Wednesday, April 18, 2001
Mary Doria Russell is a self-proclaimed & quot;recovering academic & quot; turned fiction writer.
"I estimate that about 22 anthropologists read my academic publications ... so even if just my friends read my novel, I will be way ahead in terms of readership," she writes.
Now, on her third book, & quot;A Thread of Grace, & quot; Mary has delved into the history of the Nazi occupation of Italy during World War II.
"I read 'Benevolence and Betrayal' by Alexander Stille," she explains. "It is a story of five Italian Jewish families under Fascism in WWII."
She learned that 85 percent to 87 percent of Jews survived in Italy during the Nazi occupation. In other occupied countries, the opposite was true.
Gnawing question: & quot;For years, we have been talking about what went wrong in Germany and Austria and France, & quot; Mary contends. But another question was gnawing at her mind.
& quot;What went right in Italy? & quot;
& quot;When I come across a big puzzle like that, where I know bits and pieces, I must figure out how to put them together, & quot; Mary says.
That is exactly what she set out to do.
& quot;This book has taken a massive research effort, & quot; Mary explains, although she admits that her years spent in academia has her primed for research projects.
& quot;This topic was totally new to me. I really only knew of the big battles of WWII that movies had been made about, & quot; she laughs, knowing that now she is considered an expert on the topic.
Her research included three trips to Italy to interview Holocaust survivors and relatives.
& quot;I interviewed about 30 people each time, & quot; she explains. & quot;The stories I heard ... & quot; Her voice trails off.
I know that she could go on for days relating what she saw and heard. She shares just one with me.
Miriam Krause was 4 years old when her family left Austria. She doesn't remember many details, as she was so young. She simply recalls that it was late at night when she and her mother got off a train in Italy. It was in the middle of a blackout.
They could see a small light coming from a house in the distance. They walked to the house and her mother knocked on the door.
A woman answered and began yelling at them. As she yelled, she wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to Miriam's mother.
It was an address. They went to the address and were taken in.
Later, the woman came to them with clothes and food. & quot;Sorry I had to create an opera, & quot; she apologized. & quot;A Fascist neighbor lives across the street. & quot;
The woman took care of them for two years. Miriam's entire family survived the Holocaust.
What she learned: From interview to interview, Mary found, the overall theme was the same. & quot;An Italian soldier helped me... & quot; or & quot;An Italian family hid and fed me... & quot;
& quot;It is a source of pride for Italians, & quot; Mary says. & quot;They lived in a Fascist country, but they were not racist. They were of the Catholic religion, but their actions were not anti-Semitic. & quot;
That is why Italy's war history is different from that of other countries.
That is what went right in Italy.
"A Thread of Grace" is based on the historical facts of a group of 1,200 Jews who walked over the Italian Alps from southern France in 1943 seeking refuge. They believed they would be safe, but they walked right into Nazi occupation. Their story is explored in the book through the eyes of two fictional characters, a Jewish Italian pilot and a German military doctor.
When I asked Mary if she will be writing more books after "A Thread of Grace," she laughs. "I never planned on writing the first!"
Slowly, she continues, "I have always been fascinated by Teresa de Avila, a Spanish mystic. I read a biography of her recently that did not sufficiently assuage my curiosity."
And so it begins...
Mary Doria Russell will be speaking about her research for & quot;A Thread of Grace & quot; Monday in the Ohio Room of YSU's Kilcawley Center as a part of the free Schermer Scholar-in-Residence Program.