Caricatures of Hitler

 

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.  

 

             

Third Revision of Novel

I completed this yesterday.

I’m quite pleased that there are several humorous touches – the nickname that Hani and Christophe invent for Hitler, the fact that that amuses Frau Lehrs, her pretending to be Emil Kühn’s mother, the bickering between Kathe Edler and her friend Eva Kaiser and the mud fight at the farm in Somerset. I have got the bugger / Bagger joke back in.

I’ve cut about a thousand words this time, but probably added in about 1,200. I think when I do some general tightening a little later some more will go. The “show don’t tell” edit usually sorts this out. Sometimes, of course, that can actually make the text a little longer. The overall length is fine, though, and I think it will remain so.

I’ve made the scene with the bombing of Stuttgart more dramatic and I’ve added an extra scene just before the mini-resolution where Renate recovers from her breakdown. A haircut is key!

I’ve also got rid of one of the Wilhelms. There were three altogether – four if you include the name of the school that the German girls used to attend. I’ve changed one of them to a Gerhard.

I’ve made a decision about the German words I’m using. I’ve made sure their meaning is clear the first time I’ve used them.  I’ve also created a glossary. This will also be included on the web site.  

I’ve also decided to provide some information about the places in the sorry. I’m currently working on that for the web site as well.