Reuniting with people who we have not seen for many years is usually both a wonderful and satisfying experience. It often brings back warm and joyful memories of special relationships we had when we were young. Reunions are especially more precious as time goes on, and when there are fewer of our contemporaries around who have shared common experiences during our childhood years.

The reunion of Anton Traupmann and Joseph Weinhofer is especially heartwarming and remark-
able. These two men are now both 91 years old. They were born the exact same day (June 1,1912 ),and come from the same small town of Sumetendorf in the Guessing Bezirk. Because they are from the same town and have identical birthdates, Anton refers to Joseph and himself as the “twins”of Sumetendorf. However, until their reunion on November 12, 2003, these “twins” hadn’t seen one another for over 75 years.

Joe emigrated from Burgenland with his father, mother and sister in 1925 when he was 12 years old. He continued his schooling in America. However, because he did not know English when he arrived, he was put into a lower grade with younger children until his language skills improved. He did well and was able to catch up with the other children and graduate on time. Like most families during the Depression, life was tough at that time and Joseph had to go out to work when he finished high school.

In 1934, he married a girl by the name of Mary Petersen from Nebraska. During the early years of the marriage, Joe worked hard to advance himself to ensure that he would adequately provide for his family. He went to night school, and was finally able to get a job with the New York City Fire Department. Joe started out as a fireman, and when he finally retired in 1972 he had advanced to the position of Deputy Battalion Commander.

Joe and Mary have three children: a boy and two girls. They also have a 12 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. For the last 30 years they have lived in New Jersey. They now live in a senior citizen residence in Sewell, which is a town in southern New Jersey.

Anton’s life took a different course than Joe’s. After he finished school he was accepted into an apprenticeship in Steinfurt to become a carpenter. While he would have preferred to stay in Burgenland and work as a carpenter in the “heimatland”, there were very few opportunities at that time. As a result, in 1935 he reluctantly immigrated to the United States.
Conditions in America during the Great Depression also were not good. When Anton arrived he had trouble finding employment as a carpenter, and had to work at first at other jobs to earn a living. Things were just beginning to improve for him when World War II broke out. He entered the U.S. Army in 1942, and in 1944 married Katherina Astl who had emigrated from Moschendorf . Shortly thereafter he was sent to Germany by the Army, and was stationed only 150 miles from his birthplace, where he oversaw cooking and baking operations for a company in the 259th Infantry Regiment. He was discharged from the Army in 1946 at the rank of Staff Sergeant.

He worked hard as a carpenter in the years after the war and in 1953 went into business for himself. Over the years he was asked by many of the Burgenlaenders in the New York area to do carpentry work for them, and he was glad that he could provide his services. In 1964, he went into semi-retirement, but remained active until recently doing projects, mostly for his friends and family.
Anton has lived in the same house in the Bronx, N.Y. for the last 57 years. His first wife passed away and he is now married to Hermine ( formerly Bodisch ) who comes from Glasing. The combined family consists of 3 children, 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
The big question is: How did these “twins” from Sumetendorf, who were separated early in their youth, finally find one another so late in their lives? Here’s how it happened.
About a year ago, Frank Paukowits, Anton Traupmann’s son-in-law, met Joe Weinhofer’s brother Al at a 50th anniversary party in Pennsylvania. They began to talk about the “old country” and Al mentioned that his family came from Sumetendorf and talked about his brother Joe. When Frank subsequently visited Anton he mentioned this, and Anton was overjoyed to learn that Joe, his childhood friend, was still alive. Anton indicated he was intent to renew his friendship with his old school buddy.

Over the next few months they regularly talked on the phone recounting their childhood memories of Burgenland. Because of their ages and inability to easily get around, they thought that they would never get to see one another again. However on November 12, 2003 Frank and Anton made the 120-mile trip down to Joe’s place so that the “twins” could be together again
While many years had passed since the men last saw each other, they recognized one another immediately. Anton and Joe spent their time together reminiscing about the past and talking about the many things they did together as children in Sumetendorf. They also took the opportunity to bring each other up-to-date on what had happened in their lives since leaving Sumetendorf.
The day sped by quickly and it was soon time to leave. Anton and Joe embraced and assured one another that they would regularly talk on the telephone to keep their friendship alive. Moreover, they promised that they would not let another 75 years pass before visiting each other again.
Truly, this was a remarkable reunion.

Frank Paukowits, NY