29th Meeting of Saxons in Bistrița

Around 1,500 Saxons living in Romania and abroad gathered in the City of Bistriţa (northern Romania) on Saturday and Sunday, to attend the 29th Meeting of the Saxons. Event - under the motto "Together-Commemorate-Building" – has had cultural events, book launches and concerts.

Meeting in Bistrița has commemorated 75 years since exodus of 40,000 Saxons from Bistrița-Năsăud. They and their relatives settled in Austria and Germany.

-: Memories are those that bring us here. I lived here for 25 years, also that lady who is now aged 80. (…) I am sorry we left our homeland, our village with the church and the cemetery where the whole family is buried.

Reporter: Do you feel that Romania is your homeland?

-: Yes, it's still my homeland.

Reporter: Most of the Saxons are old.

-: I thought I would never see Bistriţa again. For 50 years I have been an emigrant. I come with great pleasure to my hometown.

Reporter: Priest Johan Dieter Krauss of the Evangelical Church:

Johan Dieter Krauss: Homeland? That's just one. Some talk about the new homeland there in Germany, but I don't think there is a new one. The homeland remains the one where your cradle was.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei