Anton Valentin (functionary)

Anton Valentin (born February 26, 1898 in Újarad ( German  Neu-Arad ), Kingdom of Hungary , Austria-Hungary ; † December 16, 1967 in Sigmaringen ) was a German teacher , headmaster and NSDAP functionary in the Kingdom of Romania and federal chairman of the country team of Banat Swabia from 1953 to 1966.

Life

Anton Valentin was the son of a Banat Swabian farming family. After his time at the grammar school in Arad , he switched to the Piarist grammar school in Timisoara , where he passed his Matura in 1917 . He returned from the Eastern Front of World War I as an ensign . He was close to the renewal movement , which saw its “German nationality” and the “völkisch awakening” as central values. The "uncompromisingly German-minded" Valentin began studying theology at the Timișoara Catholic seminary , where he came into conflict with the " Magyar- minded" Bishop Julius Glattfelder . He then studied philology in Innsbruck , Tübingen , Marburg , Munich and Cluj . In 1927 he received a diploma as a licentiate in German, Latin and Romanian. During his student days, Valentin worked from 1923 to 1924 as chairman of the Association of Southeast Swabian Students and from 1924 to 1927 as executive chairman of the Association of German University Students in Romania .

From autumn 1926, Valentin taught primarily Latin and German in the German -speaking educational institution Banatia , which was financially supported by the German government , and the Roman Catholic boys' school in Timișoara; until 1929 he was also the director of studies in the adjoining school dormitory. At the end of the 1920s he joined the Young Swabian Movement . He worked as the editor in charge of the Banater Tagblatt . In 1935 he was close to the German People's Party of Romania . From 1933 to 1938 Valentins was the editor and editor of the magazine Banater Monatshefte , with the aim of "collecting the spiritually active powers of our people and making them usable for the national community". From 1936 to 1944 he was chairman of the Eintracht men's choir in Timișoara and at the same time chief secretary of the Banat German Choir Association .

Between 1937 and 1940 he headed the Banat Cultural Office of the “ People's Community of Germans in Romania ”. In 1940 his title was " Gaukulturwalter des Banats ". From 1941 he headed the regional office of the “ Office for Art and Science ” and was later head of the Banat branch of the research institute of the ethnic group. ' People 's group leader ' Andreas Schmidt appointed him on February 15, 1942 to the advisory board of the Association of Museums, Archives and Scientific Libraries . Valentin was a member of the NSDAP in the " People's Community of Germans in Romania ". German-speaking denominational schools were placed under the " leadership of the ethnic groups" in April 1942, after which the Banatia was given the name Prinz-Eugen -Oberschule . Valentin was appointed its new director by 'Volksgruppenführer' Schmidt and held this position until the royal coup in Romania in August 1944.

The Valentin family (Anton with his wife Ella and their children Dietmar, Hertha and Heidi) fled with other Banat Swabians from the advancing Red Army in autumn 1944 . The family found a temporary home in Lower Austria , where Valentin in Seitenstetten was appointed director of a set up for refugee high school students home school on December 1 1944th After it was dissolved in April 1945, the family moved to Bregenz, where Valentin taught at the secondary school for girls and at the federal high school for boys for several years as an assistant teacher. In 1949 the family moved to Sigmaringen, Germany . After initial temporary job turned him on March 1, 1950, the local State school as a teacher , where he in 1963 as a senior teacher retired.

In 1953 he was elected as the successor of Mathias Hoffmann to the federal chairman of the country team of the Banat Swabians . He held this office until 1966. In 1963, Federal President Lübke awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class . 1967 Anton Valentin died in Sigmaringen.

Publications (selection)

• God, man, home. In: Banatermonthshefte, 2/1933, pp. 46–51.
• The plague in the Banat. In: Banatermonthshefte, 1938/39, issue 1 pp. 15–22, issue 2 pp. 55–59, issue 3 pp. 79–84, issue 4 pp. 118–123, issue 6 pp. 161–163.
• Give your children German nicknames! In: Deutsche Zeitung (1940–1945) (Budapest) of February 28, 1942, p. 3.
• German cultural influence in the Banat. In: Yearbook of the German ethnic group in Romania. 1943, pp. 193-197.
• The Banat in the 18th century. In: Donauzeitung (Belgrade) of April 5, 1944, p. 3.
• The Banat Swabians. Brief history of a south-east German ethnic group. Cultural department of the Banat Swabians, Munich 1959.

Quote

On the occasion of a book exhibition in Timisoara, Valentin said in 1940:

“The total war of a people, however, means that each of us is affected by its effects, and the fact that it is not the armies but the peoples against each other means that the war is not only at the front but also at home , wherever Germans live, decisions are made. […] Dangerous climaxes in the fate of the people are always armed conflicts, in which in the past it was at least always about essential decisions for the future, but now about being or not being. And it is fate of us Germans abroad that we struggle to be or not to be, in the national sense, on a daily basis. Our fate certainly depends on the outcome of the war, and we doubt and never doubted the victory of the German arms for a moment. But we must be certain today and tomorrow that we as German outposts in the south-east will have to maintain our position by our own strength. The Fiihrer's trust has put us back on our feet again. For us, this means the obligation to be the guardian of Germany, of German strength, here on the ground. We have a young people's consciousness, the tremendous upheaval caused by National Socialism has recently roused even the most stubborn Magyarons and awakened the voice of blood in them. We are happy that you have found your home. [...] Our book exhibition is intended to convey, in a modest way, the German intellectual events of our time as a decisive weapon. The focus of the exhibition is the work of the Führer in its unique, outstanding, historical significance. "

reception

Valentin's Nazi activities were portrayed in the tributes of the Banat Swabians, for example in the eight-page special supplement to the Banat Post on the tenth anniversary of Anton Valentin’s death in issue 12 of December 15, 1977 by

• Michael Stocker, Federal Chairman of the Banat Swabian Landsmannschaft: Anton Valentin will not be forgotten. (ibid, p. 1)
• Kaspar Huegel : The national fighter and cultural politician Anton Valentin. (ibid, p. 2)
• Herta Tietz: in life for the Banat Swabians. (ibid, pp. 3–4.)
• Matthias Weber: Human and superior. (ibid, p. 5.)
• Anton Karl: The fight for the replacement unit values. (ibid, pp. 5-6.)
• Anton Peter Petri : Anton Valentin and the monthly books. (ibid, p. 6.)
• Heidi Valentin: Bibliography. (ibid, pp. 7–8.)

and on the 50th anniversary of death

• Walter Tonţa: A life in the service of the Banat Swabians. In: Landsmannschaft der Banat Schwaben from December 16, 2017.

literature

• Mariana Hausleitner : The Danube Swabians 1868–1948. Your role in the Romanian and Serbian Banat. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2014. pp. 198–199.
• The Banat Swabians commemorate the long-time federal chairman Anton Valentin. Landsmannschaft der Banat Schwaben , brochure on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of death in 1977.
• Georg Wildmann : Development and legacy of the Danube Swabian people: Festschrift for Josef Volkmar Senz on his 70th birthday. Chapter: Anton Valentin and the Banater monthly books. Working group for Donauschwäbische Heimat- und Volksforschung, 1982, p. 211ff.

Web links

• Walter Tonţa: A life in the service of the Banat Swabians. In: Landsmannschaft der Banat Schwaben from December 16, 2017.
• Klaus Popa : Valentin Anton (1898-1967). In: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Walter Tonţa: A life in the service of the Banat Swabians. In: Landsmannschaft der Banat Schwaben from December 16, 2017.
2. ↑ Arhivele National Sibiu (National Archives Hermann City), IG 4, Bl.6. In: Klaus Popa : Valentin Anton (1898-1967). In: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, 2012.
3. ^ ^{A b} Mariana Hausleitner : Die Donauschwaben 1868–1948. Your role in the Romanian and Serbian Banat. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2014. pp. 198–199.
4. ↑ Südostdeutsche Tageszeitung (Hermannstadt and Temeschburg), 49th episode from March 1, 1942, p. 5. In: Klaus Popa: Valentin Anton (1898-1967). In: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, 2012.
5. ↑ Südostdeutsche Tageszeitung (Hermannstadt and Temeschburg), 243rd episode of October 18, 1942, p. 7 and Bucharester Tageblatt of October 22, 1942, p. 3. In: Klaus Popa: Valentin Anton (1898-1967). In: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, 2012.
6. ↑ Südostdeutsche Vierteljahresblätter, Edition 4, Munich 1963, p. 237. In: Klaus Popa: Valentin Anton (1898-1967). In: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, 2012.
7. ^ Wilhelm Kühlmann (Ed.): A - Blu. Killy Literature Lexicon , Volume 1. Walter de Gruyter, 2008, ISBN 3-11020-933-0 , p. 339.
8. ^ Dominik Groß, Axel Karenberg: Medical history in the Rhineland: Contributions of the "Rheinischer Kreis der Medizinhistoriker". Kassel University Press GmbH, 2009, ISBN 3-89958-197-0 , p. 230.
9. ↑ ^{a b c d} Klaus Popa: Valentin Anton (1898-1967). In: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, 2012.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Deutsche Zeitung (Budapest) of December 4, 1940, p. 2. In: Anton Valentin. Semi-annual publication for Southeast European History, Literature and Politics from February 4, 2018.