Hermine Diwald

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Like Seeds to the Wind 

Hermine Diwald

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Some people are at peace with themselves and are strong, and this provides strength and great meaning for others. And, Hermine Diwald is just such a person. But, her strength didn’t grow out of nothing, it grew, instead, out of cunning and stealth. And, it all began at the end of the 2^nd World War, and she was only 13.

All over the world the fighting had stopped and people were heading for home. The struggle for peace had been won and the business of living was beginning again. But it wasn't to be for Hermine and family. They were never to see their home in the small town of Werschetz again. The Banat, the area where Werschetz belongs had become part of the east, and Hermine, her family, and many more Donauschwaben were interned.

And camp life was not only hard, it was miserable. But, there was a choice. And it was simple. Stay put in internment and end up in Russia, or, take your chances and run! And, so it was that Hermine, her family, and others, as well, stepped out after dark through a hole in the fence and embarked upon their sometimes hard, but always dangerous flight to the west.

And, they got through. Hermine’s family found a new home in Vienna, and others went further.

But people don’t run away from places, it is from people they flee! And, there is one thing in common that those who go and survive have, and that is the feeling of home for the place they have left. Home, for them will always be home.

And home needs keeping alive. In Vienna, Hermine and others still busily write and produce the Werschetzer Zeitung, a journal of essential reading for those who never left Werschetz in heart. But bitterness is not part of its content. The paper is interesting, factual, and entertaining as well. Yesterday was then and the present is now, and Werschetz will always be Werschetz; and the Werschetzer Zeitung will always connect.

And it connects those who now live all over the world. This biannual journal is not only the thread that combines, it's a living tradition as well - and, not only for those of their time, but also for children and grandchildren, too. And, as Hermine quite rightly points out - history is not only the past, it is also our present, and enjoying the now is the secret of strength! And, this is the meaning of life. And, we should be thankful, for there are those who never even reached the hole in the fence!