I'm going steadily ahead with Schellberg 7. Protagonist Gabriela knows she must resist and rebel.
In the background there has been the burning of books – and she works in the publishing industry yet has been protected from the consequences of this. The White Rose movement will appear quite soon.
Gabriela has to find her own way of resisting.
She's abandoned her swing-loving friends- the Schlurfs - and now she is being reacquainted with them. She has a flatmate who draws cartoons – specifically satirical cartoons of Hitler.
In my research I have found plenty of cartoons satirising Hitler but many of them were made long after he was dead. I have to get into the mind-set of a woman who would dare to do that at the time that he was still alive and very much revered. That has given me the wonderful character Heidi Viebeck.
Naturally there are many pro-Hitler cartoons drawn at the time and plenty of anti-Semitic ones too.
These cartoons that Heidi draws will lead later to Gabriela's niece taking part in satirical plays about Hitler.
All of this is really interesting research as is creating an underground venue for where the plays can take place.
