Dear Reader…
I’d like to explain a little bit about researching this
novel and some interesting historical facts you’ll come across while reading.
I’m a total history geek and love diving into research. Despite my total
geekdom, Searching for Gertrude was especially challenging to write as a
historical novel. Firstly, it was incredibly difficult to research Istanbul
and Turkey
during the Second World War. Most of the research material is only available in
Turkish, and many documents are only available to accredited researchers. And
none of the information is available online! Because of this, many people –
especially those outside of Turkey
who are my targeted readers – are not aware of the history of Turkey
during this time period. This caused my second difficulty – how to write this
fictional story without dumping historical information on readers (and
therefore causing their eyes to glaze over).
Despite the difficulties, I felt it important to persevere
with this project. The picture that many have in their mind regarding Turkey
and the Holocaust is that many Turkish public institutions, such as Istanbul
University which features heavily
in my novel, took in Jewish scholars who were prosecuted in the 1930s.
Unfortunately, my research has shown that Turkey
was not as welcoming towards Jews during the Holocaust era as the Turkish
government would have one believe. This is not meant as an attack of Turkey.
Many, many countries, including my country of birth, are untruthful about their
policies and past (military) activities. In this time of ‘fake’ news and
‘alternative’ facts, it is even more important to correct misconceptions and
lies than ever before.
I have, therefore, done my level best to maintain historical
accuracy in this novel. Naturally, I’ve included the more well-known historical
events such as the sinking of the SS Patria, the Pera
Palace bombing, and the Struma
tragedy. I also refer to several historical occurrences which are less known.
Reading the novel, the reader may in fact assume these ‘facts’ are fictional,
because these events aren’t well known. I’d like to share some of these lesser
known events with you now.
In the winter semester of 1933-34, eighty-two German Jewish
professors began teaching at Istanbul
University. This was a direct
result of the law enacted in Nazi Germany in 1933: “Law for the Restoration of
the Professional Civil Service”. These exiled professors were in a much better
position than their counterparts as they earned higher salaries and were
largely protected from repressive refugee policies. When I discovered this
information, I realized I’d found the starting point of my novel.
Although Turkey
was officially neutral until February
1945, in October 1941, high-ranking Turkish military leaders traveled to
the German eastern front. No
Turkish troops ever saw combat and many claim Turkey was blackmailed into
joining the Allies. It’s fascinating to read how Turkey was able to play both
sides of the fence while being a neutral party.
German consular offices were operational centers for Nazi
secret service activities throughout the Near and Middle East. The Consul
complained on numerous occasions that the consular offices couldn’t accommodate
the large number of secret service employees. Adding to the strain, German
expats continually spied on one other and reported their findings to the
consulate. Istanbul was in fact a
hot bed of espionage activity during the Second World War. Actually, that’s why
I wanted to set my novel in the city.
The Turkish government began to expel German Jews in the
spring of 1937. In 1939, the Turkish minister of the Interior explained this
policy to the German embassy stating that “[when] it became evident that they
intended to settle here, German Jews … were expelled from our country to
prevent a concentration of Jews.” Academics were mostly exempt from expulsion
until 1943 when the second year of five-year contracts expired. The fear of
expulsion plays an important part in my novel.
Those are just a few of the findings I made during my
research. These are the findings, though, that play a role in the novel. I hope
I’ve managed to pique your interest in reading Searching for Gertrude.
About the Author
Dena (aka D.E.) grew-up reading
everything she could get her grubby hands on from her mom's Harlequin romances
to Nancy Drew to Little Women. When she wasn't flipping pages in a library
book, she was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing,
or drafting stories, which she is very thankful have been destroyed. College
and a stint in the U.S. Army came along and robbed her of any free time to
write or read, although on the odd occasion she did manage to sneak a book into
her rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear.
After surviving the army experience, she went back to school and got her law
degree. She jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few
years into her legal career, she was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done.
She quit her job and sat down to write a manuscript, which she promptly hid in
the attic after returning to the law. But being a lawyer really wasn’t her
thing, so she quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out being a B&B owner wasn’t
her thing either. She polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic
before following the husband to Istanbul where she decided to give the whole writer-thing a go. But
ten years was too many to stay away from her adopted home. She packed up again
and moved back to the Netherlands (The
Hague to be exact)
where she's currently working on her next book. She hopes she'll always be
working on another book.
Author links:
Website: http://dehaggerty.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dehaggerty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dehaggerty/
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/D.E.-Haggerty/e/B00ECQBURU/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5?qid=1438239628&sr=8-5
Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/bbmdj9
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/
Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-e-haggerty
Email: dena@dehaggerty.com
About the Book:
While
growing up in Germany
in the 1930s, Rudolf falls in love with the girl next door, Gertrude. He
doesn’t care what religion Gertrude practices, but the Nazis do. When the first
antisemitic laws are
How
far would you go to find the woman you love?
Buy links:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/763765
Thanks for featuring me on your blog today!
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