| Revision as of 19:15, 21 March 2006 editHignatz (talk | contribs)31 edits Veliki Gaj, a small village in Serbia | Revision as of 19:46, 21 March 2006 edit undoHignatz (talk | contribs)31 edits Description of Veliki Gaj, a small Serbian villageNext edit → | ||
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| Veliki Gaj is a small Yugoslavian village near Plandiste, Serbia and not far from Timisoara, a city in southern Romania, in the shadow of the Transylvanian Alps. For a discussion of this locale in Serbian, go to http://www.plandiste.co.yu/Page10091/Gaj/gaj.htm. | |||
| Veliki Gaj is famous for no other reason I know except that it was the home of the Ignatz family during the first half of the 20th century. | |||
| Until 1918, the region around Veliki Gaj, a small village in the Banat region, had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire |
Until 1918, the region around Veliki Gaj, a small village in the Banat region, had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and had received a steady influx of German speaking Donauschwaben or "Donauschwobe" in the local dialect. The German settlers in the area held allegiance to Germany and Austria, although Serbo-Croatian and Hungarian languages were also spoken. After WWI, this region became the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1929, the kingdom changed its name to Yugoslavia. After much ethnic fighting that continues to this day, Veliki Gaj is now part of Serbia. Yugoslavia is now a Federation of only Serbia and Montenegro, as the regions of Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia declared their independence in 1991 -1992. | ||
| Most of the German settlers in this area were either killed, expelled or fled during and after WWII. | |||
| Wilhelm Ignatz (1898-1945), a local mayor, farmer and grain mill owner, and Magdalena Ignatz (née Werner, March 1 1906 - October 23 1993) raised their only son, Franz Wilhelm Ignatz (March 6 1924 - March 23 1976) in Veliki Gaj until he was old enough to go to a Jesuit school in the Croatian city of Zagreb. The Werner family came from Alsace, now part of northeastern France, but which at the time was also part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. | |||
| See also “Donauschwaben in the Banat, Including the Arader Land”, http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dsbanat.html#col, http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/banat_g.htm#grossgaj and "History of German Settlements in Southern Hungary by Sue Clarkson, http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dshist.txt | |||
| Wilhelm Ignatz was killed at the end of WWII, while Franz Wilhelm and Magdalena Ignatz fled to Austria and eventually emigrated to Canada. | |||
Revision as of 19:46, 21 March 2006
Veliki Gaj is a small Yugoslavian village near Plandiste, Serbia and not far from Timisoara, a city in southern Romania, in the shadow of the Transylvanian Alps. For a discussion of this locale in Serbian, go to http://www.plandiste.co.yu/Page10091/Gaj/gaj.htm.
Until 1918, the region around Veliki Gaj, a small village in the Banat region, had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and had received a steady influx of German speaking Donauschwaben or "Donauschwobe" in the local dialect. The German settlers in the area held allegiance to Germany and Austria, although Serbo-Croatian and Hungarian languages were also spoken. After WWI, this region became the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. In 1929, the kingdom changed its name to Yugoslavia. After much ethnic fighting that continues to this day, Veliki Gaj is now part of Serbia. Yugoslavia is now a Federation of only Serbia and Montenegro, as the regions of Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia declared their independence in 1991 -1992.
Most of the German settlers in this area were either killed, expelled or fled during and after WWII.
See also “Donauschwaben in the Banat, Including the Arader Land”, http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dsbanat.html#col, http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/banat_g.htm#grossgaj and "History of German Settlements in Southern Hungary by Sue Clarkson, http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dshist.txt