primaverii continua cu Confirmarea, eveniment deosebit pentru evanghelicii lutherani, care are loc in Duminica Floriilor (Palmsontag). In aceasta zi copiii intre 14-16 ani, dupa ce in prealabil sunt pregatiti de catre preot, dau un mic examen.

Ei au trecut mai inainte pe la rude si cunoscuti pentru a-si cere iertare de toate supararile pricinuite. Urmeaza ceremonia religioasa, dupa care baieteii primesc primul lor costum de adolescent-barbat. Tot in Duminica Floriilor exista si traditia de a planta un pom. Sau, un alt obicei este acela prin care tinerii impodobesc un pom pe care il daruiesc fetei cu care urmeaza sa se casatoreasca. In toata saptamana dintre Florii si Pasti, copiii strang verdeata care urmeaza sa fie folosita pentru confectionarea cuiburilor in care sunt puse ouale rosii de Paste. In sambata de dinaintea Invierii nu se maninca nimic, iar seara se merge la biserica la slujba de Inviere. In Duminica Pastelor, copiii cauta in toata curtea cuiburile cu oua si cu cadouri, dupa care intreaga comunitate merge sa asiste la slujba religioasa. Dupa intoarcerea de la biserica, urmeaza ospatul cu mincaruri traditionale, cu cozonac, dupa care urmeaza o intrecere de spart oua.

A doua zi de Paste, fetele se pregatesc cu mincare, oua rosii si prajituri in asteptarea baietilor care vin la stropit. Ei stropesc fetele cu parfum sau cu apa. Apoi se aduna toti acasa la unul din membrii grupului unde sunt serviti cu bunatati: mincare, prajituri, oua rosii si lichior de oua. Tot grupul merge apoi la Bal care este prima petrecere de dupa iesirea din postul Pastelui. Sfirsitul primaverii este marcat de sarbatoarea de

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90j5m5fzYks

THANK YOU MY DEAREST FRIEND, SIMONA, FOR UNDERSTANDING MY DEEP SORROW WHEN WRITING ABOUT� SWABIANS....THEY LOST THERIR PRECIOUS LIVES WITHOUT BEEING GUILTY....SO MANYY TIMES I FEEL LIKE THE LYRICS OF EMINESCU 'MAI AM UN SINGUR DOR...'� MAY THEM ALL REST IN PEACE....

THANK YOU FOR BEEING MY FRIEND WHO UNDERSTAND MY DEEP SADNESS, GOD BLESS YOU

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traditional Church Consecration Festival (Kirchweih, Kerweih) dance presentations and parades in traditional costumes, to the tunes of traditional oompah-style brass bands.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8fKcPcUUg4

ALBANIA

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng

O1.11.2008

FOR THE CATHOLICS,WORLDWIDE, WHO PAY A TRIBUTE  THIS DAY, ALL SAINTS DAY,TO THEIR LOVED , LOST ONES, ALWAYS  REMBERING AND LOVING THEM, MAY THEM ALL REST IN PEACE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQUFQ_N0JI8

01.11.2008 HUMBLE,I LIGHT A CANDLE AND SAY PRAYERS FOR MY DEAREST PARENTS, FOR ALL MY RELATIVES, ANCESTORS , FOR ALL I LOVED IN THIS LIFE.MAY THEM ALL REST IN PEACE
REQUIEM AETERNAM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pmoUvzumjo
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, Et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et Tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad Te omnis caro veniet. Dona eis Domine, dona eis requiem aeternam et lux perpetua luceat eis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqkMbk8eX6Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQUFQ_N0JI8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0w-dveb9To
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ym_-5XZhwE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otOOXxAfD9Y   

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i feel a great sorrow always when i visit the old swabian willages,hardly there i can find a remaining swabian family, unfortunately....

they all emigrated or died...

in the forsaken cemeteries, the tombstones are the only remnants of once a rich and happy swabian community....

The old swabs from the photos look, sadly down  with dismay on this world which they dont recognise it anymore....

i made and wish to share with you some pictures of a world which does not exist anymore of a disappeared minority here,

it is history for now...

first of all paying a humble tribute to al the swabians who lost their lives in Soviet Union, after they were deported in 1945

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