A crazy thing happened a couple weeks ago. I’d finished the first draft of Underground, the second volume of Two Suitcases, and was reading through it to check the chapter headings and dates. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, by the stroke of a key, I’d skipped writing a whole year of history and my story.
Sure enough, I’d typed July 9, 1935 at the beginning of one chapter—and July 11, 1936 on the next. So, back to making a timeline of the history, back to my sources already on the bookshelves upstairs, back to the endlessly generous internet.
At first, I had a hard time moving forward on the missing piece. The parallels between events in Austria in the thirties and the news from America were particularly powerful as I was completing the draft, and I was in a race to finish it on inauguration day. And I did! Except for July 1935 to July 1936.
Now, I’m almost finished the missing year. It was an interesting challenge to weave the characters’ stories into the history so that they would flow nicely into the already-written part, July ’36 to March ’38. But I’m almost there. I was writing about the reception of the Nuremberg Race Laws as Musk and his team trashed USAID.
And now I’m writing about the July Pact, or or Juliabkommen, a handshake deal between Austria and Germany that took place in July, 1936. Today, while looking into it more closely, I found a blog by Elizabeth Sunflower, who also wrote a novel set in Austria in 1937. About a year ago, she posted a blog about the July Pact. It’s succinct and timely.
Here’s the link
https://elizabeth-sunflower.com/austrias-unfortunate-fate-the-july-pact-and-its-role-in-wwii/.
But wait! There’s more.
A new, virtually typo-free version of Red Vienna is now available. You can get it at https://bookshop.org/p/books/red-vienna-eve-neuhaus/21038712?ean=9781636830582&next=t&next=t or through your local independent bookstore.
(I noticed when I copied that link to bookstore.org that they are offering it at 20% off.)
Eve Neuhaus 
Scary parallels! Sent from my iPad
Sigh. And now it’s coming out that the current president has been a Russian asset since 1987, code name “Krasnov.” What next?
Eve,I’ve been very depressed with everything here concerning our politics. I’m attending a “Conscious Aging “ workshop. One assignment for our last meeting and Eldering Ceremony was to bring an index card with our intenti
Hi Linda. It’s very depressing. I’m glad you’re going to that workshop, and I hope you’re finding small ways to take part in the resistance. Every act makes a difference.
Sending you love and light!
Hoping history does not repeat itself; that hope can take wing if it is NOT a passive spectator sport but a manifestation of ACTION. Here in SLO County, the “President’s Day” holiday inspired FOUR simultaneous protest events, each drawing well over a hundred people–multiple issues of concern, with the overriding issue being how Trump has exploded the constitutional bounds of his office carrying an agenda of demolition. Protests happened in Grover Beach, Los Osos, SLO City, and Paso Robles, with the one in Paso particularly vibrant and well attended. That part of the county is a rising hotbed of resistance, believe it or not; a completely separate and independent protest on a different date was started by High School students, focuing on solidarity in the face of threats to immigrants; it also drew a robust turnout by people of all ages. Unlike the Austrians in the ’30’s, USans can stand on a centuries-old tradition that something called the “Bill of Rights” is at the core of our identity and our community values; its resilience is being put to the test as never before, and the key to that resilience is participation, in whatever mode best suits each person, and around whatever issues most concern each person. As Audre Lorde reminds us: “Your silence will not protect you.” Also that “We become strong by doing the things we need to be strong for.”
It’s wonderful to see all the resistance happening. It’s one of the most hopeful things I’ve seen in years because it seems to be so widespread. Thanks for your excellent reply.