This is Drndić's most famous novel, set, as the English title suggests, in the armpit of the Adriatic, where Italy meets Austria-Hungary and the Balkans, and it's essentially the story of a Jewish woman separated from her young child in wartime, against the background of the horrors of the Treblinka extermination camp and of Himmler's mass-kidnapping project, Operation Lebensborn. Again and again we are confronted with the question of how we deal in ordinary life with someone who might be a decent citizen, even a loving parent or spouse, now, but has committed unspeakably evil acts in wartime.

As well as the storyline, there are also very strong parallels with WG Sebald's Austerlitz in things like the documentary style, the 43-page list of names of Italian Jews deported or killed in the Holocaust, the insistence on quoting witnesses, and the muddy black-and-white photos in the text that destabilise our understanding of where the fictional story breaks off from the historical facts. Given the closeness in dates, this is probably not intentional, but rather a matter of two people with similar literary backgrounds coming independently to closely similar ways of solving the same problem. How do you write about the Holocaust in fiction without being disrespectful to the memory of those who experienced it when you are from a generation (just) too young to have experienced it at first hand? And Drndić, of course, obviously had the aftermath of the more recent wars in her own country in mind as well.

Either way, the overlaps are not big enough to spoil either book, and there's a wealth of cultural reference in Drndić that is specific to the complex history of the Trieste and Gorizia region — the many languages that meet there, the shifting place names, the presence of Joyce, Svevo, D'Annunzio and the rest, as well as intrusions into the text from Pound, Eliot, Thomas Bernhard and other offstage commentators. ( )

Incredibly stark and moving novel about elderly Haya Tedeschi, who is sitting and waiting for the son she never knew as he was stolen from her by the Nazis as they occupied Northeastern Italy during WWII. As she waits she shuffles through photographs and documents in a basket at her feet and as she does so memories of that awful time overcome her. Beautifully written, the brutal horrors and the truths of that time are fully explored by Drndic, who was a Croatian author of great renown. ( )

Because I don't know enough of European history, the many details described in Trieste regarding Italy and Austria eluded me. The many names of Haya's family, neighbors, and historical and cultural figures Drndic includes overwhelmed me.

Confused by what was going on and when, I tried plowing through hoping I would be able to grasp a steadying brass ring on this merry-go-round of a novel. I quickly realized Trieste was an ambitious saga of a book that would be better suited for older European readers particularly those who do live or have lived in Italy, Austria or Germany, or others who know 19th and 20th Century European history exceptionally well.

Feeling badly that I gave up on what appears to be a potentially rich, amazing story. If I couldn't follow the basics of this novel my struggling through was not fair to the author who put much effort and work into it.

Trieste
Dasa Drndic
Translated from Croatian by Ellen Elias-Bursac

My first initial impression was how much it looked like a non-fiction book, lots figures/lists, the way pictures have been inserted in the text and some of its pages set up in columns such as seen with newspaper articles.
After further investigation it appears all her novels are written in this style a mix of letters, newspaper reports with heavy uses of transcripts and archives
Not my usual style of writing and not a genre I’m familiar with.
It was published in Croatia in 2007 and been short listed for IFFP So here goes……

I was so eager to get started with the titles I felt hugely disappointed, it was really difficult to read and at times seemed very disjointed. The mix of fact and fiction with footnotes made it seem like hard work. It seemed a mismatch of stories times and events and it was difficult for me to follow. After much perseverance a bit of a re read and a little background history it seemed to come together.
Although from the start some parts relating to Hayas personal reflections were beautifully written and I wanted to read them again

It is based on the life reflections of Haya Tedeschi she is sitting and waiting for a reunion with her lost son, dipping into her red basket full of memories.

It is centred on Trieste and is focused with rounding up Jews in German occupied North Italy, transporting them north to Treblinka. Trieste had becomes the an important location a centre of Operationszone Adriatisches Kustenland, elegant villas are refurbished for SS Officers, servants hired and banquets held at the same time a new concentration camp is set up in an abandoned rice husk plants in Trieste suburbs.
They set up registered brothels for members of the military; even these had an ulterior motive of collecting semen for future secret experiments and recording soldiers for entrapment purposes who may reveal secrets in lost moments of pleasure during visits. The Nazi plan for conquering the world was built on secrecy and fake organisations
It uses archives and court transcripts to add weight to the atrocities. It is harrowing at times made more poignant by the fact it is drawing from events that really took place

It follows the Tedeschi family as they move around spending time in various locations hiding their Jewish faith like a dreaded disease, believing now they are Catholics they are safe. The family move again this time fleeing escorted by German soldiers on their way back to Italy for “repatriation” Arriving in Budapest then Venice where they are given food and a free ticket home to Gorizia in 1943.

Haya and her family seems oblivious to all the devastation that is taking place around them, the book refers to this as
“Blind Observers”
“Self Deception”
“An illusion of ignorance”
It was probably the easiest way to get through it without drawing unnecessary attention to ones self

In May 1944 she meets Karl Franz they meet secretly hiding their passionate love affair. On 31st Oct 1944 Haya gives birth to a son “Antonio” Unmarried and helped by the Catholic Church.
Franz sees his son twice; his departing words to Haya seem to sum up his true character referring to her as
“ My little Jewess, we can’t go on like this. Oh yes I know….
Please do not ask for me”
This is not the loving charming character she had fallen in love with. It appears that SS Officer Kurt Franz was a name that brought terror to all who suffered at his hands, showing violence and abhorrent atrocities beyond belief

Five months after his birth her son disappears whilst Haya is momentarily distracted, no witnesses and an unresolved police investigate; she searches high and low to no avail.

As the years pass she starts to feel time is running out she has spent years scouring newspapers, the international red cross and tracing services. After 62 years she is contacted by Helga Mathias, a male child matching was sent to a region of Traunsee as part of the Lebensborn homes project re homing Aryan children with pure bred parents to form perfect race (Ubemensch species), the selection process was strict and those who did not match up were sent to camps for lethal injections, most of the files were destroyed before Germany was captured
Could her son have been taken as part of this process? It seems so

Time passes from past to present following different characters stories all deeply moving and often horrific.
After the fall of Germany, it follows trials from war crimes and the discovery of secret projects carried out by the Nazi’s is uncovered.

The book was like a steep learning curve I was unaware of the Lebensborn Project and the lasting effect of finding out all you believe to be true about your life is not, the difficulty of accepting and explaining to your own families.
It is like my mind has been opened up to atrocities faced by people, the in depth description and evidence made it more of a learning tool than a fiction novel, I am glad I persevered and feel enriched in a strange way by what I have uncovered. I would recommend this book especially to anyone who likes non fiction works

The translator Ellen Elias-Bursac spent more than six years translating Ex Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in Hague in the English Translation Unit. Maybe this is reflected in her matter of fact descriptive manner
She translates work with Serbian Croatian Bosnian languages
And her work been reviewed as award winning ( )

De ondertitel van deze roman is 'documentaire roman'. Dat roept de associatie met een documentaire op. Op het eerste gezicht klopt dat ook wel een beetje: Zonneschijn bevat foto’s, en midden in het boek is een lijst van ongeveer 9000 Joden opgenomen die zijn omgebracht tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Die namen zijn per pagina in twee rijen alfabetisch geordend, alsof ze op een doek in de bioscoop of op de beeldbuis van je tv aan je oog voorbij trekken.

Lees verder op deze pagina van mijn boekenblog. ( )