Settlement of the Banat in France

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The settlement of the Banat in France by the Banat Swabians who fled to Austria during the Second World War and in particular the settlement in the mountain village of La Roque-sur-Pernes in Provence ( Département Vaucluse ) is a special aspect of the wave of refugees that occurred in Romania after the change of front started on August 23, 1944.

history

Political situation

After the royal coup in Romania on August 23, 1944, a new situation arose for the German Banat people. In view of the advancing Red Army , preparations were made to evacuate the German ethnic group from the Banat and northern Transylvania . The retreating German troops called on the population to flee. As early as September 15, 16 and 17, 1944, the first column of cars with refugees set off, most of whom spent the winter of 1944/1945 in Lower Austria , where they were housed with farmers. In the spring of 1945 the majority of them moved westwards, some returned to their homeland. Many were picked up and sent to Soviet labor camps.

After the Second World War, Austria, like Germany, was divided into four zones of occupation ; the Allied Commission resided in Vienna , which remained responsible for the needs of the expellees even after the formation of an Austrian government . An Austrian population of 6 million people faced around 1.6 million refugees. After the Potsdam resolutions, Austria demanded the return of the “ ethnic Germans ” to Germany and made no efforts to integrate them.

Situation of the refugees

The refugees were stateless and had to repeatedly apply for residence permits , as their validity was limited to a maximum of two months. They needed a work permit to start work , but a so-called equality certificate was required. “Volksdeutsche” students had to pay three times the tuition fee compared to an Austrian student. The exercise of a trade was only possible on the basis of a formal approval by the governor . The local authorities also used the opportunity in many places to pass restrictions to protect the locals. As in Germany, in Austria it was the churches and ecclesiastical organizations that influenced the occupying powers and authorities to improve the situation of the refugees. Neighboring states like Yugoslavia applied for the repatriation of their citizens who had collaborated with Germany. The Soviet Union announced the need for workers to rebuild its country, and news of deportations , kidnappings and expropriations came from the home states of the “ethnic Germans” .

Appeal to France

In this difficult situation, Johann Lamesfeld , born in Blumenthal in 1909 , whose ancestors had emigrated from Thionville in Lorraine to Groß Sankt Nikolaus , took the initiative to help his compatriots. He made use of the historical circumstances according to which the ancestors of many, if not all, Banat Swabians came from Alsace and Lorraine , in other words from French territories now (since the defeat of Germany in the Second World War).

When looking for ways to support his compatriots in Austria, Johann Lamesfeld was supported by officers of the French occupying power. They helped him set up an office in Vienna, in which the Banat people were recorded for emigration to France. When the order was issued in the Soviet occupation zone to register all "ethnic Germans" and trains with empty cattle wagons arrived in several villages , Lamesfeld had illegal "ID cards" printed by the Committee of the Banat Alsace-Lorraine, which identified the owner as French from the Banat - regardless of the origin of the ancestors.

French officers who had been posted to Vienna to work on the archives reported that many Alsatians and Lorrainers had indeed moved to the Banat in the 18th century. The French occupying power made it possible for the Banat people to move from the Soviet zone via the American zone into the French occupation zone. The Kematen camp in Tyrol became a large gathering point for the Banat refugees.

Execution of the action

Sewn into the hem of the skirt of a costume doll, the Banats smuggled a letter to the French Prime Minister Robert Schuman .

Addressee: Robert Schuman, Prime Minister of France. Sender: Johann Lamesfeld, President of the French Banat Committee.

In the letter Lamesfeld asked Schuman for permission to settle in France for the Banat people from Alsace and Lorraine. The answer came after two weeks:

“I received your doll and your letter. As a Lorraine native, I know the history of the Banat people, and I will make sure that they - my fellow Banat people - find a new home in France. "

Robert Schuman succeeded in winning the French government he led for the project of settling the Banat people in France. On July 17, 1948, the French Council of Ministers decided to settle the Banat people in France. The transports began in November 1948 and lasted until April 1949. The trains left Bregenz and crossed the border into France at Kehl . The approximately 10,000 Banaters registered with the committee had moved to France from all Austrian occupation zones by this time. In Colmar , on the initiative of the newspaper publisher Maxim Felsenstein , the city organized a big festival for those returning home on July 10, 1949 .

Inclusion

The Banat settlers in France settled on the wineries in Mittelwihr and Benwihr , moved to the industrial regions of the country, but also took the opportunity to emigrate from here to Germany or the USA . The start was easiest for the craftsmen , it was more difficult for the farmers , who only found their livelihood as farm workers. The start was difficult for teachers and intellectuals , as their certificates were not recognized and there was still a lack of language skills to adapt their training.

La Roque-sur-Pernes

Lamesfeld was driven by the idea of ​​finding a village in which his compatriots could work their own land. This village was found in Provence, where an old farmer from Lorraine, whom the chaos of war had brought to La Roque, read in the latest news from Colmar about Banat people looking for land. The Lorraine native presented the newspaper article to the Mayor of La Roque, Edouard Delebecque. He immediately wrote to Prime Minister Robert Schuman, pointing out the possibility of settling the former Lorraine from the Banat in La Roque.

In 1950 La Roque presented itself as a sinking village. 17 mostly old people lived in the village. Together with the mayor of La Roque and the prefect of the department of Vaucluse , Jacques Boissier, Lamesfeld founded a local aid committee for the settlers, which included 300 personalities from business, politics, church and society in the region. The settlers came from Kubin , Homolitz and Ploschitz , Brestowatz and Tschawosch , from Timisoara and Kleinbetschkerek , from Sackelhausen , Lenauheim and Großsanktnikolaus . It should be mentioned here that Lamesfeld accepted all Danube Swabians who registered with him, not just the Banat people.

In the church of La Roque there is a large-format, 2.75-meter-long triptych by the painter Marie-Louise Lorin, which depicts the most important stages in the history of the Banat Swabians: the exodus caused by war and flight, the treks and the Danube as Metaphor for the coming and going of the settlers, and La Roque-sur-Pernes as the new home of the settlers.

literature

  • Peter-Dietmar Leber : In search of home. The Banat people in southern France half a century after their settlement. In: Banater Post of March 5, 2005.
  • Peter-Dietmar Leber: The desire to have your own village to replace your lost home. The Banat people in southern France half a century after their settlement. In: Banater Post from March 20, 2005.
  • Peter-Dietmar Leber: The miracle of La Roque sur Pernes. The Banat people in southern France half a century after their settlement. In: Banater Post of April 5, 2005.
  • Bruno Oberlaender: Banat people are settling in the south of France. Impressions and experiences from a visit to La Roque-sur-Pernes. Salzburg 1957, 20 pp.
  • Josef Schramm: La Roque-sur-Pernes and its surroundings. Freiburg im Breisgau 1959, 25 pp.
  • Wolfgang Lipp: La Roque-sur-Pernes: history, location, surroundings. 1961, 21 pp.
  • Pierre Gonzalvez: L'étonnant destin des Francais du Banat. The experience réussie de la Roque-sur-Pernes. Vaucluse 2003, 220 pp.
  • Jean Lamesfeld: From Austria to France. The Banat Action and Robert Schuman . Salzburg 1973, 56 pp.
  • Smaranda Vultur: Francezi în Banat, bănățeni în Franța (French in the Banat, Banat in France). Timișoara 2012, 296 pp

Individual proof

  1. Peter-Dietmar Leber : In search of home. The Banat people in southern France half a century after their settlement. In: Banater Post of March 5, 2005.