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Dedicated to Austrian-Hungarian Burgenland Family History

The castle proper was completely destroyed when the Red Army overran the town and the surrounding area during the night of 29 March 1945. Although the Russians were blamed for setting the castle ablaze, many townspeople believe it was the German forces who torched it in compliance with Hitler's scorched earth policy. The surviving private chapel suffered the ignominy of being converted into a bar and other buildings into apartments.

In its last days, the castle also was the site of an atrocity. Margit Thyssen Batthyány-Strattmann de Németújvár, daughter of self-styled "Baron" Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon, a German entrepreneur and art collector, [and wife of Count Ivan Batthyány, a member of the aristocratic family that once owned Rechnitz and the castle] received ownership of the castle from her father in 1938. On 24 March 1945, with the Reds closing in, she hosted a party for SS officers, Gestapo leaders, Nazi Youth and local collaborators at her castle, during which nearly 200 Jews were shot by the attendees, apparently as after-dinner "entertainment."

What I did not know when I wrote that text, is that much of the atrocity story is known due to the research of Maria's grandson, Josef Hotwagner, who was 8 at the time. As you might expect, the participants in the atrocity did their best to cover it up. To this day, the site of the final resting place of the bodies is unknown, though the shootings took place at the Kreuzstadel (cross barn) on the edge of town, where a small group of Jewish prisoners were forced to dig a large pit. Truckloads of additional prisoners were brought there, forced to strip and kneel on the edge of the pit, then were shot in the neck by party guests. The Kreuzstadel is now a monument to commemorate the massacre. However, no mass grave has ever been found there, despite repeated research efforts.

As for the participants, only a few minor figures were ever convicted, in part because witnesses were either killed or threatened. Margit Thyssen, who died in 1989, skipped off to Switzerland immediately after, and insufficient evidence has been produced to prove that she participated. However, her nephew, Sacha Batthyány, who knew her well, titles her a "monster" and says she loved shooting and horses over everything else, even her own children. Sacha also wrote that, although the massacre was known of within the family, it was not a subject that could ever be discussed, especially since Margit controlled the family fortune.

[A side note: Ivan Batthyány, husband of Margit, was the son of Ladislaus Batthyány, eye surgeon and benefactor. In last month's BB Newsletter, we noted that Ladislaus was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2003 for his good works. In contrast, neither Ivan nor Margit were allowed to be buried in the Batthyány family crypt at the Franciscan chapel in Castle Güssing, which may also speak to what the family believed about them.]

Among those charged with organizing the massacre were SS-Hauptscharführer Franz Podezin, who was the Gestapo administrator and leader of the Rechnitz Nazi Party, and Hans-Joachim Oldenburg, a Thyssengas employee and Nazi Party member, who was assigned to manage the Rechnitz estates but soon became Margit's lover, though that did not stop her from occasionally bedding Podezin too. [Ivan Batthyány, her estranged husband, continued to enjoy his wife's money and breed horses on another of the Batthyánys' Hungarian estates. However, there have been claims that he was present at the party on the night of the massacre. He is known to have joined his wife in Switzerland after the massacre, as they both fled the arrival of the Russian Army.] Podezin is believed to have directed events on the evening of the killings; Oldenburg, along with Podezin, is believed to have personally directed disposal of the 18 prisoners who filled in the mass grave and were then confined in the local abattoir (a fancy word for slaughterhouse); they were shot and buried the next evening. Those bodies were found in 1966 in a field near the abattoir.

Because the main grave has never been found, activists have accused the citizens of Rechnitz of a cover-up. However, it was by the efforts of Josef Hotwagner, as town historian, that most of the facts were uncovered. But, one may ask why Josef Hotwagner (a schoolteacher like his father), became interested in researching these events and exposing what occurred. The answer lies in what was not said in the partial answer given by Beebe above, when she stated, "Son Josef Hotwagner was a teacher in Kitzladen, Austria, 1928-1938. He died in a prison hospital, July 3, 1945, in Straübing, Germany."



The historian Josef Hotwagner, son of the Josef above, and Wilhelm Gregorich (see below) report the story more fully... Josef's father was the head of the primary school in Kitzladen until 1938, but was demoted several times thereafter by the Nazi regime, largely because he could speak Hungarian, first to St. Martin and then to Schachendorf as a simple teacher.

Meanwhile, Wilhelm Gregorich, a teacher in Oberwart, spoke a few kind words at a funeral in memory of the village priest, who had died shortly after the Anschluß. Wilhelm was reported as a "friend of the church"—therefore as a Nazi opponent—and sent to a disciplinary unit in the summer of 1938. By 1940, he was allowed to return as a teacher in Schandorf, but the teacher's apartment was occupied so he moved to Rechnitz, where he got to know fellow teacher Josef Hotwagner. One summer day in 1940, they were together and returning home from church when they met Imre Kiss, a Nazi opponent. Imre was collecting money for the families of 30 men incarcerated in Pinkafeld, saying that their wives and children have nothing. Gregorich and Hotwagner each gave five marks. However, the transaction was observed and they were eventually betrayed by another teacher.

It would not be until August 1941 that these three were finally arrested and charged with high treason, along with three others, for supporting the families of persons executed by the Nazis. Such executed persons were considered enemies of the people and their families were to remain destitute. The People's Court sentenced to death Johann Untenecker, Johann Balaskovics, Michael Balogh and Imre Kiss for conspiracy to commit high treason; they were executed 18 Dec 1942.

Gregorich and Hotwagner were turned over to the Criminal Court in Graz and received the option of serving in a disciplinary unit on the front (an almost sure death sentence) or 10 years in prison, the punishment to be served in Straübing (Bavaria), a subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp. Gregorich and Hotwagner chose prison, where Hotwagner eventually contracted tuberculosis. They were liberated by the Americans in May 1945 and Hotwagner was taken to the hospital; but he died there in July. Gregorich survived and returned home.

Josef's younger brother, Ferdinand Hotwagner, a postman in Pinkafeld, was also arrested because he donated money for the persecuted in Oberwart and Pinkafeld. Since he was previously a musician in the Austrian Army, he was given a choice: either face trial or go into the Army again. He opted for the Army and was assigned to a disciplinary unit; he was soon in Sarajevo, where he died.

Our historian, Josef, did not speak of the youngest brother, Adolph, but he was first reported as missing in 1944 in Nikopol, Ukraine, where he served as part of the 3rd Gebirgejäger (Mountain Fighters). It was later determined that he died there.

The above is why historian Josef became interested in exploring the Nazi crimes in Rechnitz during WW-II. Not only did many Jewish prisoners die and his town was inexorably damaged by the atrocity, but the people responsible also caused the deaths of his father and uncle... it became personal, quite personal.



So, that is the rest of the story, a story left hidden by Beebe's minimal notes.

As for Maria's grandson, Josef Hotwagner, David Litchfield, author of an expose on Margit Thyssen-Batthyány and her family's activities during and after WW-II, and who used Josef as a source on the massacre, perhaps said it best in a commentary on his website:

We mourn the sad loss of Dr Josef Hotwagner of Rechnitz, who died yesterday [23 Sep 2010] surrounded by his family. We were extremely privileged to be able to call Josef our friend since meeting him seven years ago and will always honour his memory. Our sympathies go to his wife, Marie-Luise and his children, Eva and Eugen. The community of Rechnitz, the county of Burgenland and the country of Austria have lost one of their very best. We mourn their sad loss also.

And for Maria's sons Josef and Ferdinand, they paid the ultimate price for kindness to the persecuted. To make matters worse—if such is possible—Maria also lost her last and youngest child to the Nazi war. Sad, sad indeed.

In tracing the origin of our Burgenland families, we have clues that some were religious refugees as well as economic or political ones. I've been aware of the "Salzburgers" or Lutherans (Evangelical) who were forced to leave Salzburg when that area opted for Roman Catholicism. It was a particularly brutal "religious cleansing". The refugees went anyplace where they could find asylum. While I have no proof, it's very probable some ended up in southern Burgenland, since the Batthyány were very tolerant and we know that today there are about 35 thousand Lutherans in the predominantly Catholic Burgenland. My own Lutheran Berghold ancestors probably migrated there from Styria.

(The Batthyány referred to by Gerald was the aristocratic family that owned all of the estates in the place that became southern Burgenland.)

My Zieger ancestor was Julianna Zieger, who married Johann Sucher and lived in the village of Oberdrossen. Julianna and Johann had at least four children there between 1817 and 1829. I don’t know what the distribution of religion was in Oberdrossen in 1732 but, in a census dated 24 March 1698, there were 17 Catholic and 110 Lutheran adults in Oberdrossen. Oberdrossen is too small for a church of its own. Today there are two churches in the adjacent village of Neuhaus am Klausenbach, one Catholic and one Lutheran.

I appreciate your knowledge of your ancestry, which goes back much further than what I know of my own. It appears that level of knowledge is what is needed to make sense of genetic connections. You have given me much to think about.

With appreciation and best wishes, Richard



So, that is the message exchange that prompted this article. Let's see what else we can learn...

First, a little background on the Salzburger Expulsion...

When talking about the expulsion of the Salzburger Protestants, it must be mentioned that Salzburg was at that time an independent Catholic Church-State known as the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire that roughly consisted of the present-day state of Salzburg. Salzburg would later be secularized in 1803 as the Electorate of Salzburg and become part of Austria in 1805. However, it was transferred to Bavaria in 1809 before being returned to Austria in 1814, where it has since remained.

As a Catholic state, it was affected by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in ways similar to what happened elsewhere. Within 10 years of Martin Luther's 1517 nailing of his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church door, turmoil had risen in Salzburg, forcing Matthaeus Lang von Wellenberg, the local cardinal, to respond. Poet and scientist Paulus Speratus was thrown out of the country for openly spreading Luther's word in Salzburg and evangelic pastor Georg Scherer was decapitated and his dead body burned in April 1528. Other evangelic priests were imprisoned or expelled. When Lang died, his successors tried to reconcile and, for a time, did not continue to persecute the Protestants.

However, by 1686, Catholic priests were being ridiculed and people refused to take part in Catholic services. Max Gandolf von Kuenburg, the then-current prince-bishop, had Protestant leaders arrested and brought to Salzburg, where they were tortured and then expelled when they would not recant. They were allowed to take their wives with them but their children were handed over to Catholic foster parents. This quieted Lutheran activities but did not halt them.

By 1730, Salzburg was being pushed by Rome to take stronger actions to stop Lutheranism. Leopold Anton Freiherr von Firmian was now Archbishop and Count of Salzburg. His advisors portrayed the Protestant disobedience as an uprising and, when Salzburg's Protestant nobility asked Austria's Emperor for help, as an open rebellion. Local Protestant leaders were arrested, tortured and accused of masterminding the "rebellion." On 31 October 1731, the 214th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, the Archbishop signed an Edict of Expulsion, the Emigrationspatent, directing all Protestants to recant their non-Catholic beliefs or be banished.

People who did not own houses or land had to leave within 8 days; property owners were given 3 months time to sell and emigrate. As a sign of mercy, the exiles were allowed to take their children with them; but, if necessary, soldiers would be used to force people out of their homes and drive them over the border. 

It is believed that, in total, some twenty to thirty thousand Protestants were expelled, most going to Protestant areas in Hanover and Wurttemberg and to East Prussia (12,000 were invited to repopulate areas of Prussia that had been devastated by the plague). Smaller groups went to Debrecen and the Banat regions of the Kingdom of Hungary, to repopulate areas along the Danube River that had been decimated by the plague and the Ottoman invasions, and to the Netherlands and Georgia in America. It is claimed that some 5 to 25% died, depending on the source document, during these forced winter travels.

What is not documented, however, is whether any groups also went to (or stopped in) West Hungary.



This leads to the question, what has been documented on the BB website concerning the Salzburger Expulsion?

First, there is a mention in 1997 in Newsletter #21, 15 Oct 1997, "Concerning the First Settlers of Sankt Andrä (Northern Burgenland)" of a book that references settlers from Salzburg. That book, "Die Österreichische Monarchie in Wort und Bild" - the Austrian Monarchy in Word and Picture - (called "Kronprinzenwerk"), vol. IV, Hungary, p. 452, says: "The inhabitants of these villages [Zanegg, St. Johann, St. Peter, Andau], as well as of St. Andrä are said to have settled here after the last Turkish war; they are said to have come from Salzburg, and they are mostly called 'Heidebauern'."

Unfortunately, the timing seems to be wrong for these being part of the Salzburger Expulsion. The BB article indicates that St. Andrä was repopulated in 1696 (after being deserted for over 200 years) and contained 28 farmer and 18 Söllner families by 1702. Further, in 1715, St. Andrä was inhabited by 52 farmers and 16 Söllners (57 Germans, 7 Croats, 4 Hungarians) and, in 1720, by 60 farmers and 22 Söllners (74 Germans, 6 Croats, 2 Hungarians). [source: Friedrich Lotz: "Zur Siedlungsgeschichte der Gemeinde St. Andrä", in: Burgenländische Heimatblätter 1962, p. 88-91]. Thus by 1732, St. Andrä had a full contingent of inhabitants. Further, we list St. Andrä as a wholly Catholic village, so even if the settlers were from Salzburg, they were not Protestant.

Second, there is the 1999 comment, from Newsletter #70, 15 Dec 1999, "Salzburg Counter Reformation Refugees to America and Hungary," that Richard quotes in his message to Catherine (see above). Clearly, Gerry Berghold only speculates that, given the concentration of Lutherans in southern Burgenland and the documented religious tolerance of the Batthyány, it would be logical that some might have come to Burgenland. One possible way to support this is to see if there is a concordance of surnames in Burgenland with known Salzburger Expulsion surnames elsewhere. However, a quick comparison of the few Salzburger surnames provided by Catharine (above) with our BB Houselist names and BB Surnames page show only a match between Zeigler/Zeigler and Schneider, a German surname too common to be informative.

Fortunately, it might be possible to do better than this very limited concordance comparison. The rest of the above article from Newsletter #70 had to do with a book review of a text recently published then: The Salzburger Expulsion Lists (edited by Lewis Bunker Rohrbach, Picton Press, Rockport, Maine, October 1999), which is a consolidation of all previously constructed lists of Salzburg Protestants, 685 pages in length that includes a 30-page "Family and Individual Index." Comparing all of these names to those in Burgenland might be more fruitful.

However, as the reviewer of the book notes, "...prior to 1875, there was no fixed official spelling of surnames. The exotic sound of the Salzburg dialect, which anyone who has ever heard it can confirm, would have driven a Prussian list-maker or note-taker or in whatever official capacity he may have functioned, to distraction. Thus, variations will have occurred. Some are noted in the book, but it stands to reason that not all of them could be accommodated." So we should not expect surnames to have exactly the same spelling (especially after generations of modification by Hungarian, Croatian, and Hianzn speakers in Burgenland!).

Third, the expulsion gets mentioned in Newsletter 151, 31 May 2006, "Village of Hannersdorf & Hanners Name - Salzburg Emigration." However, the only useful thing therein is mention of another book, "The Salzburger Saga - Religious Exiles and Other Germans Along the Savannah" (George Fenwick Jones, Georgia University Press, 1984) that documents the movement of expelled Salzburgers to Georgia.

Thus, effectively, the BB Newsletters provide no solid information about a Salzburg/Burgenland connection from the 1732 expulsion.



My last recourse was to search the web to see what I might find on the topic. Easily the most informative and comprehensive site about the Salzburger Expulsion was http://exulanten.com/ (where "exulanten" is German for "exiles"). It discusses in detail the major destination for the exiles and has a separate page for minor destinations. That page makes it clear that Hungary was a target, though the main destinations were in the east and south.

It also indicates that Austria had noted what Salzburg had done and "decided it would be better to use the pesky Protestants to populate their own distant borders, especially in lands facing the Turkish threat such as Transylvania and the mid-Danube and on into Hungary. There, they would not only be useful as cannon fodder, they might rejuvenate arid and barren lands and make some money for the empire." Thus areas in central and eastern Austria were also cleansed, with the Protestants shipped further east. Whether some of these stopped just over the border into Hungary is not indicated or even implied.

Thus the web also fails to provide any solid information about a Salzburg/Burgenland connection from the 1732 expulsion.



In total, while it remains possible that some of the expelled Salzburgers settled in Burgenland, neither the BB nor web provide any evidence that documents that this actually occurred.
 

THURSDAY MARKED FIFTIETH YEAR OF RESIDENCE HERE

April 10, 1880, a small group of six families arrived in Northwest Kansas. Last Thursday, April 10, 1930, marked the fiftieth anniversary of their arrival. Among the group was Adam Wahrman [my grandfather who was 8 years old at the time], who came with his parents and brothers and sisters. The party which included thirteen families, left Andau, Austria, some months previous. Only six of the thirteen emigrating families reached Northwest Kansas, the remainder having dropped off at points enroute... Besides Mr. Wahrman, the following people, who were in the group of six families, are yet living: Mrs. S.L. Goltl, formerly a Schwartz; Mrs. Joseph Martin, (Weishapl); Mrs. C.W. Kirchner (Theresia Wahrman); all of this vicinity. Others living and known to Mr. Wahrman are Andrew Tongish, now of Nebraska City, Nebr.; and John Sattler, Sr. of Greencreek, Idaho.

From Ship Passenger Lists

The group sailed on the Westphalia; point of embarkation was Hamburg and Havre; steerage; their occupations was farmer; country to which they severally belong was Hungary; arrived in New York City on March 31, 1880. Other family names in group [as near as I can decipher] were Rippell, Wolff, and Rischel.

From the obituary of Anna Tongisch Wahrman [Adam's mother]

January 1, 1880, they heeded the call of the west and sailed for America, landing in New York and then came by railroad to Buffalo Park [now Park, Gove Co, Kansas], then the end of the road. The remainder of the trip to Herndon was made by team and wagon, reaching Herndon March 1 [?]... To the deceased is due a full measure of honor in bearing her share of the burdens of the early pioneers. She came with her husband and family to Herndon via the covered wagon route from Buffalo Park in March 1880, when settlers in this section were very scarce. She was a devout member of the Catholic faith and with her husband comprised one of the thirteen original families who attended the first Mass celebrated here May 10, 1880, and were among the founders of St. Mary's parish.

I supplement the above with some supporting information excerpted from the Herndon town website and elsewhere:

Herndon History (by Frank J. Cox - August 1998)

Herndon's history began in May 1876, when Lorenz and Sophia Demmer [Ed note: the 1885 census indicates that both Lorenz and Sophia were born in Hungary] came from Smith County, KS, to stake their homestead claim. Their first residence was a cave in the banks of Ash Creek, at the east edge of what would become the town of Herndon. In the spring of 1877, the first of many Austrian-Hungarian immigrants, Mathias and Teckla Hafner, homesteaded a mile west of town.

The autumn of 1879 saw merchant I. N. George haul in a wagon train of merchandise and supplies. He put up a building and opened the first general store in Herndon and in Rawlins County. A year later, Mr. George became postmaster of the town then called "Pesth." He got the town's name changed to Herndon... to honor Billy Herndon, who was Abraham Lincoln's law partner. The spring of 1880 also brought the first Catholic services to the area.

The religious needs of Herndon people continue to be served by St. Mary's Assumption Catholic Church (1917) and the Immanuel United Church of Christ. Both had their beginnings in the late 19th century. A third church, the German Congregational Church also started up in those times but fell by the wayside after a few years of existence.

In 1884, Fritz Drath, a German-born miller, built a water-powered flour mill on Beaver Creek a half-mile south of town. The railroad reached Herndon in November 1887. Then the town was linked to the world and laid claim to the title "Gate City to Rawlins County." The railroad went on to build up its division point at Herndon, which included a two story depot, section house, round table, windmill and water tank, coal shed and 2 miles of siding. Most early day trains made Herndon a regular meal stop, where passengers alit and walked over to the Hotel Herndon dining room.

The year 1888 brought Herndon's biggest building boom. Market places were created for farm crops; business houses sprung up - general merchandise, drug stores, restaurants, hotels, livery stables, blacksmiths, implement dealers. New houses were built along with new schools and churches. Jobs were reported available for all who would brave the pioneer life.

Disaster came in December 1905 when fire destroyed nearly all buildings on the west side of Main Street. But the merchants seemed undaunted; most of them rebuilt their stores and opened again by summer. The town incorporated in April 1906 as the City of Herndon.

Herndon's first school met in a sod building at the east edge of town. In 1888 a larger, two story wooden structure went up. It was replaced by a two story brick building in 1917.

Other Notes

Rawlins County, as of the 2010 census, had a population of 2,519 residents, with 1,194  of those in the county seat of Atwood and 160 and 129 in the two other towns of McDonald and Herndon, leaving 1,036 on farms in the county. All three of the towns are along the railroad. Like many rural counties and towns, the population count continues to diminish, with a noticeable dearth of residents in the 20 to 35 age range.

In the 1885 state census of Herndon Township (the city of Herndon is toward the northern edge of Herndon township), 60 of the 116 family surnames were Hungarian and 255 of the 574 residents were born in Hungary, plus another 45 born in the US to those Hungarian families. Of the remaining residents, 160 were born in the US, leaving 114 born in other countries, mostly Sweden and Bohemia. Thus, Herndon was typical in that early settlers likely encouraged more of their countrymen to join them.

(Buffalo) Park, mentioned above as the end of the railroad in 1880, is located some 60 miles south-southeast of Herndon and is on a different rail line than the one that eventually came through Herndon in 1887. Thus the "team and wagon" last leg of the journey from Burgenland was not extremely long.