Friday, June 6 Zrenjanin

We got an especially early start today because we had a busy morning. We hit the road at 7:30, right on target. We first picked up Mihajlo Bancevic at the town centre. He is very supportive of our efforts to retain our heritage and he would be our guide for the morning. First working stop was the cemetery. We dropped off the gang to search, and I did a quick survey before Stasa, Mihailo, and I went to a meeting with the town administrators responsible for the cemetery.

I found that the cemetery is in much better shape than when we were there two years ago. The Wosching crypt, which had been in very bad condition was cleaned up very well. The fallen stones had been laid out in an orderly manner and the grass was well cut throughout the cemetery. They knew we were coming, so maybe they made a special effort, but the result was good for whatever reason.

At our meeting I had hoped to encourage them to somehow preserve the old headstones. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have already drafted a plan for renewal and we had witnessed the beginning. They now have three full time employees there. Priority number one is to improve everyday maintenance. Subsequent steps will see the repair of the old stones, repair of the fence, and construction of a concrete path to the old German section. I had made it clear that we would be willing to contribute to any improvement. We agreed that ZVA would purchase a gas powered weed wacker, the preferred tool for cutting grass in such situations.

We picked up the gang at the cemetery, where they had been fairly successful and received a lot of help from the staff, and took them to the cultural centre. There Mihailo had foreseen our need to use the washrooms and had also laid out some refreshments for us. He explained the functions of the centre and showed us their theatre which doubles as a movie and stage theatre.

We then went to a mass in the Zichydorf church that Msgr. Laszlo Gyuris had arranged specifically for us. He even brought a very talented organist/singer with him. And he made these special arrangements in spite of the preparations for a visit by the bishop on Sunday. Stasa had thought that the Bishop was visiting Vrsac, but it turns out that he is actually visiting Plandiste/Zichydorf. It would have been exciting to be there for the occasion, but we can't fit it into the schedule now without major disruption and this arrangement leads to a more intimate experience.

It was a very moving experience for all involved. Frank spoke in German with an older Hungarian lady that was in tears that we would come back to honour our ancestors in their old village. Father Gyuris spoke (in German, later related by Frank) about dedicating the mass to all the Zichydorfers who had lived and died there over the years. The musician played and sang old German hymns. We received the Eucharist in the church where our ancestors had done the same more than 100 years ago. During the mass I thought about all of our grandparents, great grandparents, and great great grandparents who had celebrated mass there together and how they never would have imagined that their descendants, unknown to each other not long ago, would come together as friends to celebrate in this church.

After mass we all visited with the locals and posed for pictures. The old lady that I mentioned earlier and who I had observed dabbing at her eyes with a tissue during mass told Frank she would never forget this day as long as she lived.



Here Father Laszlo shows us the jar of Saskatoon berry jam that we brought for him.

I discussed with Msgr Gyuris our offer to contribute to the restoration or maintenance of the church in some way. He said that the top priority is to stabilize the roof. The weight of the roof is forcing the walls out, allowing the roof to sink and the ceiling to crack. It is urgent that something be done to shore this up. He is working on putting together a plan which will be followed by fundraising from governments and individuals. I told him that we would help with whatever limited resources we could contribute.

From Plandiste, we drove to Weisskirchen/Bela Crkva. No one had a particular interest there, but I thought it would be interesting to see the city and archives. The archive building is actually fairly small and unimposing. We also found the church. By chance, the priest was on his way inside and allowed us in to look around. We then went to a restaurant by a lake for a late afternoon lunch/snack.

From Bela Crkva we drove to Kudritz. Stasa obtained the key from the custodian who asked what we were looking for. We told her that this was the village of my great grandparents and the name was Schussler. She grew excited and exclaimed that her husband’s grandmother was Rosalia Schussler. So she ran to get him and we had a little family reunion. The church here is more humble than the others we have seen and it is pretty neglected. They told us that there were only about 20 families left, and that only 4-5 people show up for the monthly masses.

From the church we walked down the street for a tasting in a wine cellar. The wine was good enough for us to buy a few bottles. We followed that with a stop in the cemetery before beginning the long trek back to Zrenjanin, arriving about 9 pm and eating our supper at 10. Staying in Zrenjanin will add an hour each way to our day tomorrow.

We had very good weather again. Warm, but not really hot. We ran into some rain showers on the way back in the evening and it started raining pretty hard and steadily after we checked in.