My Wendish Heritage

(In the interest of full disclosure: If this posting were on Wikipedia it would be headed with the usual warning: “this article needs additional citations for verification”. It is not intended as a scholarly piece: just a bit of personal reflection.)

I seldom speak of my ethnic heritage. When I do, I usually get a blank stare. That is because I claim to be of Wendish heritage. “What in the world is that?” is the most common response. The Wends are an ethnic group primarily identified with living in the Lusatia region of Germany with principal emigrations to Texas and to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century. They are sometimes called Sorbs (not Serbs) and belong to the Slavic people, especially those living along the Germany-Czech border. Always a rather small minority their total population at any one time certainly never reached the half -million mark.

Most sources trace their origin back to 6^th Century. But my personal experience points back to the first century and behind that lies a story. I had finished doing some training for Teacher Effectiveness Training in Switzerland. One of the workshop participants was a brilliant PhD who invited me to spend some time with him at his home in Brugg. While there, he invited me to take a long walk to a very small neighboring village named Windish. Of course that piqued my interest. As we neared the small village we passed some ancient ruins. He told me that this was site of a first century Roman arena. He explained that a very small ethnic tribe there called the Wends had become Christian. The Roman Emperor ordered then to stop worshipping any god other than the emperor. They disobeyed. The emperor sent wild animals to the arena where the Christians were killed. “In fact,” my guide told me, “just recently they discovered some more human remains right next to where we are standing. All of this seems to confirm the   ancient story”

I stood in awe of my earliest ancestors who died for their Christian faith.

Several years after this event I was again in Europe. This time I was a guest of the US Army, leading workshops for Chaplains and religious leaders at the beautiful American forces-controlled site at Bergstesgarten. My co-leader was a wonderful charismatic Father from the Roman Catholic Church.

In my Sunday sermon I told the congregation of how generation after generation of Wends and others preserved that certain heritage down to our generation thus applauding the work of Christian educators

Immediately after my service my Catholic brother who had concurrently been conducting the Catholic services came running. “I just heard the story of the first century Wends,” he told me. “Would you believe!” he exclaimed, “that in the 12th Century, the order of which I am a member was established and was set up “to convert the Wends who by that time had become a sun worshipping non Christian self-identified ethnic group!”

And to complete the story: years later I was again leading a workshop for clergy, this time in Melbourne Australia. After the first session one of the participants came you to me, “Hey, Mel”, he said, “I just learned that you are a Wend. The congregation I serve in Adelaide was started by immigrant Wends in 1845!”

I have drawn several conclusions about my ethnic heritage: My ancestors were often at war and whenever they fought they lost. They were always considered an underclass minority. They took their religion very seriously. They valued family ties. They learned to work hard. They loved to drink beer. Not bad. I am proud to be among their number.