Kalman Hartig

Kalman Hartig was born in Zrenjanin, Serbia, formerly Yugoslavia. This region used to be part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. His father was of German/Austrian ancestry and his mother was Hungarian. He was fluent in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and German. He was the last survivor of his siblings, seven brothers and three sisters. His mother joined the Seventh-Day Adventist church when he was a young child. She instilled in him a deep faith in God and stood by his side when he decided he could never bear arms and serve under a communist, atheist regime.

In the late forties and early fifties, communist regimes did not tolerate conscientious objectors and he was sentenced to two years of hard labor. He was treated as a political prisoner. On top of grueling hard labor in a mine, he endured beatings, torture, and hunger. To his last day he believed that God gave him the strength to survive. After serving his sentence he still had to give the state his due. He was allowed to serve in the army as a medic for another two years.

He met the love of his life, Hermina Kirchner, in church and they got married in 1953. She preceded him in death in 2016. Soon there were two children and he was driven by the desire to have his family live in freedom and peace. Both he and his wife had German ancestry and were allowed to be repatriated in Germany. Their status was that of German ethnic refugees, in German Volksdeutsch and Fluechtlinge.

My father still felt that living in Germany was living too close to communists. The ultimate goal was to come to America, the true land of freedom. Emigrating to Canada was much easier and he brought his family there in 1972. Now English had to become his fourth language! In 1979, he was finally able to emigrate to the United States and he settled in Sacramento, CA.

Everywhere he lived he earned his living as a graphic artist, photographer, and music teacher. His true passion was music and nothing brought him greater joy than to teach children the violin, which was his favorite instrument. He also taught guitar and could play piano, mandolin and many more instruments.

Finally, he retired in Sarasota, Florida, where he continued performing and teaching music for a very long time. He believed that nothing could bring a soul nearer to God than music and nature. He also became a proud United States citizen.

He is survived by his children, Kalman Hartig, Jr., Elisabeth Hartig Lentulo, his grandchildren Amber Lentulo, Franklin Lentulo, and his great granddaughter Rylie Lentulo.