4th post - "Auslanders"

During the reign of Austria’s empress, Maria Theresa, her subjects were invited to settle in a fertile farming area near the Danube River, between Hungary and Serbia.  My father’s ancestors settled as farmers in this part of the Austrian empire, which would have been considered the “hinter lands.”  These settlers were called "auslanders," which means "hinter lands" in old high German, but nowadays, the term is more generally used to refer to foreigners.  My father’s relatives lost everything due to the war, and the communist take over by the “partisans,” which happened around the same time.  After  World War II, their lost homes & farm lands were part of what had become the communist country of Yugoslavia.  

My grandparents told a lot of stories about the cruelty of the communist partisans, and their brutal slaughter of the people who stayed behind in my grandparents’ villages.  Most of the able-bodied men were off to war, but when my great-grandmother, my grandmother, her sister and infant niece, heard the warnings about the partisans coming, and what they were doing to the German people that were settled there, they fled in a covered wagon.  First, they tried to enter Hungary, because it was closer, but they weren’t allowed to enter.  Eventually, they became refugees in Austria.  

My “Oma” (grandma) was 19 at the time.  She never got over the trauma.  I can remember her turning almost every conversation, no matter what the original topic was, into a discussion about, “When we lost our home ….”.  She lived in the U.S. for over fifty years, became a citizen, worked and raised her children here, but this was never “home” to her.  Oma & Opa visited their home land in the 1980’s and were shocked at how their village church, elementary school, and the farm houses they grew up in, had been so neglected and fallen into ruin.  The farm lands were still productive, but nothing looked to them like they had remembered.  

Third Post - The Internet & Communication

There is no doubt that the Internet has made it easier and quicker to keep in touch with friends and family.   Many people on the Discussion Forum agreed that email and Skype have been drastic improvements in communication over “snail mail” and even ordinary phone calls.  Internet communication is especially helpful when people are far away from those they care about.  It’s also a big help to people who might have trouble communicating with others due to some physical challenges, such as hearing or speech impairments.  

I don’t like texting, but many people find it more convenient than talking during a meeting, or in a theater or other places when you don’t want to be overheard.  I think texting is ok for short, important messages, but I don’t really think it’s a good way to have a conversation.    

Several people also pointed out the drawbacks to electronic communication, such as having personal information “hacked,” and getting viruses and spam.  Mostly everyone agrees that those kinds of dangers are the price we pay for living in the 21^st century.  Likewise, some people pointed out that the internet might make some shy people become more reclusive and dependent on impersonal forms of communication.  So rather than making us more “connected” it can actually make some of us more isolated.  

While I do email, mostly for business or school purposes, I do not “blog” or have a Facebook or Twitter account, and will certainly discontinue the ones I had to create for this class, as soon as this class is over.   Sure, there are benefits to those who need to stay in touch with people, but I find them to be a big waste of time.  I was happy to see that other people in the class felt the same way.

Second Post - My Topic

As I said in my class introduction, my father was born in Austria.  His father, my “Opa” (grandfather) had a big farm in an area called Kolut, which was once part of Yugoslavia.  They were hemp farmers, but were “asked” to join the German army during the war.  My Opa’s father was killed on the Russian front.  Opa was a prisoner of war in Scotland during most of WWII.   At the end of the war, he walked all the way to Austria, because the Red Cross told him his mother was in a displaced person’s camp there.  That’s where he met my “Oma” (grandmother).  They worked very hard doing construction work, rebuilding  Austria after the war.

My father was born there, and when they saved up enough money, they came to the United States.   He was five years old and didn’t speak any English.  My grandparents came by ship and it was a long voyage, especially since my Oma was pregnant with my aunt, and very sea sick.  My aunt was born here. 

This semester I’m taking a class on Nazi Germany, and am finding out interesting things about what happened to my father’s family during the war.  My mother’s  relatives participated on the American side, but having different perspective on what happened in Europe is very interesting.  That’s why I’ll be writing on this topic for my future blogs, as I learn more about the effects of the war on my family.

Introduction

My name is Mike Froehlich.  I'm 24 and a senior at University of Massachusetts at Lowell.  I got my Associates degree before transferring to UML.  I'm majoring in Liberal Arts with a concentration in English and Psychology.  I have worked in a pharmaceutical warehouse for several years, doing packaging and shipping. 

I was born in Georgia but moved to New Jersey when I was three years old.  My widowed grandmother lives with us, and she will be 85 years old this summer.  My older brother moved to Richmond, Virginia.  He is 27.  My mom and grandmother were born in New Jersey, but my dad was born in a displaced person’s camp in Austria, and came here with his family when he was five years old.  My dad’s family spoke German, but I never learned it.

I enjoy drawing and listening to music, watching good movies and interesting documentaries.  My favorite sport is hockey. 

I've never written a blog before.  I email and know the basics of using the internet, but I don't do facebook or any other social networking, even though everyone I know does.  I'm hoping this course will show me better ways to use the internet.