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Archiver > DONAUSCHWABEN-VILLAGES > 2008-10 > 1223995254


From: "Dreyer" <>
Subject: Re: [DVHH] Questions of Ethnicity
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 10:40:28 -0700
References: <E09AD28AC094463EB5E30B0919F56AFB@Laptop><510A186AF0D34C719AD496A1DBBB4FA4@yourqdhfp5lhxd><60C18BFC381F4936AC4B1C31F2F737B0@Laptop><6ACC4DA0D3F44B58B1354F8646F333CC@SusanPC>


You're correct Susan and I have decided to let it go for the time being. I will save all the emails for further reference (so this inquiry has not been a waste) and haul it out should it be necessary.


----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Williams
To: Dreyer ; Mercydorf ; ; Nick Tullius
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 7:32 AM
Subject: Re: [DVHH] Questions of Ethnicity


Sounds like your cousin does not up a point easily. As for what
nationality he looks like -- that's a really difficult topic. Some people
would argue that there is no such thing as a "look" - maybe not technically,
but families of one origin can look similar.
Sounds like you are better off just going back to your research --
eventually show it to your cousin -- and he will probably still feel as if
he looks Hungarian. I think I would just let the point go -- that is how
feels. Susan
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dreyer" <>
To: "Mercydorf" <>;
<>; "Nick Tullius"
<>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 11:48 AM
Subject: Re: [DVHH] Questions of Ethnicity


> Jody,
>
> Well, I am glad to see that someone else has some stubborn family members.
> My cousin is almost on board with being ethnic Germans. The problem, I
> just found, is that he thinks that he and my grandmother "look" Hungarian.
> With that as his argument there really isn't much more that can be said to
> him.
>
> So, onward and upward and back to my research.
>
> Thanks,
> Michele
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mercydorf
> To: Dreyer ; ; Nick Tullius
> Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 10:40 PM
> Subject: Re: [DVHH] Questions of Ethnicity
>
>
> Hi Michele,
>
> Honestly, there will be no right explanation for someone with their mind
> already made up. If your cousin refuses to acknowledge not only your
> family's ancestral ethnicity; and doesn't understand the dynamics of
> citizenship, nationality and ethnicity, there is nothing more you can do.
>
> I direct you also to past postings by Nick Tullius regarding this matter,
> which may be of use in explaining this to your cousin:
>
>
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/donauschwaben-villages/2006-02/1140722292
>
>
> http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/donauschwaben-villages/2006-12/1165161399
>
> For more explanations, see:
> http://www.dvhh.org/research/gene_aid/glossary.htm
>
> Show him a US census report for your grandmother, and point out "Mother
> tongue" if it says Hungarian, then you won't have much leg to stand on,
> but if it says German -rest your case.
>
> -- I've a few family members in denial too, you're not alone! ;-)
> Best Regards,
>
> Jody McKim
> www.lifesadance.net
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dreyer
> To: ;
> Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 3:32 PM
> Subject: [DVHH] Questions of Ethnicity
>
>
> I could use some of your expertise on the following:
>
> My grandmother b. 1907 and her parents were from Bulkese and having now
> learned the history of the village a lot of questions have been answered.
> Whenever asked where she was from my grandmother would variously say
> Austria or Hungary. Of course we all seemed a little flustered about these
> answers because we always thought that she was German and she really
> didn't have an answer to any of our follow up questions. This was not
> because she was old and confused; but, because she was only 13 (1920) when
> she left Bulkese and came to the US and probably just didn't understand
> the political subtleties of the situation.
>
> I am convinced that she and her parent's were ethnic Germans regardless
> of the number of years the family had been in Hungary. They always
> identified themselves as Germans on documentation and they spoke German.
>
> Here's the problem. I have a cousin who has always and still does
> believe that Grandma was Hungarian. He says that grandma related a time
> when they were forced to learn a different language and that she often
> used words that sounded distinctly Hungarian. He has said: "As I
> understand it, you could live in the same house all your life and have it
> fall variously in Germany, Austria, Hungary or Czechoslovakia. I think
> that's why it's so hard to get the definitive answer on Grandma."
>
> Since so many of you have a better grasp on this than I do I am hoping
> that you can provide a clear response to him.
>
> Thank you,
> Michele
> (no relation to Dave Dreyer)
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------
>
> "Verlobungsanzeige"
> announcement of engagement (in newspaper)
>
> --------------------------------------
>
> -------------------------------
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