The isolation the Children of the Danube experienced from the upheavals of history in the rest of Europe would no longer hold true in the second half of the 19th Century and beyond. At the outset, Emperor Francis Joseph's attempts to preserve the position of the House of Habsburg in the face of the rising power of Prussia among the German states would inevitably lead to a disastrous war. Austria's defeat set the stage for the rise of the German Empire and the struggle for supremacy in Europe among the major powers resulting in the catastrophic wars of the next century which would destroy the only life the Children of the Danube had ever known.

The agricultural sector was in a shambles in Hungary during the last decades of the century which had repercussions for the Children of the Danube among whom the landless were the fastest growing part of the population and among whom poverty had become a way of life. Land was expensive and simply unavailable. As in the past, the only remedy was emigration. The first wave of emigrants from Swabian Turkey sought their future in Slavonia recently opened for colonization. It was just the prelude for the massive emigration movement soon to take place to the New World.

Some of the surviving emigrants and exiles will meet in a railway station in a small town in Canada as the final phase of the Schwabenzug takes place and the Children of the Danube transplant their roots in their new Heimat.

EMIGRANTS AND EXILES

Book Three, Volume TwoBy Henry A. Fischer

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Henry A. Fischer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-4370-3

Chapter One

As soon as the staccato rattling drumbeats could be heard this far up the Arma Gass' both Catharine and Elisabeth Frischkorn joined the other excited children running in the direction of the crowd assembling around the Klein Richter, Georg Steger. He paused and positioned himself out on the street in front of the Reihl's house and waited for some stragglers to join the others before he was prepared to make his announcement. He straightened his black three cornered hat and brushed aside some dust from the jacket of his blue uniform with its gold epaulets on the shoulders that were symbolic of his official position from a bygone age. By the time the two little sisters reached the large gathering of murmuring villagers they could sense this was not exactly what they had expected.

The grave looks on the faces of the adults throughout the crowd indicated this was not a celebration of some kind after all and although the children failed to understand most of the words that the man spoke they realized that what he said was not good news. They noticed many of the women were crying, others clutched the arms of their husbands and covered their mouth with their handkerchiefs while older women dabbed at their tear-filled eyes with their aprons. The men, both young and old, at first looked determined, then serious and eventually stern as they listened to the Klein Richter reading the County's authorized version of the Emperor's mobilization decree. Several of the older men placed a hand on the shoulder of the young men next to them. None of this meant very much to the girls and like some of the other children they drifted away from the solemn crowd and retraced their steps back home.

Approaching the gate to their house they saw their father waiting for them holding their youngest sister in one arm enjoying a Saturday afternoon at leisure now that all of his work for the day and week were done. He had abandoned his jacket and was wearing only his black vest over his open collared white hemp shirt because of the sweltering heat typical of these first days of August. He did not bother to wear his felt hat either and yet beads of perspiration appeared on his brow that he wiped away with the back of his free hand. Heat of this kind was not something Elias enjoyed especially after two years of working with blast furnaces in Steelton. He exchanged little Caroline from one arm to the other while at the same time offering a warm wet kiss on her chubby cheeks as she giggled happily. He then waved to their neighbour, Konrad Ehl, who lived across the street and stood at his gate and called out to Elias in response.

"What do you think is going on down there Eli?"

"Most likely something about the fuss down in Serbia,' Elias replied without giving it much thought as he glanced at the crowd that was beginning to disperse.

"What was the Klone Richter telling them, girls?" Konrad Ehl asked smiling broadly at Catharine and Elisabeth who had just reached home.

The two girls looked at each other uncertain how to reply. As the oldest, Catharine felt she needed to speak for both of them.

"We don't know what he said but the people didn't like to hear it," she answered.

"Some mothers and Fraaches even cried," Elisabeth added for good measure.

Elias felt a cold chill run down his spine. Just yesterday he and the Becht Lehrer had been discussing what they had read in the Kaposvár newspapers about the ultimatum and declaration of war against Serbia. The expectation was an imminent surrender on the part of the Serbs in the next few days. From the look on Konrad Ehl's face it was evident he too was unsettled about what the girls had said.

The Klein Richter began to beat his drum again and proceeded up the street towards the Reformed Church with some children running ahead and behind him while the sombre crowd he left behind huddled together talking in small groups and then hurried home to their families with the news. Elias opened the gate to allow his daughters to come inside the yard and then hurried towards the kitchen door calling out to Elisabeth.

In answer to his shouts she appeared at the door wiping her hands in her blue apron that bore evidence of the flour she had been using making dough for some Mehlspeiss.

"What is it Eli?" She asked thinking something had happened to one of the girls.

"I'm afraid it sounds like bad news. The Klone Richter is coming this way," Elias replied as he raced up the stairs and handed Caroline to her. On impulse he paused and caressed Elisabeth's cheek with one hand. He gazed longingly into her amber eyes before he kissed her tenderly and then ran towards the gate. Elisabeth and Catharine climbed the stairs to join their mother. Both sensed something had upset their father and seeing the apprehension on their mother's face they instinctively clung to her skirts acknowledging a fear they did not understand but felt deep within.

Hugging her youngest daughter, Elisabeth listened intently and could hear the drumbeats becoming louder as Georg Steger approached their house. She eventually saw him pass by with groups of people hurrying after him while others were streaming out of their yards from up and down the street in the vicinity of the Reformed Church from where he would be making his announcement again. Her feet felt like they were rooted to the spot and she could not move. She closed her eyes and prayed fervently this was not the news she had been dreading ever since Elias had told her about the events in Bosnia and what some of the newspapers were saying about a coming war.

As the villagers formed a noisy circle around the Klein Richter, Elias joined a group of taller men on the fringe of the crowd standing next to Konrad Ehl and young Heinrich Welter who was his neighbour's Knecht. He looked across the crowd and nodded in the direction of young Johann Kaiser. Only two weeks before the young man had received permission from the Tefners to marry their youngest daughter Caroline and Elias could easily imagine what was going through his mind. Other men and women acknowledged Elias in the same way with a nod, a hesitant smile or a slight wave of the hand. The crowd became hushed once Georg Steger stopped beating his well worn drum. He did not begin to speak until there was total silence.

"Hear now one and all! By order of His Gracious Majesty, Francis Joseph, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary; be it known that all men residing here in Bonnya in Somogy County who were born in the years 1878 through to 1893 and without regard or exception are hereby ordered to report for active duty at the military headquarters of the Archduke Albrecht 44th Infantry Regiment in Kaposvár no later than noon tomorrow," the Klein Richter intoned now for the third time that afternoon. He paused for a moment and could sense the feelings of apprehension among those gathered around him before he continued knowing full well how they were feeling since his own two sons were affected by the mobilization order.

"We are now in a state of War with the Kingdom of Serbia and also with any who would come to their aid, who We will also regard as enemies of the Empire. Anyone not reporting for duty as ordered will be considered guilty of the crime of desertion and pay the price for their...