Author Christoph Fischer returns to "Open Mic Monday" to give us some insights about the research that goes into writing historical fiction. Welcome, Christoph! Please shed some light on your process for us.
When I researched “The Luck of the
Weissensteiners”, I relied heavily on books and online resources. I read about:
the holocaust, about Slovakia and its history, about Jewish issues, general and
specific history books. I also read
fiction set in the area or the era.
I was astonished to come across quite a few
sources that seemed politically coloured. One history book about Slovakia had only
a most miniscule chapter about the entire WWII era and it pretty much painted a
whiter than white picture of Slovakia, who was after all one of Hitler’s allies.
I found out that the author didn’t speak the language and had not researched
within the country archives, yet nobody disputed the book since it agreed with
the polished version of events that many people in present day Slovakia would
prefer to agree upon.
Entire archives were destroyed by the Nazis and Communist regimes tried to white wash the former fascist past to bring the nation’s history in line with its ideological policy. Amongst many other factors there is also human sentiment and forgetfulness to consider when relying on information for your book.
Historian Mary Heimann bravely learned
Czech and did enormous research in the Prague archives to write a book on
Czechoslovakia as a state, but her findings are highly disputed, possibly
because they paint a much less favourable picture of both Slovakia and the
Czech Republic.
One example for the dispute: Jews in
Slovakia could be saved from deportation to the camps by personal exemption
papers. This is often credited to religious forces within the fascist party in
Slovakia but others claim it was due to the 500 Reichsmark that had to be paid
to the German Reich for each Jew deported. Just how many were saved by the
exemption papers varies also widely from source to source.
Who is to say which version is true?
Who is to say which version is true?
Much of the original data was destroyed; strong
political and personal agendas exist even now to portray the country favourably
retrospectively and eye witnesses are dying away.
The consequence for me as a writer is to
keep checking data, to read all sides of a story and remember that history
books are still relative when it comes to some data. It is a continuous dispute
and in most cases an exciting challenge for a writer.
In my books I use the controversy or ambivalence
in my favour and get my characters to argue and make opposing statements,
assumptions and predictions. Who can claim to have a comprehensive view, the
complete information and then be certain to draw the right conclusions? This makes
writing about history exciting and a living process.
Facinating, Christoph. Thank you for taking the time to share that with us. Now let's look a bit at "The Luck of the Weissensteiners."
Blurb
In the sleepy town of Bratislava in 1933 a
romantic girl falls for a bookseller from Berlin. Greta Weissensteiner,
daughter of a Jewish weaver, slowly settles in with the Winkelmeier clan just
as the developments in Germany start to make waves in Europe and re-draws the
visible and invisible borders. The political climate in the multifaceted
cultural jigsaw puzzle of disintegrating Czechoslovakia becomes more complex
and affects relations between the couple and the families. The story follows
them through the war with its predictable and also its unexpected turns and
events and the equally hard times after.
But this is no ordinary romance; in fact it is not a romance at all, but a powerful, often sad, Holocaust story. What makes The Luck of the Weissensteiners so extraordinary is the chance to consider the many different people who were never in concentration camps, never in the military, yet who nonetheless had their own indelible Holocaust experiences. This is a wide-ranging, historically accurate exploration of the connections between social location, personal integrity and, as the title says, luck.
But this is no ordinary romance; in fact it is not a romance at all, but a powerful, often sad, Holocaust story. What makes The Luck of the Weissensteiners so extraordinary is the chance to consider the many different people who were never in concentration camps, never in the military, yet who nonetheless had their own indelible Holocaust experiences. This is a wide-ranging, historically accurate exploration of the connections between social location, personal integrity and, as the title says, luck.
On Amazon:
http://bookshow.me/B00AFQC4QC
On Goodreads: http://bit.ly/12Rnup8
On Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1bua395
About the author…
Christoph Fischer was born in Germany, near
the Austrian border, as the son of a Sudeten-German father and a Bavarian
mother. Not a full local in the eyes and ears of his peers he developed an
ambiguous sense of belonging and home in Bavaria. He moved to Hamburg in
pursuit of his studies and to lead a life of literary indulgence. After a few
years he moved on to the UK where he is still resident today. ‘The Luck of The
Weissensteiners’ was published in November 2012; 'Sebastian' in May 2013 and The
Black Eagle Inn in October 2013. He has written several other novels which are
in the later stages of editing and finalisation.
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1 comment:
Thanks for having me on your wonderful website!
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