After Sturmführer Jaklitsch and his squad leaders returned from the camp on July 24, they immediately started a training program for all members of the Masern Sturm.  Meetings were held in the large Jaklitsch guest room or in the “Reichshause”, the abandoned house at Number 6 where the Sturmführer reiterated with fervor and conviction what he had learned at the camp. “Blind loyalty to the Führer and to follow his call to resettle home in the Reich”. Parallel political meetings were held by leaders of the boys unit of the Gottscheer Hitler Youth (14-20) the Pimpfe (7-13) and their girl equivalents in both groups.
 
Unflinching discipline was instilled through military type training on our sporting grounds next to the cemetery, exercises which always ended in a march back to the village, past the admiring glances of the women, the older folks and the very young standing in doorways or watching the final display of formation dismissal on the square in front of the church. Such displays had been forbidden when the enclave was still under Yugoslavia, but had been done clandestinely just the same. But now, with the VGL acting on behalf of the mighty Reich, all was not only openly possible but mandated. And the occupying Italians, soon to be rid of this troublesome lot, had no desire to interfere.
 
- - - -

The farmer K.R. from Slovenska Vas, (Windischdorf), writes in his memoir of March 1958:

“… There began an intense propaganda campaign for the resettlement which was introduced with the slogan: Heim in’s Reich, [Home to the Reich]”.

“This propaganda came to us from our own circles, from individuals who functioned as the so called Führers of the Gottscheer without obtaining the approval of the population. Persons who since 1939 had been occupied mainly with improving our agriculture. These Führers organized meetings in all parts of Gottschee and made the resettlement palatable to the assembled villagers.”

- - - -

Throughout the summer and fall of 1941, the propaganda machine of the VGL was running in high gear. A review of the weekly Gottscheer Zeitung of that period shows each issue with bold lettered headlines announcing new victories of the unstoppable German armies and reprints in full of the speeches of Hitler, Gőring and other leaders of the Reich. All these headlines are accompanied by rallying appeals, pronouncements and speeches from Lampeter, Lackner, Busbach and other members of the VGL. The constant in all this is the reminder of the duty to the Führer which the Gottscheer, as loyal Germans, must exercise at all times.
  
The Gottscheer Zeitung (Herbert Erker, Editor) also describes in great detail the training and propaganda events held throughout the enclave. Initially, many of these events conflicted with businesses in the city and to a lesser degree, with farming activities, causing frequent absenteeism. The VGL addressed this problem in the August 7 issue of the GZ:

“Command of the Mannschaftsführer.”

“It is repeatedly reported that many employed comrades are not standing in our formations. All German comrades, male or female, who are in some sort of employment situation, must report immediately to the local formation leader, so that they can be placed into the formations in which they belong.

“All employers are herewith notified that they do not have the right, for selfish reasons, to keep their employees out of the ranks of our units or to keep them in any way from their required service.”
  
“The Mannschaftführer, W. Lampeter.”
      
And, in the August 14 issue, a sterner warning:
 
“Command of the Mannschaftführer.”

“I have noticed that some members of our nation and even members of the formations attend our larger functions and performances only after repeated and energetic urging from the comrades of the Wachzug, (Surveillance Unit).  This is totally unacceptable. The Wachzug [in 1941 under A. Busbach, 211 members strong] was formed to have a Security Unit responsible for such events. It is therefore clear that orders from comrades of the Wachzug are to be followed regardless of rank or position.

“Comrades of the Wachzug carry as identification a black bordered Swastika armband and a star on their shoulder strap.”

“The Mannschaftführer, W. Lampeter.”
  
The above was a warning to the “capitalistic - liberal” bourgeoisie in the City as well as to all others to attend the functions announced in the Zeitung; all such reminders closing with “appearance is public duty”, “your duty to the Führer”. In addition to enforcement by the Wachzug, this obligation was also enforced by the Sturmführer who had direct access to the men and women in the ranks and indirectly to all others living in the village.
 
Delinquents or resisters who continued in their unacceptable behavior were taken before the Mannschaftsgericht (Militia court) for a hearing and judgment. Of course, this court had no legal standing as such, but all defendants knew that the VGL court was now the enforcer for the Third Reich, the most powerful and seemingly invincible nation in Europe and therefore they had little choice but to comply. Besides, they had no one else to turn to. The Italian occupiers were in charge of civil administration, but had no wish to interfere. And since they had already been labeled by the VGL as hostile to the Gottscheer, they would not be sympathetic.

The Sturmführer simply sidelined the clergy by holding training exercises or information meetings during the times scheduled for church services. “Public Duty” and “Duty to the Führer” were convenient excuses now given to the priests by a cowed and coerced population for staying away.
 
- - - -

The farmer R.K. mentions the gigantic rallies held in strategic villages throughout the enclave. The VGL called them “Morning Celebrations” and the Zeitung announced the date and the place and all specifics, including who must attend and when.  “Attendance is Public Duty” was always added at the end.

The rallies emulated the rallies in the Reich and followed the formula that had worked so well there. The object was to demonstrate unity, strength and commitment and to persuade the uncommitted to join.  
The rallies were follow-on to Lampeter’s leadership training.  Eight such mass rallies were held throughout the enclave during July, August and October, each attended by up to nine individual Sturm units, its Youth Groups and related village population, usually totaling around a thousand participants. All were written up in great detail in the next issue of the Zeitung, with the rousing speeches repeated verbatim down to the last “Heim ins Reich”, …“Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fűhrer”, …“Heil Hitler”, ...“Sieg Heil”.  All with the objective of converting the population from “Love of the Land” to “Love of the Führer”.
 
- - - -

The July 24 issue of the Zeitung gives the specifics for the “Morgenfeier” to be held in Lichtenbach:

“The Mannschaftführer orders the holding of a morning celebration to be held on Sunday, July 27 in Lichtenbach.  To this celebration, Stürme 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 15, and 21 as well as their youth groups and women’s branches must form up in ranks at 9.45 in the morning.

“The other Volksgenossen who are not in the above ranks will be in Lichtenbach at the same time.

“After the ceremony, there will be a comradely gathering and presentations by youth groups until late into the afternoon.”

In its July 31 issue, the GZ devotes nearly two of its six pages to describing the event. Over 1,000 people from seven adjacent villages assemble in the village square and on command of Staabführer Busbach march to the square in front of the church where Mannschaftsführer Lampeter receives Busbach’s report.  The swastika flag is run up, youth leader Lackner recites a poem, a song rises high.

 “The Mannschaftführer speaks:”
  
He speaks of “….. duty to Deutschland and its great mission. The free being thinks not about himself but about the whole; not for the moment, but for eternity.  A new faith, given to us by the Führer, is waved to us by our German flag in the performance of our duty….  .”

Battle songs and the revised Gottscheer anthem ring out. The original version had been re-rhymed by the VGL to bring the new national-socialist spirit into the old melody. Key parts are: “… we are returning to the fatherland, the country of our ancestors” …and … we call into the young day:  Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fűhrer!”

The assembly in front of the church is over. The rest of the day brings sporting performances by the youth and dances and songs from the girls. And, at three in the afternoon, they assemble again at the flag in front of the church and words from Richard Lackner, the Jugendführer ring out:

“…. We are on the way to a new future and one feels that a new spirit has entered the enclave. We are all of one conviction, one belief and know only:  Führer command, we will follow….!
 
“Again, all eyes greet the flag being brought down. After short words from the Mannschaftsführer, songs of the nation rise again. [Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, ...  Die Fahne hoch, die Reihen dicht geschlossen] ”.

The morning celebration has come to an end.

- - - -

The July 31 issue of the GZ also announces the next such event, this one to take place in Masern:
 
“On Sunday the third of August 1941 at ten o’clock, the memorial stone for the fallen comrade Hans Michitsch will be unveiled in Masern. The Mannschaftführer orders the following to attend this ceremony: Sturm and Youth Groups 1, 2, 4, 8, 13, 14 and 24. These groups are therefore excused from their usual Sunday afternoon exercises.  All leaders must have their units standing in formation in the Village of Masern at 9.40.”

In an article taking up the entire front page of the August 7 issue, Herbert Erker, the editor of the GZ reports on the event. I also took part and remember it well:
 
As ordered, Sturm units and Youth groups from seven villages were on time and in formation, lined up on the village square at 9.40 as ordered. At the end of four columns of 39 men of Sturm 13 was the Hitler Youth of Masern; in all 30 boys and 29 girls. Sturm 13 was named as “Sturm Hans Michitsch” to honor the comrade fallen for the Reich when in fact, he was really a deserter from the army to which he had sworn his allegiance.
 
I stood in the Pimpfe formation, boys aged seven to fourteen.  Like the others, dressed in the obligatory long sleeved white shirt, short black trousers and white socks up to the knee. (The girls wore a black skirt covering the knees). Black belt, supported by a black shoulder strap across the chest. On the head a black cap fronting a brass swastika and on the left arm the swastika arm band, held in place by safety pins. The uniform of the Stürmer was similar except for the riding breeches and riding boots.

At Staabführer Busbach’s shrill whistle, all units snap to attention.  Franz Jaklitsch orders his Sturm to do a ‘Right Turn’ and ‘Forward March’ to the sports grounds next to the cemetery. Our Youth Leader, the nineteen year old Herbert Primosch does the same and we follow. The girls, under their leader Anna Dejak directly behind us. After them, in appropriate order, march the other six Sturm units, followed by their associated Youth Groups until all were lined up at the sports grounds where an armed honor guard had been receiving the formations. The field is flanked by tall flagpoles, each with its swastika flag hanging limp in the still morning air.  According to Erker, over 800 comrades took part.
 
The parents of Hans, his brother Franz and Anna Parthe former fiancé of Hans are already at the grave site, together with Lampeter, Richard Lackner and the other members of the VGL. Absent is the Reverend Gliebe who officiated when Hans was buried in a Christian ceremony on April 19. All are standing next to the memorial that replaced the former simple cross.  As described by Erker:
 
“… a massive natural boulder, dug from the ground in the forest by his comrades into which was set a simple marble plate.  Under the Gottscheer insignia with the swastika is written: Easter 1941, Sturmmann Hans Michitsch.”

“Fanfares, the song ‘Listen up Comrade’ and a quotation of Hitler start the ceremony.  The Mannschaftsführer speaks:

“What for centuries has been the wish and yearning of the German people has become reality: Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fűhrer.  For this millions of Germans have fought and also given their lives. They died for the greatness of Germany. ….  And today, in victorious campaigns, thousands fall for the honor and greatness of Germany. … . Never would the Führer have achieved the power, had the death of comrades in ranks weakened his resolve. Their blood solidified the determination of the movement.

“We Gottscheer also could not march into freedom without some sacrifice demanded from us. Four comrades sealed the way to our freedom with their blood.  So have you fallen, comrade Hans Michitsch.
 
“You are dead but not forgotten. You will remain the example and reminder for the fulfillment of the highest duty of your Sturm.

“For us, there must be no higher duty than to work and fight for Germany and if necessary, die for it.”
 
Lampeter had spoken.  And Erker continues his report:

“The song:  Ich hat einen Kameraden  [I had a comrade] swells up. No one moved as the Mannschaftsführer placed the wreaths in front of the memorial. A quotation of the Führer is read by Jugendführer Lackner. All sing the anthems of the [German] nation.

“The ceremony is over. ”

All units march back to the square where they are dismissed. Afterwards, Jaklitsch does a booming business in his guest room but even more so in his large courtyard where tables and benches were set up for the event as they had been in the past for church related festivities.
 
- - - -

However, in his GZ report of August 7, Erker left out a few items.

The first: - As the event progressed and the cloudless sky being no impediment,  the full power of the August sun seemed now directed on to the black cap on my head which was getting very hot.
 
It was during Lampeter’s speech, (carefully reproduced by Erker in the GZ), when all went black as I crumbled to the ground.  Since everyone was at attention, no one came to my aid and I continued to lie there, in the first row of our unit which, as part of Sturm 13, had the privilege of being first in line to face the cemetery. Apparently not for long since Lampeter was still speaking when I came to, stood up and resumed my position.
 
Behind the memorial, the villagers of Masern including my parents stood at a respectful distance. And after I got up and recovered, I could not help noticing that Father and Mother were staring in my direction, but I carefully avoided their concerned gaze.

I did not notice but was told later, that there were at least two other youngsters who were felled in the same disgraceful way. Fortunately for me, the other two were pure blooded Aryans, forestalling any potential taunts connecting my weakness to having inferior blood.

The second:  - Just after Lampeter had placed the wreaths, the honor guard lifted their rifles to fire a three salvo salute, their echo clearly resonating in the valley.  Normally it was a fitting salute to a fallen comrade, but Erker did not mention it in his write up.  For good reason.

Immediately after the occupation on April 23, the High Commissioner for the Ljubljana Province, Emilio Grazioli had issued a proclamation forbidding the ownership, by any person, of weapons, munitions or explosives on penalty of death. “The death penalty will be applied also to the head of a household in which such items are found”.
 
Apparently, the Italians got wind of the infraction at the cemetery and during the following week a truckload of soldiers arrived in Masern where they performed a cursory check for weapons in some houses. None were found, since all weapons and ammunitions were carefully hidden in dry places under rocks in the nearby forest. The Italians, of course, knew this and were prepared to find nothing. Obviously they had to respond after some informer reported the violation of Sunday August 3.
  
This incident and very likely others, prompted the Italians to reissue an expanded version of the Proclamation signed by Grazioli on September 11, 1941. In addition to again proclaiming the death penalty for possession of weapons, this version also described the legal process of judgment and execution and furthermore, announced the hours of a curfew to take place throughout the Province.
 
The entire Proclamation was published in the September 18 issue of the GZ.  After that date, Sturm 13 (and surely all others) no longer did training or marches through the village with rifles taken from the trucks of the Yugoslav unit that disbanded in Masern on April 18, 1941.  They used wooden replicas instead.

A final, enclave-wide mass rally was held on Sunday October 19 on the sporting grounds of the City. It was a special event called “Der letzte Appell”  (the last rally) attended by all 25 Stürme and their youth groups, totaling 1,910 uniformed Gottscheers. This did not including the general population standing on the sidelines.  But more on this later.

- - - -

For me and all the other young, and most of the older folks, these were heady times. Excitement, action and anticipation had replaced the monotony and drabness of our village life. A life in which the only entertainment came from visits by a small traveling circus with a dancing bear, or a merry-go-round, or from gypsies who stayed for a few days.
 
There had been church festivals during the summer when traveling merchants displayed their wares and trinkets on stands set up on the square. And in the afternoon, on a wooden platform erected on the square or in the Jaklitsch courtyard, there was dancing to the strains of an accordion, the only live music ever heard in the village and this one not improved by the watered-down wine.  However, in 1941 there were no more church festivals.

Instead there was disciplined training, there were marches, rallies, sporting events and speeches about a rosy future. There were group meetings, group sing-alongs, group outings, group excursions through the enclave, readings to assembled villagers by visiting young people from other villages, amateur theatrical performances in the large guestroom of the Jaklitsch tavern by groups from other parts of the enclave - and even from abroad.
 
For the first time we had a very tall maypole on the square, a swastika banner fluttering at the very top. The gleaming trunk, stripped of its bark except for some spiraling bark bands, had a small pine tree fastened to it at the top by the smith who came running from his smithy with white hot iron bands that would tighten the connection between the pole and tree into an inseparable joint. With great fanfare and much encouragement from the surrounding villagers there for the event, the pole was raised in place by uniformed men from the Sturm. And after it was erected, uniformed girls circled around it to tunes of an accordion while holding hands. And there was singing followed by speeches from the youth leaders including Sturmführer Jaklitsch himself. After that, there was as usual a lot of wine drunk in the large guest room of his place.
  
And for the first time we celebrated solstice.  It had been ordered by Lackner and the prepared bonfire stacks on the highest peaks were to be lit throughout the enclave at an agreed-upon time so that the flames could be seen in other villages.  As it had been centuries ago. Böller from the time of the Turks were loaded and set off.  And when the songs diminished with the fires, the leaping over the embers proved that we were fit to face the future as part of the Sonnenvolk.
 
Never had there been such activity in Masern. And it was not only the young who were uplifted by it.
 
I was proud of my uniform, clothing that not only made me feel I was a part of my peers but also because it let me know that I was finally accepted by them as equal.  And when marching with them and singing a rousing song, my crystal clear voice was heard above the others. Dressed in a uniform I treasured in part because it was clothing that finally fit, including the new shoes, custom made for me by Schuscharpasch Ate, our village shoemaker. He was very busy in those days, mostly because Jaklitsch insisted that barefooted youths were not to march in a German formation and that shoes, like the swastika, were part of the uniform.  And when taking my footprint, Mother kept asking him to make the shoes larger so that I would not outgrow them all too soon, he winked at me, a secret promise which he kept. These being my first new shoes, all others being hand-me-downs, I visited him often including on the day when he cut the leather, just to make sure he did not forget his unspoken word to make them the size I truly wanted.

As the already cooler days of autumn gave way to the cold, the short pants and short sleeved shirts became inadequate even for the steeled Aryan bodies with pure German blood surging through their veins. To our joy, this was to be rectified with long pants and a long sleeved shirt, both made of tight knit black tricot material. There was elastic at the end of the sleeves and at the bottom pant legs and a string to pull the waist tight; similar to a later day sweat suit. Both to be pulled over the summer uniform when necessary, we were told. Both supplied gratis through the generosity of the Reich. 

This happened when all Masern boys and girls of our youth group were taken to the Mannschaft office in the City to be outfitted with the winter uniform. Taken there on horse drawn farming wagons, sitting on improvised benches or clustered on the floor with legs dangling off the platform. Except that for some no longer known tragic reason, I was not among them. And at the next meeting of the groups, all were eagerly showing off their new black outfit, the red swastika armband contrasting the black sleeve. I was the only one shivering with embarrassment and cold.

Father would not have it and together we went to see Herbert Primosch, the leader of my troop who wrote a letter to the provisioning office. The letter gave the reason for my not being part of the initial Masern troop and said that I was worthy to be issued the outfit. Father was to take me to the City to be fitted the next day.  But providence continued to play the contrarian.

In the middle of that night I woke up with an uncompromising urge to get to the outhouse and fast. I did remember, however, that the little wooden box mounted on the side wall was empty. The box was the dispenser of the essential pieces of newspaper, cut to size and folded to make the next one appear from the slit. So, in the dark and in haste, my hand flew over the kitchen table where it found a piece of paper.  It was the letter.
 
Father was angry, but mostly at Mother and Mitzi whose task it was to make sure there was paper in the outhouse. But after persuasive urging from Mother and much pleading from me, we went to Herbert again who wanted to know what happened to the letter he wrote yesterday. I no longer remember the reason Father gave, except that it was not the truth and that it was not eaten by the dog because we did not have a dog in spite of my persistent pleading over the years. Anyway, we did get another letter, if a less glowing one.  And there was again paper in the outhouse to prevent another calamity.

When we finally presented the letter at the depot, there were no uniforms left.  Or perhaps it was only my size.  I do know that I cried a bit, something totally unbecoming for a member of the Gottscheer Hitler Youth, even if only a half-breed pretending to be a loyal pure blooded Aryan. Father argued to no avail; no more uniforms were on the way, we were told as we left.
  
But then he took me to a clothing store nearby which had a selection of identical items. With prudent Mother not present, I was allowed to choose the two pieces that fit. I wore both proudly on the way home where Mitzi made pleasing comments and Mother did not ask if they had a larger size.
 
There was another plus. The youth leader forbade the casual wearing of the new uniform, a gift from the Reich, the best piece of clothing now possessed by most of my peers including myself. The reason was to prevent it from becoming shabby and therefore unworthy of a Reich event. But since mine was not such a gift, having been purchased with my father’s money, I was grudgingly allowed to wear it constantly, much to my delight.

- - - -

The preliminary resettlement contract discussions between the Reich and Italy started mid July, 1941. The contract was a financial arrangement between the two nations.

The Reich wished to use the South Tyrol contract as a model for the Gottscheer project.  In that contract, the South Tyrol resettler, in effect, sold his assets to Italy, except that the seller did not receive the funds. Italy used the funds, equivalent to the assets, to re-pay its national debt to Germany. Germany in turn reimbursed the re-settlers with properties in occupied lands.
  
With respect to the Gottscheer, the Italian side desired, among other items, a link between resettling the Gottscheer and reimbursement to the thousands of Slovene who fled from parts of Styria and Carinthia occupied and annexed by the Reich to the parts occupied by Italy. They fled there after the first big German arrest wave in which about 5,000 Slovene intellectuals were imprisoned and deported.  The Slovene who had escaped to Italy now requested Italian citizenship and compensation to which the Italians reacted favorably and requested of the Germans that such reimbursement be included in the contract. To the Germans this was an unacceptable condition; they viewed the Slovene who fled across the border as political criminals.

The initial discussions however, did lead to an outline for a contract to be used in the final negotiations which started in Rome on August 6, 1941. The final Resettlement Contract, signed on August 31, 1941, consisted of 10 Articles and 27 Clarifications.
 
- - - -

Of particular interest in this Contract are Articles 5, 6 and 9.
 
Article 5 states (in part): “The yield from the liquidation of Gottscheer properties, including their deposits in the Savings and Loan Bank in Gottschee City, will be deposited by Italy into Banka d’Italia and subsequently, according to the German-Italian account settlement agreement of 26 September 1934, transferred to Germany”. 71 
    
With Article 5 the Gottscheer, by agreeing to resettle, in effect sold his property to Italy which did not pay him directly but used the funds to re-pay part of its national debt to the Reich. The Reich, on the other hand, promised to reimburse the resettling Gottscheer with equally valued property which turned out to be the property of Slovenes who were evicted and transferred to slave labor camps. The properties sold were all immobile assets, including personal deposits in the Gottschee City Savings and Loan Bank.

The assessment of this property, now the responsibility of the VGL had started in June with an announcement in the June 5 GZ:

“Directive for assessment of forest properties.”

“Mannschaftsführer Lampeter gave specific instructions to all Sturmführer for assessing the lumber content of the Gottscheer forests. Since lumber is the main asset of the farmer, it is in the interest of each farmer to accurately caliper the trees. The Sturmführer has received appropriate instruction from experts as well as the blank documents on which to record this and all other property. Since the time is short, the assessment is urgent and the calipering should be made with utmost accuracy. The Resettlement Commission will make spot-checks and false assessments could lead to exclusion from the resettlement.”

An announcement in the August 21 GZ states that any changes to the submitted assessment must be reported immediately. Any unreported reduction will result in serious consequences to the prospective resettler. (The lumber no longer the property of the resettler). The announcement was prompted by reports reaching the VGL that farmers had sold lumber after they submitted the assessment to the Sturmführer.

- - - -

Some of the forest owners in Masern came to realize that there was no point in leaving all their valuable lumber to the Italians and found a willing buyer in Rudolf Tschinkel, who with his brother Albert owned and managed the Masern sawmill.  The single Rudolf lived with his mother at No. 12 while Albert with wife and three children lived at No. 30. The brothers were adamantly against the resettlement and were willing to say so to anyone wanting to listen. This put them in conflict with Jaklitsch who became their bitter enemy, one who did his best to negate their influence and isolate them from the villagers. In this he was only partly successful.

The two Tschinkel brothers and their father before them had been respected employers over decades for many a villager and even the forceful Jaklitsch was unable to break the established bonds. Due to this, the lumber transactions took place in spite of efforts by Jaklitsch to stop them; he only slowed them with threats that they were jeopardizing their resettlement. But clandestine transactions continued, if now under the cover that the lumber was traded for boards from the saw mill to crate possessions for transport during the resettling. All the VGL could do was issue appeals that any reduction to previously claimed assets be reported.
 
Legally, the villagers were entitled to sell their property since they had not yet signed any transfer papers and believed the lumber was theirs to sell until they left. Or so they were told by the crafty Tschinkel brothers who recognized an opportunity when they saw one.
 
Rudolf selected the best trees in the parcel of a farmer and each tree was calipered separately by two men for its diameter. One man represented Rudolf; the other represented the farmer, a procedure suggested by Rudolf to make sure there was no error. Except that Rudolf chose two of his trusted Slovene workers to do the measuring and instructed them in a secret procedure for which he would pay them well and which in turn would produce maximum benefit for him.
 
As each man yelled out his number, Rudolf and the farmer separately recorded the measurement made by their own man in their own log. Often the measurements differed, especially on superb specimens. But instead of a recheck, Rudolf and the farmer agreed on an average which unbeknownst to the farmer was always to the benefit of Rudolf.
 
The scheme ultimately leaked out but Rudolf denied the deception. By then the farmer had no recourse and remained silent, since he also had deceived the VGL and the Italians.  But the VGL in the end had the final word.

The VGL printed an announcement in the June 12 and June 19, 1941 GZ which said that any Lira cash in possession of the resettlers was to be surrendered into a special account in the Savings Bank in Gottschee City. Any cash needed until the resettlement would be available if necessary. And after the resettlement, any needed cash would be provided from this account in Reichsmark. Based on this, those with newly acquired bundles of cash from Rudolf had no choice but to submit.

There was deception all around.

The Tschinkel brothers were the only two Gottscheer families who remained in the village. Together with the men from five Slovene families who also stayed, they could neither run the saw mill nor cultivate their lands for the needed harvest. And in the following year, when the ghost village became a temporary refuge for the warring factions throughout the enclave, the two Tschinkel families left for the relative safety of more densely populated Slovene lands.
 
- - - -

Article 6 of the Contract defines the possessions the resettlers may take with them:
 
“…... the resettlers may, at their discretion, take with them, free of any fiscal burden, all their movable property.    ….Such items include all implements necessary for the performance of the person’s occupation, as well as one third of their livestock, at a minimum one horse or cow”.

And Article 9 states:    “…… the resettlement is to be completed by November 30, 1941”.
The leader of the German delegation, ambassador Clodius reported to Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister, on August 13, 1941:

“Regarding the resettlement of the 15,000 Germans from the Gottscheer area, an agreement was reached which in all essential points adhered to the German demands.”

The Contract was signed on August 31, 1941.  The timeline was to be as follows:

October 1.       The date the Contract became effective.

October 10.  Himmler issues order (Anordnung 53/I, FD 151) to clear the Rann/Sotla (Pasavje/Posotla) area of the Slovene population and evacuate it to the “Altreich”, the inner Germany. 72
   
October 20.   The date on which the resettling is to start is announced to the Gottscheer.
  
Oct. 20 - Nov. 30.  This was the Option period for the re-settlers. The decision to move was to be finalized in the Ingathering Train called “Heinrich”, a series of coaches outfitted into offices and medical examination rooms. The train was to be brought to Gottschee City to process the optants.

November 30.  The resettlement to be completed.

The time span which began with Hitler’s announcement of April 26 was to end by November 30. In only seven months all Gottscheer were to have left the enclave, their homeland for over 600 years.

(However the dates set in the Contract had to be changed soon after signing.  The final resettling was extended to January 20, 1942 and February 20 was set as a terminal date for last moment optants. In actuality, the resettlement was completed when the last train left on January 22, 1942.)

But where they are going was known only from unsubstantiated rumors. The VGL keeps the destination secret until November 17, 1941 when it is finally announced in a special issue of the GZ. The first train left three days before on November 14. It carried 40 persons, 22 pieces of livestock and pulled 9 freight cars loaded with possessions.  And the farmer K.R. from Slovenska Vas writes on page 33:
 
“These first re-settlers did not, at their departure, know where they were going”.

- - - -

But one Gottscheer who decided to stay did know.
 
It was August Grill of Kočevske Poljane. In a letter dated May 8, 1996, his daughter Zofka Grill-Mirtič of Dolenjske Toplice, born in 1946, wrote to me:

“It is too late to find out how my father discovered that the Gottscheer would be resettled around Brežice. I only know that he was trying to exchange his farm with a farmer in the Brežice area. He did this because of incredible pressure from the departing Gottscheer at the behest of some of their leaders. Naturally, nothing came of the exchange.  My parents stayed.”

And in a letter to the GZ, reproduced in the May 1992 issue, Zofka Grill-Mirtič  writes:

"To the depths of my soul I thank my parents that they did not, during the resettlement, abandon their home. We children have inherited from our parents a willingness to work, honesty, a good heart and love of our mother tongue.  In our house we even today still speak Gottscheer and it pains me greatly that here with us there are only a few real Gottscheer left, only a few who still know their mother tongue; soon to be counted on fingers. What will become of our Gottscheer tongue? Here where the roots are, will in 30 to 40 years, be no more Gottscheer.….".

 "PS:. Until 1965 we wrote our name with two ll's ( Grill ). Since then we use only one l [Gril]." 73
 
Zofka’s father had been in America where he saved enough to buy a substantial farm in the Gottschee area after he returned to Slovenia. He successfully resisted the pressure to resettle and give up what he had been able to acquire with the earnings of many years of hard labor in the US.

When she wrote the letter of May 8, 1996, Zofka was probably unaware of the pamphlet from the War Council of the Communist Party of Slovenia addressed to the Gottschee population which appeared July 1941 and which produced such shock among the residents of the enclave. It is very likely Zofka’s father learned the destination of the resettlers from the Italians who were negotiating, if unsuccessfully, with the Germans for a population exchange. When the negotiations failed and it became obvious to him that for his sake Slovene were to be expelled he wanted no part of it.
 
In the same letter, Zofka Grill-Mirtič writes about exiled Gottscheer now living in Austria who, after WWII, visited her mother’s home, her father having died a few years before. They were always welcome. But Zofka was driven to distress by an official of the Gottscheer Zeitung in Austria who, in 1993, called her father an Odpadnik for resisting the resettlement. (The Slovene dictionary describes ‘odpadnik’ as a deserter, renegade, turncoat; traitor.).
   
- - - -

As summer gave way to autumn, the resistance against the resettlement was not abating but making headway throughout the enclave in spite of the mass rallies and the ongoing campaign by the GZ. (The last mass rally had been held on August 12.)

Repeating the words of the farmer K.R.:

“Because of the rosy promises by our leaders, the majority of the population was [initially] enthusiastic about the resettlement. However, in a short while, this enthusiasm sank so that a large part of the population was against the resettlement.  In the outlying villages all residents were against it, including myself. I often went to evening meetings where we consulted each other. All were of the opinion it would be better if the re-settlement were postponed until after the conclusion of the war.”

The VGL tried to reverse this stubborn resistance by holding its own meetings throughout the enclave at which a member of the VGL or at least a Sturmführer officiated.  These events were intense and personal and dissenters were singled out for intimidation, ridicule and abuse.
  
 Dr Arko reflects critically on these meetings in his memoir:

 “It would have been more appropriate to prepare the population for the resettlement in a more soulful manner and not in a tone which was anything but pleasant. I participated in no meeting in which some participants were not addressed in an insulting manner and where the word Concentration Camp was not used.”
 
Some Sturmführers even used physical violence. One such incident was told to me on my first return to Masern in 1974 by Mimi Morre, a young teenager in 1941, whose mixed marriage parents decided to stay. They remained in the village where she grew up, married and lived with her husband and family until her death in 2005.
 
Mimi described the intimidation and pressure of Jaklitsch on her parents to resettle. In reply to his question: “why not” her mother answered: “my home is here”.  To which the Sturmführer roared: “you are denying your German roots” and hit her so hard in the face that she fell to the ground, bleeding from nose and ear.

- - - -

Rolf Steininger in his book “South Tyrol. A Minority Conflict of the Twentieth Century” describes in detail similar terror used by the VKR (Vőlkischer Kampfring Sűdtirols, the equivalent of the Gottscheer VGL). And the VGL took yet another page from the South Tyrol model. The Abyssinia card.
 
On pages 56 and 57, Steininger talks about the “Sicilian Legend”, the rumor that the Italians would deport to Sicily, Abyssinia or other regions, all those who did not opt for Germany:

 “We know that this rumor was the decisive factor that influenced many, if not most South Tyroleans in reaching their decision to go. Lothar von Sternbach, himself a ‘stayer’ conceded:  ‘The threat of forced resettlement to the south made more people into goers than Nazi propaganda’.
 
“This legend was a masterpiece carried out by Berlin. German General Consul [in Bolzano] Otto Bene was the first to speak of a possible deportation to the south of all those South Tyroleans who did not opt for Germany.

“The threat of forced resettlement to the South and the assurance of a unified contiguous area of settlement were the chief weapons in the VKR propaganda to turn the ‘stayers’ into ‘goers”.

And on the reaction of the Italians:

“No matter how many times the Prefect Mastromattei [the Italian High Commissioner] promised that ‘of course, no one was going to be deported south’, the denials had precisely the opposite effect. 

“And on March 21, 1940, Mussolini received a delegation of those who decided to stay and assured them that they would be allowed to remain in their homeland and that no one had ever considered transplanting them to other parts of the empire”.

The farmer K.R. from Slovenska Vas writes about this:
 
“One day there came the news which brought about the defeat of the opponents of the resettlement. From where this news came, I do not know. The announcement stated:

‘The German Reich wishes to settle its borderlands with people of its own German nation. Likewise, Italy wishes to settle its borderlands with an Italian population. Whoever does not wish to resettle to Germany must expect that he will be resettled by the Italian government to Sicily”.

The fact that many believed it would be better if the resettlement were postponed until after the war, is also claimed by Dr. Viktor Michitsch in a letter to Frensing dated 15 July, 1965.

 “My father, Georg Michitsch of Göttenitz started at the end of September, beginning of October [1941], a counter campaign. Together with several other men, among them the Reverend Joseph Gliebe, they were prepared to offer resistance to the Resettlement. Signatures were collected in the villages of Göttenitz, Rieg and Masern and submitted to the German consul in Ljubljana.

“The petition requested that the Resettlement not be undertaken during the war.  This released a mighty hatred [from the VGL] against the men of the counter current.  In fact the people were so intimidated that the action had no result…  The people were threatened that they would be forcibly moved to Abyssinia by the Italians, should they resist the Resettlement … .”. 74
 
The threat of forced resettlement to the South was as effective in the enclave as it was in South Tyrol.

And according to the farmer K.R. from Slovenska Vas:

 “Given this, [being resettled to Sicily] the opponents of the Resettlement reached the opinion, it would be better to live in Germany than Italy. I also joined them, but the thought remained with me that this was a questionable and risky affair.”

With this comment the farmer states the prevalent fear of losing the basis for economic survival and an aversion for causing others to lose their homes.

- - - -

With the use of the ‘Abyssinia Card’, the VGL believed it finally succeeded in persuading the population to accept the option to resettle.

In a report The present political situation in the Gottscheer population dated October 10, 1941, Lampeter estimated that only 600 members of the population, (5% of approx. 12,000 total), did not wish to resettle. And 360 (3% of 12,000) were not desired anyway. The report had been requested by the Eiwanderungszentrale, EWZ, (SS-RKFVD the ingathering center in Maribor).
 
One week later, on October 17, Lampeter submitted his List of the Politically Unreliable, a detailed list of individuals and categories to be excluded or resettled to somewhere else.

The report of October 10 was received with skepticism by the RKFVD and caused it to send Dr. Ellmer, an unofficial observer, to verify the claim. After speaking with the VGL, Dr. Elmer also talked to Dr. Arko with whom he agreed that:

“… the present VGL - apart from Ingenieur Schober, whose function is purely decorative anyway - is too young and manages the people wrongly. It is excessively abrasive and gives little consideration to the psychology of the farmers.  It is feared that this will cause many not to resettle”. 75
   
The actual impact of the “List …” was not yet apparent to either Dr. Ellmer or Dr. Arko.

- - - -

To restore its now questioned credibility and to demonstrate the unity of the population to the Resettling Authority, the VGL organized a final mass rally for Sunday, October 19, 1941. It was to be held on the large sports field just outside the City.  The GZ of October 23 reports on the event under the title, Der letzte Appell, (the last rally). To this enclave wide event were ordered all 25 Sturms and their youth groups, totaling 1,910 uniformed members. In addition, the general population was requested to attend and stand on the sidelines.
 
Sturm 13 of Masern led by Jaklitsch had marched off with his men followed by the older groups of the Youth units early in the morning, there being no transport available to bring the 120 adults to the city, 18 km away. The younger boys and girls crowded on to the few available horse drawn farming wagons, one of them owned by my father.
 
There was a sizeable traffic jam of marchers, wagons, trucks and buses arriving in the small town from various directions. But eventually all got sorted out and each Sturm unit marched in orderly fashion to its allocated space on the field. As Number 13, our Sturm was half way to the speaker’s platform, barely visible to me, the tall men in front blocking my view. 

This time I did not pass out. It was near the end of October and the sun had lost its heat. Nevertheless, standing still for over an hour was hard for this ten-year-old.

At ten o’clock sharp, Staabführer Busbach and Jugendführer Lackner reported to VG Führer Schober and Mannschaftsführer Lampeter the presence of 900 uniformed Sturm Troopers and 1010 uniformed Hitler Youth. Off the main field there stood at least as many people from the City and the villages who had come to the event.

Schober and Lampeter received the report on the large and high stage at the head of the field, modeled after those in the Reich. In the back, high up was a large eagle standing on a swastika, huge flags to its right and left and on a raised platform behind the speakers, a row of Stürmer holding flags and trumpets. Next to Lampeter stood Dr. Heinrich Wollert, the head of the DUB, (Deutscher Umsiedlungbevollmächtigter - the resettling authority for the Province of Ljubljana) who had been invited to attend.

After the fanfare, the songs and the raising of the flag on the mast, Lampeter speaks of our return to the Reich, urging all to be determined and strong in the coming days to prove that we, Gottscheer, are real Germans worthy of our great leader, Adolf Hitler.
 
After a speech by Richard Lackner, directed particularly at the new generation of Germans, the units start the march through the City. Up front the trumpets and band, followed by the Youth Groups and finally by the “endless columns of Stürmer”. According to the GZ, “the marching lasted over one hour, both sides of the street crowded with the saluting population”. 76

After the units returned to the sports field, the youth groups gave various performances until 16.00 hrs when the swastika flag was lowered for the last time in the enclave to the tune of 1910 voices singing Deutschland, heiliges Wort  (Deutschland, holy word).
  
The rally ended with another speech by Richard Lackner as immortalized by the October 23 GZ:

“The final speech of the Youth leader, the farewell salute to our old homeland of over 600 years, pointed to our decreed task to be a participant in the securing of the foundation of an eternal Germany. A Reich, having risen from the seed of the Führer and crowned by the victorious deeds of our soldiers.”

And across the field, 1910 voices shout in unison, three times in succession:

“Wir danken unserem Fűhrer”.
 
(In just three and a half years, in May 1945, the slogan “We thank our Fűhrer” was high up on a wall for us to read on our way to exile. Painted there in large letters by the victorious liberators as a cynical reminder to all those being expelled as collaborators of the Third Reich that was no more.)

- - - -

Throughout the year the SS hierarchy kept an eye on the VGL leadership and observed its performance in the enclave. In the middle of October, 1941 SS Obersturmbannführer Sievers sent a glowing report to SS Brigadeführer (Brigadier General) Dr. Scheel on the twenty five year old Lampeter:
 
“Joined in him is a military posture, the ability of an exemplary leader, the awareness that our world outlook is the prerequisite of the ethnic group even after the resettlement. In this respect, the Gottscheer are far more advanced than other groups scheduled for resettlement.”

“Shortly thereafter, [the end of October] Lampeter is promoted by Himmler to Sturmbannführer [in the political branch of the SS]”. 77

Tone Ferenc writes more on this on page 604 of his Nacistična raznarodovalna politika. He quotes SS Brigadeführer Dr. Scheel in his letter of October 19, 1941 to SS-Sturmbannführer Laforce in Maribor:

“I received your news regarding Wilhelm Lampeter. Since then, I also received the news that the leader of the SS [Himmler] elevated Lampeter to Sturmbannführer [Major]. He also gave me permission to take into the SS, eighteen to twenty prominent Gottscheer men as SS-Untersturmführers, [Lieutenant]. They should, however refrain from wearing the SS uniform and not announce their inclusion into the SS until after their present tasks are completed”.
 
Tone Ferenc continues:

“Lampeter soon proposed twenty one Gottscheer for induction into the SS. [nearly all village Sturmführers].  Staabführers A. Busbach and M. Sturm as SS-Obersturmführers; all others as SS-Untersturmführers”. According to Ferenc, Lampeter characterized his recommended men as follows; “All comrades are politically and organizationally fit and have, throughout the years as National-Socialists behaved as is required of members of the SS. And from this time forward Lampeter signed his name followed by SS-Sturmbannführer; however, the induction of the others into the SS remained in the dark.”

This was not the first time Lampeter offered manpower to the SS. In his Memoir of February 1942 he writes: 
“In September [1941] the VGL quietly conducted a survey to solicit volunteers.  Ninety (90) percent of all qualified Gottscheer men signed up”. Many men of Masern followed the call.  Most of them never returned.

- - - -

Submission of the formal option papers requesting resettlement started the following morning, Monday, October 20, 1941.  The requirements are spelled out in a joint announcement by the Italian High Commissioner Emilio Grazioli and the German Resettlement Plenipotentiary Dr. Wollert. The completed option papers are to be submitted in duplicate, one for the High Commissioner, the other for Dr. Wollert via the VGL. The papers must be officially certified by the local Italian municipality.  Final date for submission is November 20, 1941.
 
Next to the Grazioli/Wollert announcement, the GZ of October 23 prominently displays an address by Lampeter:

“Unsere Heimkehr”

“The long sought and wished-for time of our return has now arrived. The confidence of all our hearts in Adolf Hitler and Germany is unshakable. ….

“Before we start our return, the option duties must be completed. Guidance for this must be sought from the Sturmfűhrer.

“He who neglects to turn in the option and does not show up for processing at the train, can not become a citizen of the Reich and can not return home to the Reich.

“The EWZ train will start processing on October 23.”
 
- - - -

The EWZ Ingathering train “Heinrich” had arrived on October 21 and was standing on a siding at the City station. The train, a series of coaches outfitted into offices and medical examination rooms started processing on October 23.

The optants entered the train at one end and emerged as citizens of the Third Reich at the other.

Under the title Die Heimkehr ist nah, G. Röthel reports in the GZ of October 30 on the arrival of the train and the trek of old and young over sometimes poor roads to the station. She also describes, dotingly, the “Durchschleusung”, the ingathering processing formality of the optants.
 
Excerpts are as follows:

“If one views these people more carefully, a certain anxiety is noticed. With a little mistrust, one or the other contemplates the lovely train standing on the tracks.

“Finally family Sch. is called and with pounding hearts they climb into the train. At first they enter a large room where many typewriters are clattering. Here, a friendly SS-man takes charge and leads them to the typists where they must give their name, their birthday, when they married and more. Then forward into a room where they are photographed. This causes problems since all wish to be taken as nicely as possible.

“Then comes the main item, the medical examination. These are crusty farmers who were never sick or never had time for it and therefore, have never been to a physician. Now they stand in front of a huge apparatus with tubes and glass panes and are being x-rayed. They can not comprehend that they are receiving such care, never having worried this much about themselves. These nice people are not used to such warmth.
 
“After being carefully examined, they continue through the lovely carriages. Everywhere questions are posed in friendly tones and if their replies at the start were agitated, their answers now are words in quiet confidence.

“The time passes rapidly and the last carriage is finally behind them. The way now leads into the City to the [hotel] “Sonne”. Here they receive their transport cards and transfer their entire assets to the Resettlement Commission.

“Late in the evening they leave for home under the protection of the Italian army. To wait for the day when the entire village starts on the way home to the Reich”.
  
Farmer K.R. writes more seriously about this on page 33 of the “Vertreibung” book:

“Without pause, over 100 families were registered each day in succession. The 50 families of my village entered the train one after the other. It took several hours in the various departments of registration until we got to the end of the train. In the order we emerged from the train we had to wait in a waiting room until we were all together. We then went in unison to the bureau of the DUT (Deutsche Umsiedlungs Treuhand Gesellschaft) where we lined up. In successive order, the resettlers gave their signature, without prior explanation as to what we were to sign. While signing, care was taken that there was no pause which would allow the signer to get a view of the content of the agreement. The resettlers were of the opinion that the signature documented only their registration in the train. Only later did it become apparent that with that signature, they surrendered also their home and everything they owned to the DUT.

In the signing office were a few DUT agents and two members of the VGL.”

- - - -

The five members of my father’s family were scheduled to enter that train in the morning of Sunday, November 16. But the day before, an extraordinary event took place.

The large tub used in the slaughtering of our pigs had been dragged into the kitchen from the barn. And during that afternoon Mother and Mitzi had been filling the barrel, which normally stored runoff rainwater from the roof, with buckets of water from the cistern. This done, the water was transferred into an array of pots on the kitchen stove which had been fired to turn the cast iron surface cherry red. The kitchen itself glowed in unfamiliar warmth and the windows had turned opaque with condensation. All of us, the entire village to be precise, were going to have a bath.  Jaklitsch had insisted on it.

Father and Mother went first. The glass panes on the kitchen door, normally uncovered, were hung with sheets for privacy. It was probably the first time my parents had a bath together. I stood outside and heard them frolic, envious for not being able to join them.

After they emerged steaming and smiling, it was Mitzi who gave Paul and me a good wash in the soapy water, its heat renewed by the remaining contents in the pots on the stove. That done, it was her turn and she stayed in it longer than any of us. Mother made her get out only by saying that unless she did so, the crinkles were going to become permanent.
 
The following morning, we and the rest of the village were brought to the station in the back of canvas covered trucks. I would be hard pressed to describe our flow through the train in more detail than described by both by G. Röthel and the farmer, but a few things I do remember.
 
Mitzi’s crinkles had disappeared. At some point in the train, Father and I were separated from Mother, Mitzi and Paul. In the examination room we two men were asked to strip and for the first and last time, I saw my father naked.

- - - -

The “Durchschleusung”, the processing, had started on October 23, and was scheduled to be completed on November 20. But on November 9th, seven days before our turn in the train on November 16, SS-Obersturmbannführer, [Colonel] Dr. Stier of the RKFDV-Headquarters in Berlin arrived in Gottschee City to investigate the reported delays on part of the population to exercise the option. He stayed for eight days until November 17. Doubts on the accuracy of Lampeter’s claim of October 10, 1941, that only 5% of approx. 12,500 did not wish to resettle had already been reported by Dr. Ellmer. Now, a doubting Dr. Stier came to see for himself.

A review of the EWZ train records showed that an astonishingly low number of the population had shown up for the option. This was especially shocking to Dr. Stier when the actual tally was presented to him on November 13. Shocking since the numbers were lower than his worst expectations and three quarters of the option period had already passed.

The tally, according to Frensing, in Die Umsiedlung, pg. 93, showed that:

1.  “Only about 40 % of the total population had shown up to exercise the option.  And this absence from some of the largest Sturms! ”

2.  “Of the approximately 5,000 that had been processed, one tenth, or 500 re-settlers would not be permitted to join their people in the new area but were to be settled elsewhere. [A-cases].”
 
(“Item 2 is proof that the elitist VGL had, until now, carried out the “self-selection process”, granted by Hitler personally. The enforcers making sure that this was done were the “two members of the VGL in the signing office” as reported by farmer K.R.)

The above results reveal Lampeter’s faulty estimate; to the RKFDV office a catastrophic setback to its ingathering objective. Dr. Stier takes immediate corrective action by canceling the entire self-selection process:

1. All mixed marriages are allowed to opt for resettlement.
   
   
2. All those opposing the VGL are allowed to opt as well.
    
3. All those who were excluded so far are to be re-classified according to a) and b).

Dr. Stier comments on the action of the VGL:

“It was a despotic action on part of the VGL to reject those who opposed it and those who maintained close relations with the Slovene. Through this stand of the VGL, valuable German blood would have remained in Gottschee had my forceful action not altered the position of the VGL”. (see notes of Dr. Stier, Jan 24, 1942, in Die Umsiedlung, pg 94)

Frensing, on pages 88 and 89, describes this self-selection process as the most dismal chapter in the VGL-conducted resettlement.

“Through this process, a few young National-Socialists, (2-3%) without legitimate authority and purely according to their own elitist views, claimed the right to control, manipulate and select the other 97-98 % of the population.
 
“The line of Lampeter’s valuation is clear. Those characterized as “unreliable” were viewed as objects that do not measure up to the morals of National-Socialism and therefore are to be expelled from the ethnic group. Whoever was identified as such has, according to the wish of the VGL, lost his right to live in the future Gottscheer community”.

The extent to which the VGL controlled and manipulated the population had become objectionable even to the SS Resettling Authority. And the self-selection process, was – at least temporarily – set aside by Dr. Stier.

Frensing comments on page 95:

“Lampeter, due to overconfidence in his authority had succumbed to self delusion and caused a result in which the resettlement plans were seriously jeopardized”.
  
To prevent a resettlement failure similar to that in South Tyrol, SS Obersturmbannführer Dr. Stier, together with Dr. Wollert takes over the control of the resettlement process. In his November 19, 1941 letter to the DUG, (Deutsche Umsiedlungs Gesellschaft), Dr. Stier writes:
 
“Until the conclusion of the resettlement, the VGL is granted only a limited function and with limited means”.
 
The function of the VGL is thus reduced to a supporting role, operating under direct guidance from SS offices of the Reich. The act was a precursor to its total dissolution only a few months away.

- - - -

To salvage and reverse the deteriorating situation, Dr. Stier published an appeal to the population which appeared on November 17, 1941 in a special issue of the GZ.  It was signed both by Dr. Stier and Dr. Wollert, giving it the weight of a formal statement from the Reich.  It contained no reference to the VGL.
 
The statement addressed, in great detail, the three specific concerns perceived by the two officials to be the main cause for the reluctance of the population to opt for resettlement. These had until now, been kept from the population by the VGL. The answers to these concerns are loosely quoted from the November 17 issue of the GZ. 78

1. Every resettler will receive equal value for the property he left behind.  This means that those who drew a comfortable living from their land will be able to do the same in the new area. It also means that those with less land will receive an equal amount but will have the opportunity to better themselves.

2. The settlement area is announced to be the Rann (Brežice) triangle in lower Styria, a closed valley area formed by three rivers. Mountains and vineyard hills surround the area and protect it from severe winters. The prior inhabitants of this area have been resettled and are being cared for by the Reich. Apart from the assurance of full compensation, letters and reports from these people are proof that they are being well taken care of and with hope look happily to their future.

3. Since the assignment of properties in the new area requires careful preparation, great care is being exercised to make certain that this task, which will have an effect for decades if not centuries, is done properly.  It may therefore be possible that a re-settler is temporarily given an incorrect property, one not commensurate with the one left behind. In such an event, a move during the winter months will make certain the farmer is settled on the correct property in time to start spring planting.

The doubters, reassured about their future, their guilt about being the cause of grief to others allayed, were presented with a final warning in the GZ:

“It is pointed out that the option period is final. Later on it will no longer be possible to become a citizen of the Reich”. 
With that warning, the uncommitted population was presented with a final yes or no.  In view of the situation as they saw it, they had little choice.

- - - -

The Gottschee population finally felt it was being addressed as responsible adults.  For the first time, on November 17, they are told where they are going and their fears for the future are being allayed. But those on the trains that had been leaving in the past three days were not aware of this and knew not where they were going.

All this was now coming directly from high ranking representatives of the all powerful Reich which, according to its successes up to the winter of 1941, was certain to win the war. Not coming from the no longer credible VGL “snotboys”, now so clearly sidelined from their leadership role.

With only three days to the end of the option period of November 20, the date was extended to January 20, 1942. In the days between November 17 and December 10, another 6,747 people came to the train to be processed, bringing the total to 11,747 or 94% of the population.
  
The last minute effort on part of SS Obersturmbannführer Dr. Stier, (to override the VGL and thereby prevent the failure of the Gottscheer resettlement), became a success.

- - - -

The process of qualifying who was fit or worthy to resettle and live among the citizens of the Reich had started immediately after April 26, 1941. In the following months, the process evolved into a List of Politically Unreliable  79  submitted by Lampeter to the RKFDV on October 17.
 
The ‘self-selection’ process was to be according to this list and exclude:

All mixed marriages in which either partner was a Slovene.
All opponents resisting resettlement until after the end of the war.
All opponents of the VGL such as Dr. Arko and other members of the bourgeoisie.
All opponents of the VGL such as priests and teachers.

Broadly, the “List … ” contained all those with inferior non-German blood and those not fully committed to National-Socialism according to the concepts of the VGL, which viewed self-selection as a duty to the Reich. No “politically unreliable” was to be part of the future Gottscheer-German community. All of them were to be resettled to somewhere else or rejected outright from being included.
  
Initially, all marriages in which one partner was a Slovene were excluded.  “The VGL supplied long lists of such marriages to the EWZ” 80  This selection rule was later modified to exclude only those who “did not stand with us or did not join our organization”.  To be interpreted by the VGL as it saw fit.

The cause for this revision was pressure from the RKFDV office and especially from Gauleiter Uiberreither, the head of the civil authority of the annexed Slovenia, including the part into which the Gottscheer were to resettle. The Gauleiter and the RKFDV viewed the majority of the Slovene population living there as valuable material to be Germanized and become citizens of the Reich.

The Gauleiter even:  “…. hinted in a conversation, that he judged the human value of the Gottscheer not higher than those of the Slovene who, for the sake of the Gottscheer, are being expelled”. 81  This was not to the liking of Lampeter who resented that his select Aryan Gottscheer were to be reduced to the level of the “inferior Slovene” and live as equals among them in Styria, the area now under control of the Gauleiter.

But the category labeled as “unreliable” extended beyond those that did not measure up to the standards set by Lampeter and his inner circle. This is clear from a letter to the Gauleiter, dated November 2, 1941, in which Lampeter describes the status of the population and his vision regarding its future in the Reich:

“Today there are 2,665 families in the villages and 261 in the City. Of the 2,665, we have designated only 1,201 as fit to run a farm. Of the remaining 1,464 families, 577 have small farms, 364 are workmen with a little land. There are 139 families who are to be excluded from the settlement area, together with another 384 older, no longer capable families”.82

According to the above, the VGL had decided to deny 577 farmers their equivalent, if small, farm in the Reich. Instead “worthy and capable” young Gottscheer, landless peasants who had never run a farm but were loyal supporters of the VGL, were to become fully landed “border farmers” in the Reich.  This is verified by A. Dolezalek, head of the planning staff for the “General Settling Area”, in a note dated November 6, 1941. 83
 
No wonder that Dr. Stier, on November 13, found the rejection rate so high. And by that time, only 40% of the entire population had been processed and none of the City’s residents, most of them resisters and opponents, had been in the train.
 
No mention is made of how the 577 dispossessed farmers were to be reimbursed or what and where their future in the Reich was going to be. The same applies to the fate of the 139 families who were to be excluded as well as that of the 384 older no longer capable families. And no mention is made of the 261 families in the City, many of them owning their homes, businesses and other non-farming assets.
 
- - - -

The VGL also used the label of “politically unreliable” to settle personal grievances and accounts with opponents of its cause and its methods. By so tagging an opponent or one resisting their leadership role, it was able to exclude from resettling or mark for future action anyone it so labeled. Of course, no one apart from Lampeter’s inner circle knew this.

Lampeter’s personal “List” included twenty five individuals (and families, all but one living in the City), as those who might purposely give a false report on the VGL. Among them is Dr. Arko, a confirmed National Socialist and one who encouraged doubters to resettle, as well as nine individuals linked to his person. In the “List” is also the lawyer Dr. Ferdinand Siegmund who, according to Lampeter’s description, was an individual seeking cooperation with the Slovene. Lampeter is incensed that Dr. Siegmund desired to open a Kindergarten in his village to serve all children including Slovene.  Lampeter freely admits in his “List” that to prevent this, he wrote an anonymous letter to Siegmund, saying that if he persisted with his plan, he would not return alive from his next hunting trip to the forest.  Furthermore, to quote Lampeter from his List: “The clerics, or Roman-Catholic oriented are to be viewed as a special sort of politically unreliable”.  He identifies by name the six enclave priests, one teacher and one farmer and dismissively identifies their supporters as: “predominantly old women”.
     
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But on November 17, the SS was interested more in demonstrating success of the ingathering process than in the racial purity and political commitment of the ingathered. “All are now allowed to resettle” was the justification for avoiding an embarrassing defeat. And the lists classifying the optants (all methodically prepared by the VGL) can be used at a later date.
 
And used they were.  After the resettlement was completed in 1942, the SS acted on these lists which contained the names of 571 A (Altreich) cases; persons the VGL designated as unworthy to be part of the future community.  The A cases were culled out from the temporary quarters in the settlement area and transported to the Reich where they spent the remaining war years in labor camps.

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The VGL had administered the racial profiling process according to the directives given them by their SS handlers in Berlin in May 1941. This profiling called “self selection” followed all the ideological guidelines of the SS Ingathering Authority which required that only the racially fit and ideologically committed ethnic Germans be brought back into the Reich and become full fledged citizens. The VGL performed this function in line with expectations, albeit according to their own interpretation which nearly resulted in an embarrassment to the SS.

The SS was more interested in returning as many ethnic Germans as possible mainly to show success of the program. This is clearly obvious with the intervention of Dr. Stier in Gottschee. “Bring them all in; we will purify later. Meanwhile we can use them for their labor” was the motto.  This was obvious not only with the Gottscheer A cases, but throughout Eastern Europe with its multitude of ethnic Germans.

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The Marschall family was one of 700,000 ethnic Germans living in the north-eastern part of Moldavia Romania. All were targeted for return to the Reich.  Living in Botosani, Mr. Marschall, a family man and father of the ten year old Anton, succumbed to the siren song and in spite of his wife’s resistance, signed up to be resettled into the Reich. He was a successful master tailor in his own comfortable house and surrounding garden. Apart from that there was little to hold him in Romania and the return to the Reich and the promises of a good life there overcame his wife’s objections.  They left in the spring of 1941.
 
Decades later, his son Anton remembered how they boarded the train, already crowded with other resettlers for the long ride to camps in the Salzburg region of former Austria. There they were quartered, temporarily, in a processing camp for the purpose of profiling and being sworn into citizenship of the Reich. (No profiling train “Heinrich” came to them).  And shortly thereafter, they were to be assigned their final destination in the Reich.

But time passed.  Others departed and the Marschall family waited for their turn. Anton’s father finally asked an SS officer, with whom he had good relations, why he and his family were not being processed like the others.
 
The officer explained that the delay was due to the fact that his wife was not racially pure since she was a Polish Slav and therefore not qualified to become a citizen. They were to be sent to a labor camp because his services as a tailor were required there.

The realization that he and his family had become outcasts, second rate human beings with no future other than servitude to the Nazi state, sent him into depression. Anton remembers how he surprised his father at the edge of a cliff and is convinced to this day that he was about to jump to his death. It was only the sight of his ten year old son that prevented the suicide.

Soon after that, they were taken to a labor camp elsewhere in Salzburg province. There, Anton’s father was assigned to practice his trade and soon became the preferred tailor for the SS officers in charge of the camp. He became so proficient that he was also sent into other camps where he took measurements for uniforms of SS officers there.

The Marschall family remained in the camp until the arrival of the Americans in April of 1945. They stayed there, but were soon moved out of their relatively comfortable barracks to make room for inmates arriving from concentration camps. After that, the family was moved to a displaced persons camp, formerly a stable for horses and one without toilet facilities. The liberators had identified them as ethnic Germans, formerly sympathetic to Hitler and treated them accordingly. They remained there until their application to emigrate to the US was ultimately granted in 1951. They left for America after having lived in camps for ten years.
 
The Marschall family was the Romanian version of the Gottscheer A-Case; the processing camp the equivalent of the train on a siding of Gottschee city railroad station. Except that in the ingathering of ethnic Germans of Romania and South Tyrol, the SS performed the profiling on their own. In the case of the Gottscheer, the VGL insisted on doing this dark deed themselves, knowing full well that through this act they were condemning many of their tribe to a life of servitude, if not death.
 
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After the processing of the Masern residents, including our family on November 16, Jaklitsch held several meetings in his large guest room to instruct the villagers on how to get ready for the move.

All movable possessions can be taken.  Not allowed were useless items such as dog houses, stones to weigh down sauerkraut, old useless plowshares, old iron, etc.

Furniture and other household items including dry goods should be crated for robust handling. Foodstuffs such as potatoes should be packaged to prevent spillage. Liquid items such as sauerkraut should be in sealed barrels to prevent leaks.

All tools and gear necessary for farming or performing a trade are movable possessions, but must be in a condition for secure transportation. Loose parts of farming gear and tools should be tied together or crated to prevent separation and loss.

A third of the livestock can be taken.  Poultry and pigs must be caged. And on the day before departure, the animals should be well fed and the cows milked.

Jaklitsch suggested that boards and lumber be purchased at the lumber mill for making pallets and crates strong enough for transport in trucks and rail freight cars. Nails and other hardware would be supplied by his store.
 
All should dress warmly for the journey. Enough food should be brought along to last for several days.  And he personally would be making inspections to make certain all is done as it should be.

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I still visualize the effort of my father to secure his possessions for transport.  Every piece of furniture, every farming implement, every tool and every article from his carpenter shop was carefully packaged.

The poultry was gathered into cages and the fattened pig was placed in its own wooden crate. It was going to be slaughtered in a different land. And on the day of our leaving, Sunday, December 7, 1941, the crates were loaded on trucks and the livestock led on to other vehicles standing in line. All was to be loaded into the freight cars at the City railroad station.

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For days before our departure, perhaps a week if not more, Paul and I were left with Grandma Ilc so as to get out of the way of the adults. But perhaps the real intent was to spare us the trauma of a home being readied for abandonment, eating marginal meals and sleeping on the floor, the beds and bedding now mostly crated up.

Grandma Ilc was very attentive during our final days with her. She found things for me to read, gave me short writing lessons and together we worked on my multiplication tables. Ten times anything was easy, but less so beyond that, about which she was very forgiving. But over and over she made me promise to never stop learning, the key to my future, as it would have been for Alois her oldest son, had he not been killed by the Italians now sitting on her property toward whom she dismissively pointed her chin. But she no longer shooed me away when the aroma from the kettle, in which they were cooking yet another version of what was by now my favorite food, was pulling me helplessly in their direction.

Father, Mother, Mitzi and Yiorgo came to fetch us for the last time on Saturday, the day before our departure on December 7. Grandma cooked a final meal for the family of her oldest daughter, the only one of her children she was in contact with at that time to the exclusion of all others. Angela and her family, only five houses away were not invited, nor were Janez and family living in the neighboring village of Blate. Neither was Jože and his family, but he was living in distant Ljubljana surely too far away, besides she had not spoken to him since he had married without her approval in November 1939 and whose wife she had never met.  Franc was in Argentina and she had not heard from him in years.

We said goodbye while it was still light. It had been snowing and the road was covered, perhaps too much so for Yiorgo to find his way home alone in the dark.  It was a tearful moment between mother, daughter and granddaughter and perhaps even Father, but that I do not remember. The three year old Paul was bewildered and I was embarrassed by the lengthy embrace from the woman I loved and never saw again.

That night Mitzi and I slept on top of the heated oven for the last time, while the parents and Paul slept on hay that had been brought into the big bedroom from the loft.

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The Reverend Alois Krisch of Altlag (Stari log) writes about the final days in his village. 84

 “Now started the resettlement. It began in the second half of November. [He and his village left on December 15.]  The news of the disappointment received from our people after they arrived in the settling area was devastating. A murmur but not too loud started among the people, since firstly the depressing reports from the settlers was more than their spirits could bear and secondly the food supply during the past few months was the worst ever and never again so bad until the end of the war. Yes we had food stamps, but little was available. Our own harvest had been sold, as well as the livestock apart from the few we could take with us.  Firewood had not been stored since cutting down even in one’s own properties was not allowed without permission from the authorities and also one had not planned for another winter.  No longer could anything be changed.

 “Transports left day after day. The most distant villages left first so that on the way to the train, the people would not have to travel through empty villages”. (Two of the more distant villages, Rieg and Göttenitz had passed through Masern before we left).

The Reverend continues:

“Our turn started on December 15 with house numbers 1-12. In the morning the crates were taken by trucks to the station, the livestock was driven there by the people themselves.  In the afternoon we were to be taken there on buses.

“Many people were on the village square, all in tense expectation. Had I not known how difficult it is for people to leave their home, I would have seen it on their faces. I therefore took it upon myself to prevent my own crying and tears and postpone any mourning until later. Between neighboring houses stood smaller groups. Nervously individuals move from one to the other. Talks with those leaving tomorrow or the day after provide temporary distraction.

“The buses arrive.  Get in!  At the final handshake many are laughing, but their expressions show they are closer to crying.  Peter Kikel of Number 33 (who is staying) while saying farewell to his neighbors, can not contain himself; he weeps.  Others barely maintain their composure.

“…. ‘Follow soon’. ‘Yes, tomorrow, the day beyond, a good journey’.  ‘Auf Wiedersehen’.  And off they go.”

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The writing of the Reverend describes, more or less, similar scenes taking place throughout the enclave. The Masern departure was not very different.   It vaguely resonates in my memory, perhaps only because the excitement of leaving for a promising future seemed to have removed all other sentiments for the moment. Our buses came in the morning and were waiting for us on the village square. Mother held the key with which she had locked the front door, but Father made her go back and leave it in the lock as we had been told.

But I also remember vividly, Jula, Grandma’s youngest sister, only a few years older than my mother, standing in the snow just outside Dolenja Vas, at the intersection of the main road to Gottschee City and the road leading to the Hinterland. She had come from Ljubljana to say farewell to her niece and childhood school friend, but had arrived too late. Now she was waving her goodbye with a white kerchief at the intersection of  the road forking to the right, the road my ancestors took about 600 years ago to settle in Grčarice (Masern), a place which, seemingly, I was one of the few anxious to leave.

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