Title: "From the Banat to North Dakota: A History of the German-Hungarian Pioneers in Western North Dakota."

Authors: David Dreyer and Josette S. Hatter.

Pages: 231.

Available: Booksellers and online.

The most often asked question by acquaintances when they saw what I was reading was: "What is the Banat?" Banat was a province in the country of Hungary. Because most of my ancestors can be traced to that region, the title immediately piqued my interest.

A quick scan of the book includes the table of contents, acknowledgements, a preface, appendices and maps, references and suggested readings, and a comprehensive index. Naturally, I zoomed straight to the index to see if any Martins, Zillichs or Herrs were included.

Yes, Great-Grandpa Bernhardt Martin was listed as well as many other surnames I have heard mentioned over the years.

One of the first chapters in the book explains the history of the Banat Germans. It is similar to the Germans from Russia who immigrated to North Dakota.

To quote the preface, "The German-Hungarians who migrated to southwestern North Dakota from the Banat had tenaciously maintained their German cultural heritage and language, despite more than two centuries of life outside of Germany. The preservation of cultural identity, language, folkways and traditions required firm determination in the face of aggressive and coercive assimilation efforts on the part of the Magyar authorities that came to govern the Banat area. Were it not for the preservation of this rich cultural and historical heritage, there would be no occasion for undertaking this current work, as the German-Hungarians would have ceased to exist as a distinctive group."

Interviews of the original pioneers were gathered from their descendants. These personal stories can be found in the section entitled "The Way It Was." Together the stories help to shed light on a puzzle which is the history of these people. Each of the writers has his or her style of telling the way things were. When we consider these stories together, we are able to draw some commonalities.

The homesteading of southwest North Dakota encouraged success of the Northern Pacific Railroad. With that in mind, handbills advertising the availability of free land were printed and posted in the European cities. A vast majority of the German-Hungarians were farmers in Hungary. Thus the offer of free land inspired them to once again leave their familiar surroundings and cherished family to take the risks of a new land.

That the German-Hungarians placed a high value on their religion is evident in the churches they built. Early churches which they constructed include St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Lefor and St. Stephen's Catholic Church, 16 miles north of Mott. These historic churches are still functioning today.

Surprisingly, although both the Germans from Russia and the German-Hungarians ethnicity were based on the German culture which they guarded closely, they remained entirely separate. The two groups did not mix well when they first settled in North Dakota. Some of the documents allude to this animosity.

My favorite personal narration is the autobiography of Sophie Streitmatter Meissner, who was born in the Banat in 1888, and immigrated to the United States with her family in 1903. In her loquacious manner, Sophie paints a comprehensive picture of the everyday life and culture and the hardships encountered. While reading this section, I began to recall some of the things my grandma used to recount.

Besides personal narratives, this book includes pictures, newspaper articles, obituaries, and prose describing the history that led to the migration of this group. Although the book is packed with history, it is easy to read. Often the reader catches a glimpse of the humor of this fun-loving, hard-working people who were so proud of their heritage.

According to the authors, information for this book was collected from a variety of sources.

"From ships' manifests, investigators can learn how much (or how little) cash an ancestor brought when he came to the United States and where the ancestor was headed. Birth, marriage, and death certificates, when available, provide vital statistics and names of ancestors. Census documents organized by state, country and township, provide basic information such as the location of the Banater's first farm, the names of children, the ages of all individuals recorded in the census and whether they were born in the new country or had applied to become naturalized citizens. Land records held by the Bureau of Land Management contain homestead records and citizenship applications."

Who should read this book? Anyone who is a descendant of the German-Hungarian people would love this book. A person who studies the pioneers of North Dakota or the history of North Dakota may find this book informative. If you like to read aloud to others, take this book along with you to a nursing home and share it with the residents there. It is sure to spark some memories of the past.

(Rita Greff grew up the oldest of eight children in a family that valued reading, particularly fiction. She taught fifth and sixth grades for 34 years.)