Research by

Vladimir Geiger, PhD

In October 1944 after Tito-Partisans came to power in  Yugoslavia, there were still

194,759 ethnic Germans (Donauschwaben) living there. Of those 
6,760 were killed prior to having been sent to the starvation camps.
166,970 were being put into the starvation camps between 1945 and 1948.
48,447 survived the starvation camps.
12,380 were deported to Russian slave labor camps. Of those
1,994 died in Russian slave labor camps.
 
As per Mrs. Maerzluft’s recollection in Hrastovac during that time

– Jakob Mueller was found dead in a well at the end of town.

– Georg Bohmer was found dead on top his manure pile.

– Johann Shaeffer was kidnapped and found dead at a Partisan camp in a wooded area.

–  The Partisans dragged Hans Kaiser to death behind horse and wagon.

– The Partisans raped to death Mrs. Bulich (the town’s mid-wife).

By May 1945 those who were not killed yet were evicted from their hereditary homes and were placed into forced labor and starvation camps with the hope by the powers of the time to fully eliminate them. Many prisoners died of starvation, were beaten to death or shot or died on illnesses like typhus and malaria. The camps were closed in 1948.

 KRNDIJA was one of the eight most notorious Yugoslav death camps for the country’s ethnic German minority where they perished en mass.

Hrastovacer who perished in Krndija
As per recollection of Mrs. Maerzluft

Baecker , Anna, nee Faust, † in Krndija; daughter-in-law of Johann & Kristina Baecker;

Baecker, Johann, *1876 March 29; † in 1946 in Krndija;

Baecker, Kristina, nee Ferber, *ca. 1883; † in Krndija; wife of Johann Baecker;

Faust, Anna, nee Rapp; † in Krndija; mother of Anna Kautmann and Eva Kehl;

Kah, Anna; † a few days after release from Krndija;

Kautmann, Anna, nee Faust, † in Krnidja, daughter of Anna Faust;

Kehl, Eva, nee Faust and little daughter Anna, † in 1945 in Krndija,

Ochsenhoffer, Kristina, † a few days after release from Krndija;

Velika Mlinskaer who died in Krndija:

As per recollection of Mrs. Ferber

 Birkenbach, Anna, nee Eiler, * in Antunovac; † 1945, December;

Ferber, Elisabeth, nee Hock; † 1885, † 1946, March;

Knies, Elisabeth, nee Krauss, * 1905 Sep 29; † 1946 Feb 21;

Kraus, Heinrich, *1877 Jul 7; † 1946 Mar 1, father of Elisabeth Knies;

Lux, Elisabeth, nee Mueller, *1885 Jan 27; † 1946 Feb 22;

Mueller, Peter, † 1946, father of Elisabeth Lux;

Rittinger, Katharina, nee Ferber, *1921 Aug. 2 in Mlinska, † 1946 Mar 23;

Rittinger, Katharina, nee Hock, 1887 Sept. 14, † 1946 Mar 26;

Rohmann, Christina, nee Kah, *1900 in Hrastovac; † in Krndija;

Rotenbiller, Elisabeth, nee Rohmann, *1925 Jan 1; † 1946;

The silence has to be broken.
The homage is long overdue.

Other Surrounding Villages:

Frudinger, Anna, nee Kniess, from Bastaji, *1895;

Frudinger, Georg, from Bastaji, *1885, Apr 26;

Gruenwald, Eva, nee Summenauer, from Bastaji, *1886 Mar 6;

Hock, Stjepan from Sokolovac, *1866; † 1945 Sep 23;

Jelinek, Wenzel, from Kakinac, *1882 † 1945 Oct 8;

Staubhenzer, Lisa from Daruvar, *1867 † 1945 Sep 1; 

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Krndija’s Mass Grave – Photos by V. Geiger, Phd.