Resources – DVHH Batschka

Ship Data: Information regarding the ships your Donauschwaben ancestors journeyed on immigrating to the US, may be provided by request. See Sample – John Schlesinger

Where to Look for Hard-to-Find German-Speaking Ancestors in Eastern Europe by Brandt, Bruce 1992.
Index to 16,372 surnames and references to where they may be found in Galicia, Austria, Hungary, the Banat and Batschka.

Related Information from the main DVHH History Section. . .

The History of the Batschka by Dr. Viktor Pratscher

Peter Max Wagner, founder of Hilfswerk der Donauschwaben by Richard Wagner

Germans in the Batschka by Dr. Viktor Pratscher

Specifications of goods & tools supplied to a colonist

Szeghegy – Emperor Josef II signing the Settlement Patent by Johan Jauß

1873 Doctrine for the Orphans of Szeghegy (Sekitsch)

Batschka ~ The History – The Oldest Time by Josef Schramm

Joseph Platter’s Petition

The Rule of the Turks by Josef Schramm

Hemp Industry in Batschsentiwan, The ”White Gold” of the Batschka by Hans Kopp

Batschka Vineyards

Batschka Churches

Traditional dress (Tracht)

Commemorative Ceremony in Gara/Batschka – On July 6, 2007, a large commemorative ceremony and the consecration of the old cemetery in Gara marked the 60 anniversary of the forcible removal of Germans in Hungary. Gedenkfeier (Commemoration) in Gara/Batschka – 6. Juli 2007 Anläßlich des 60. Jahrestages der Verschleppung der Ungarndeutschen kam es zu einer großen Gedenkfeier und zur Weihe des alten Friedhofs in Gara. (translation by Hans Martini) www.neue-zeitung.hu/54-14035.php (broke link)

Atrocities

Concise accounts of war crimes during and after World War II

Völkermord der Tito-Partisanen” 1944-1948″ Chapter 1 “Genocide Carried out by the Tito Partisans” by Österreichische Historiker-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Für Kärnten und Steiermark (Austrian Historian Working Group for Carinthia and Styria)

Chapter 2: In the Batschka The systematic liquidation program of the Danube Swabian population in the Batschka closely followed the parameters of the governmental districts into which the Batschka was divided for administrative purposes.

The Beginning of the Following Sorrowful Story January 21, 1945 by John Knodel. 39 amazing pages of the daily diary John kept from Jan 1945 to Christmas 1949, translation by his granddaughter Gerti Soderquist. Knodel born in Harta / Hartau in Bács-Kiskun County, Batschka, a survivor who made it to America. A must read!

Thinking often on VRBAS in the Backa by Valerie Kreutzer

A Vrbas, Backa, Story by Karl Kreutzer. Translated by Valerie Kreutzer

Haigermoos – Camp, Remembrances of my Time in Austria by Adam Martini, translation by Trentoner Donauschwaben Nachrichten Newsletter staff

The Potatoes by Adam Martini, translation by son, Hans Martin. A Story of a brave 8 year old boy in Palanka, during WW2.

Letter from Camp Pasicevo/Altker by Eva Zentner. Translation by niece Rose Vetter.

Katy (Katch) – My Life, the Flight 1944-45 by Kathe Fichtinger Written by my Aunt Kathe Fichtinger, who now lives in Bavaria. Translated by Kathe and her son Rudi, submitted by Larry Hale.

Memories from Gakowa 1940’s by Katherine Hoeger-Flotz

Batschka Memoirs . . .

Batschka Book List

A Small History To Remember By Andrea Ballreich, 2003

Roots remain along Danube by Paula Schleis

New Years Day by Adam Martini, translation by son, Hans Martini

Danube Swabian Easter Customs Lebzelter And the Easter Customs for the People of the Village of Bulkes
by Heinrich Hoffmann, translated by Brad Schwebler

Customs on Festival Days Springtime & Easter – from the book “The Germans of the Community of Feketic / Feketitsch” by Dr. Viktor Pratscher – translated by Brad Schwebler

On Becoming a Woodworker by Adam Martini, translation by son, Hans Martini

My Big Adventure: America – 1956 by Adam Martini, translation by son, Hans Martini

Escape from Yugoslavia & Coming to America by Hans Kopp

My Father, the Meat Chopper by Andreas Franz

Maps . . .

About the Batschka Area

by Klaus Kempf

Today Batschka is situated in the Autonomous Territory of Vojvodina in the country of Serbia. It is nestled between the River Danube and the River Tisa and it is mostly a very flat area, which interconnects to the Hungarian flatland as well as the flatland of the Romanian Banat. It’s a rich agricultural and treeless farmland, which in its northern part is water poor and depends on its irrigation on the numerous typical deep wells of the Pannonian Plateou. North of the city of Subotica stretches a shallow topsoil area all the way into Hungary. In the south the flatland consists of sandy loams, of the formal river valleys of the Danube and Tisa Rivers. Each spring the numerous river side arms regularly flood the areas, transforming it into huge lakes. Already during the times of the Hungarian Kingdom many canals were built, like the west-east Veliki Canal.

Even though both the Danube and the Tisa are flanked with thick forests, the areas away from the rivers is under intense agricultural cultivation. Corn, wheat, sunflowers, sugar beats, are some of the main agricultural products. Just like in the Romanian Banat, Batschka was resettled in the 16th century with the German colonists, which as soldier-farmers protected the Austrian Empire against the Turks. The most important city of the area besides Subotica at the Hungarian border is Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina.

Batschka Region Map (3)

Published with the permission of the author, from the book “Donauschwäbische Lebensformen an der Mittleren Donau” by Hans Gehl, Marburg 2003.

Click image to enlarge

Batschka Village Map (4)

1930-1944

Historic Settlement Map of the Danube Swabian by Hans Sonnleitner & Magdalena Kopp-Krumes; Copyrighted Danube-Swabian Culture Foundation (Brochure – April 2004, out of print) – Contributed by Hans Kopp, with permission of by Ernst Jaeger.

Click image to enlarge

Published at DVHH.org by Jody McKim Pharr

Last Updated: 02 Jul 2020

Webmaster: Jody McKim Pharr

Keeping the Danube Swabian legacy alive!

Last updated: 04/25/2026