Surviving in the camp

Clara did not spend long in Theriesenstadt. Just under a month in fact. But I’ve been very concerned about getting the detail about that stay right. We always assume it to have been a more benign place than many other camps and indeed at the time that Clara was there it was more of a transit camp than anything else though it also provided cheap labour for a country at war.

We have little idea of what it was actually like for her in the camp. And in my story-line I’ve included some fictitious characters – a pregnant mother who gives birth in the camp and her little daughter. I’ve borrowed a businessman who carried on running his business from within the camp. This man really existed and he was able to influence his captors. Here, I’ve used his influence to spare the lives of Clara’s friends and her two children.  

But was Theriesenstadt all that benign actually? Probably not at the time that Clara was there. It wasn’t a death camp – a gas chamber was added much later. Neither was it the “holiday camp” fabricated for the Red Cross, nor were there yet football matches or an orchestra. Compared with Clara’s former upper middle class lift it would be pretty miserable there. Am I getting that across?

I’m currently reading Primo Levi’s If This is a Man /The Truce where we have a detailed picture of what Auschwitz was like towards the end of World War II. People had ways of surviving. Levi was enterprising and sold flints he “stole” from his work place and “sold” them for bread. Clara doesn’t survive but by being such a nice person sets everything up for her friends to survive. She is so good to everyone that she brings out the best in them.    

Levi writes about Auschwitz, which we all believe to be possibly the worst of the death camps. I think I’ve made Theriesenstadt as gruesome. Clara’s family believed for years that she was transported to Auschwitz. We have recently found out, in fact, that it was Treblinka.

It’s likely that she and all the other old people in that transport would have been shot on arrival. They would probably not have known what was happening or not until the last moment. This was actually a quicker death than being gassed which at that time took on average twenty minutes. We don’t see that particular scene in my version of Clara’s story. In the epilogue the two children are now quite grown up and help with archiving of information about the Rexingen Jews. At that point they believe that she went to Auschwitz. Only in the notes at the end, and here, do I reveal that where she actually she went.       

Edit 2 underway

Looking better now

I’m thankful that what worried me when I read the text through the first time has largely been dealt with. It does seem convincing now and I believe the reader will develop an interest in and an empathy for main character Clara. The World War I scenes now work better though even in this second read through I’ve noticed some places that need developing a little more.  

Getting it all out there

Getting the sister novel out

Exciting times.  Well actually, it’s sister novel, The House on Schellberg Street, that has been accepted. So far, I’ve had some encouraging noises form the main editor. The nitty-gritty is yet to come.

Now, though, I’m working on all sorts of things – getting the web site up and running, thinking about a launch, approaching people who might sell it and getting a few school visits organised.

Links

Somehow, Clara’s Story becomes part and parcel of this.

As do the two blogs – this and the one about The House on Schellberg Street.

School visits and workshops  

I’m particularly interested in doing school visits and talks about these two slightly different Holocaust stories. I’m also preparing an interactive workshop about The House on Schellberg Street and as soon as Clara’s Story is ready, there’ll be one about that also.

Lecture on Representing the Holocaust  

I’m also busily preparing a couple of lectures for a course I’ll be teaching on at the University of Salford next year. I’ll be dealing with how I did my research and the ethical issues I’ve had to face in dealing with this material. The content for just one lecture and seminar might make a substantial part of a secondary book to go with this material. Rather like this blog now has almost 11,000 words.      

Meanwhile the editing continues

I’m almost at the end of the first rewrite. Literally just one scene to go, albeit a rather tricky one. Then I’ll be on to Edit 2.    

Interested in finding out more about a school visit? Contact me here.        

Edit 1

This is proving to be quite discouraging. I’m finding so many faults with it. Yet it highlights some important issues about drafting and editing.

General structure

It’s not quite hanging together yet. I’ve found a couple of spots where I need to add in extra scenes. I don’t feel that we’re getting as close to Clara as we might. It’s partly because her story spans such a long time. That has to stay. It’s partly because it’s a biography and though it focuses mainly on the last twenty-four years of her life some earlier scenes are crucial. That structure has to stay. I must use other means of making it more immediate.

The best type of historical resources

We don’t have very much information about Clara at all, even though there is a wealth of material about the Holocaust generally. So, I’ve had to dig deep into what’s available. All of it is fascinating. Only some of it is useful.

DNA of a Story

I’ve now finished the first draft of the story and I’m part way through reading it and seeing if the structure works. The final chapter is a bit of an epilogue. I don’t want to give any spoilers here but I’ll simply say that it involves two characters that Clara knew when she was in Theriesenstadt.

As soon as I’d finished it I realised that it in effect contains the whole story, yet reading it first wouldn’t really be a spoiler for the whole book.

It is the blueprint for the story, or if you like, the DNA of the whole novel.

Balancing fact and imagination

I continue with Clara’s experiences in Theriesenstadt. I’ve had to find out some more details:

·         What would happen if a child was born

·         How women coped with menstruation and post-partum bleeding

·         Whether roll-call was as strict there as at other camps

·         What they might have eaten

·         What sort of work they would do