User:Imersion/Erneuerer Movement

Erneuerer Movement is also known as the Renewal Movement, was a Nazi-aligned faction within the Shwovish German communities of Hungary and Yugoslavia in the 1930s and 1940s. The movement's primary objective was to supplant the existing leadership of Shwovish cultural and political organizations, particularly the Kulturbund, and to reshape Shwovish identity along explicitly Nazi lines. ● The Erneuerer movement found fertile ground among younger Shwova who felt alienated from the older generation's more conservative brand of ethnic German nationalism. These young Erneuerer were often influenced by their experiences studying abroad in Austria and Germany, where they were exposed to Nazi ideology and the allure of Hitler's rise to power. ● The Erneuerers viewed the existing Shwovish leadership as outdated and insufficiently assertive in promoting German ethnic interests. They advocated for a more aggressive and confrontational approach, emphasizing racial purity, anti-Semitism, and loyalty to the Nazi regime in Germany. ● The Erneuerer movement's tactics included publishing newspapers and journals that spread Nazi propaganda, forming youth groups to indoctrinate young Shwova, and engaging in public demonstrations and rallies. They were often critical of the Catholic Church, which they viewed as an obstacle to their goals

Leaders

Here is information from the sources about the Shwovish leaders of the Erneuerers:

Jakob Awender was a founder and leading figure of the Nazi Erneuerers among the Shwova [1]. He was born in 1899 in Stephansfeld in the Banat and studied medicine (dentistry) in Graz [1]. Awender practiced dentistry in Pancevo and edited the Pantschowa Post, later called the “Volksruf” (Call to the Race) [1]. He placed the Pantschowa Post entirely at the disposal of the Erneuerers (EB) [1]. After Nazi Germany conquered Yugoslavia in April 1941, Awender was a Nazi office holder in the leadership of the Ethnic German Racial Group in the Serbian Banat [2]. Awender accumulated great wealth from the exploitation of Jewish property [3]. He was so aggressive in his acquisitions that German Nazis sent him to Berlin for a year to restrain him [4]. Sepp Janko became the leader of the Erneuerungsbewegung, even though Awender was the acknowledged leader during most of the 1930s [5]. Janko was the Nazi Volksgruppenfuehrer/ ‘racial’ group leader in the occupied Banat until 1944 [6]. In 1941, he directed the seizure of Jewish land and goods in the Banat, using almost entirely Shwovish managers from the Kulturbund to organize this theft [6]. Janko was initially intent on just deporting Jews, but the onset of the Nazi German war against Russia changed this [6]. Dr. Stefan Kraft led the Shwova into a greater awareness of their Germanic origins [7]. This sadly helped lead them into the influence of the power politics of the Third Reich, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Shwovish community [7]. This development was viewed as a mixed blessing not only by the Yugoslav state, but also by the Catholic leaders of the Shwova [7]. The educated secular elite and many Protestants formed a political and ideologically Nazi organization called the Renewers in the cities and fought to gain political control of the Shwovish cultural organizations that popped up largely under ex-Nazi leadership, especially in Germany [7, 8]. Branimir Altgayer was the leader of the KWVD Erneuerer organization of Nazi Shwova in Croatia under the Ustasha [9]. He was an active member of the Kulturbund since 1931 and was elected to the organization’s board in 1934 [10]. Altgayer headed the Nazi Shwovish group in Croatia after the breakup of Yugoslavia [11]. Andreas Schmidt was the leader of the Nazi Renewers in Romania [12]. The sources also name several other individuals who were Erneuerers or associated with the Erneuerer movement:

Franz Basch was the leader of the Hungarian VDU, a Nazi German organization of Shwova and Siebenburg Saxons in Hungary [12-14]. Philipp Teppert (1909–1969) was one of the leaders of the Nazi Renewers in Filipowa [15]. Karl Gärtner was the Kernei town mayor during the Nazi era (1941 to 1944) [16].Many Shwovish towns had Nazi "Ortsleiters" known by their Shwovish opponents as "Farzleiters". Sepp Spreitzer was the Nazi Shwovish leader of the Batshka [17]. The sources state that many of the Shwovish leaders of the Erneuerers fled into hiding or to other countries after the war [18, 19]. They began to cover up their misdeeds in the Shwovish lands [20]. Some of these leaders, like Franz Basch, were tried and executed for their actions, while others escaped punishment [20].