Salt to the Sea (27 page)

Research and Sources

The research and investigation process for this novel was a global, collaborative effort that carried me to half a dozen countries. That said, any errors found herein are my own.

Claus Pedersen in Denmark worked with me for over three years on this project. He read, he researched, he translated, and he traveled to Copenhagen and Brussels to meet with me. I am indescribably grateful for his help, hard work, and most of all, his friendship.

Agata Napiórska in Poland was the first person to champion this book. Dedicated and beautifully passionate, she met me on four separate trips to Warsaw, Gdynia, Gdańsk, and Kraków and connected me to many people and places.

Over forty years ago, Polish divers Michal Rybicki and Jerzy Janczukowicz were among the first to explore the sunken
Gustloff
. Their first dive required Soviet approval. Michal and Jerzy agreed to assist with my research and spent countless hours with me in Gdańsk, sharing unforgettable details of the tragedy and gravesite beneath the sea.

Michal Rybicki and Dorota Mierosławska helped me retrace the steps of the millions of evacuees who ran for their lives. Together we walked the path of the refugees through former East Prussia (now Poland) to the lagoon in Tolkmicko, Frombork (Frauenberg), and Nowa Pasłęka. They took me to the port in Gdynia (Gotenhafen) to study the departure of the
Wilhelm Gustloff
and the geographic execution of Operation Hannibal. Michal photographed our research and Dorota filled me with the magic and love that is Poland. This book would not be possible without them.

My father's cousin, Erika Demski, fled from Lithuania through East Prussia and obtained a pass to sail aboard the doomed
Wilhelm Gustloff
. By a twist of fate, she missed the voyage and sailed on another ship. Erika and her husband, Theo Mayer, who now reside in Belgium, shared the incredible story and encouraged me to write about the disaster.

Bernhard Schlegelmilch, a historian born in former East Germany, spent long days touring me through Berlin, digging up details of World War II, and bringing the time period to life.

A world-renowned deep-sea diver from England, Leigh Bishop has explored over four hundred shipwrecks, including the
Titanic
and
Lusitania
. Mr. Bishop shared with me the haunting details of his unforgettable experience diving the
Wilhelm Gustloff
in 2003.

Rasa Aleksiunas and her son, Linas, generously shared the amazing story (with all of the original documents and even the strap from the life vest) of her father, Eduardas Markulis, a twenty-two-year-old Lithuanian from Å iauliai who survived the sinking.

Ann Māra Lipacis and her brother, J. Ventenberg, from Riga, Latvia, both survived the sinking. They were six and ten years old. Mrs. Lipacis and Mr. Ventenberg shared firsthand
accounts and memoirs not only of the sinking, but of losing their beloved mother, Antonija Liepins, who remained on deck to allow children into the lifeboats.

Lorna MacEwen in the UK shared personal details and photos with me. Her mother, Marta Kopaite, was a young Lithuanian nurse who walked over minefields to Gotenhafen and boarded the
Wilhelm Gustloff
. She survived.

Lance Robinson in South Africa shared the story of his mother, Helmer Laidroo, a fifteen-year-old Estonian girl who survived the sinking of the
Gustloff
.

Mati Kaarma in Australia shared the story and background of his family who fled from Estonia. His parents took a train to Germany and his grandparents, who opted for passage on the
Gustloff
, did not survive.

Gertrud Baekby Madsen in Denmark shared a detailed account of her evacuation from Tilsit and the treacherous trek across the ice.

Edward Petruskevich, curator of the Wilhelm Gustloff Museum, patiently answered many of my questions. His incredible website provided invaluable source material: www.wilhelmgustloffmuseum.com.

Author and journalist Cathryn J. Prince answered countless e-mails and generously shared her research findings, contacts, and knowledge.

Charlotte and William Peale organized research material and read early drafts.

This novel was built with bricks from the following books, films, and resources. I am enormously indebted to them:

Abandoned and Forgotten: An Orphan Girl's Tale of Survival During World War II,
by Evelyne Tannehill.

The Amber Room: The Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure,
by Adrian Levy.

Battleground Prussia: The Assault on Germany's Eastern Front 1944–45,
by Prit Buttar.

Before the Storm: Memories of My Youth in Old Prussia,
by Marion Countess Dönhoff.

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin,
by Timothy Snyder.

The Captive Mind,
by Czeslaw Milosz.

Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger,
by Ken Perenyi.

Crabwalk,
by Günter Grass.

The Cruelest Night: The Untold Story of One of the Greatest Maritime Tragedies of World War II,
by Christopher Dobson, John Miller, and Ronald Payne.

The Damned Don't Drown: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff,
by Arthur V. Sellwood.

Death in the Baltic: The World War II Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff,
by Cathryn J. Prince.

Die große Flucht: Das Schicksal der Vertriebenen,
by Guido Knopp.

Die Gustloff-Katastrophe: Bericht eines Überlebenden,
by Heinz Schön.

Forgotten Land: Journeys Among the Ghosts of East Prussia,
by Max Egremont.

God, Give Us Wings,
by Felicia Prekeris Brown.

Handmade Shoes for Men,
by László Vass and Magda Molnar.

Lwów, A City Lost: Memories of a Cherished Childhood,
by Eva Szybalski.

Oral History Sources of Latvia: History, Culture and Society Through Life Stories,
edited by Māra Zirnīte and Maija Hinkle.

The Painted Bird,
by Jerzy Kosinski.

The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War,
by Lynn H. Nicholas.

Rose Petal Jam: Recipes and Stories from a Summer in Poland,
by Beata Zatorska and Simon Target.

Shoes: Their History in Words and Pictures,
by Charlotte Yue and David Yue.

Sinking the Gustloff: A Tragedy Exiled From Memory,
by Marcus Kolga.

Token of a Covenant: Diary of an East Prussian Surgeon 1945–47,
by Hans Graf Von Lehndorff.

The Vanished Kingdom: Travels Through the History of Prussia,
by James Charles Roy.

• • •

The following people and organizations contributed to my research and writing efforts:

Henning Ahrens; the Bihrs; Dr. Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski; Ulrike Dick; Angela Kaden; Helen Logvinov; Jeroen Noordhuis; Jonas Ohman; Xymena Pietraszek; Julius Sakalauskas; Carol Stoltz.

Ancestry.com; the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture;
Bornholms Museum; Der Spiegel; the Federal Foundation of Flight, Expulsion, Reconciliation in Berlin, Germany; Historical Museum of the City of Kraków; Inkwood Books, Kresy Siberia Virtual Museum, Letters of Note, the Museum of Genocide Victims in Vilnius, Lithuania; the Museum of Occupation in Riga, Latvia; the Regional Historical Center of Eindhoven, Holland; the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center; Steuben Tours; the Wilhelm Gustloff Museum: www.wilhelmgustloffmuseum.com.

The greatest
Wilhelm Gustloff
archivist was undoubtedly Mr. Heinz Schön. Mr. Schön served as assistant purser on the
Gustloff
, witnessed and survived the sinking, and devoted much of his life to documenting the disaster. Heinz Schön passed away in 2013. At his request, his remains were taken to the bottom of the Baltic Sea to rest upon the sunken
Gustloff
. He is gone but his legacy and research remain a gift to us all.

I am grateful to the following
Wilhelm Gustloff
survivors who throughout the years have bravely given several very detailed interviews about their experience:

Ulrich von Domarus; Irene Tshinkur East; Heidrun Gloza; Waltraud Lilischkis; Ellen Tschinkur Maybee; Eva Merten; Rose Rezas Petrus; Helga Reuter; Inge Bendrich Roedecker; Eva Dorn Rothchild; Willi Schäfer; Edith Spindl; Peter Weise; Horst Woit.

Several people agreed to be interviewed for this project but requested to remain anonymous. Revisiting tragedy chisels the heart. They subjected themselves to the discomfort of painful memory for the sake of this novel and I am eternally grateful.

Acknowledgments

Many writers create and succeed on their own. I am not one of them.

My incredible agent, Steven Malk, guides and inspires my every step. I could not dream of a better mentor and friend.

Liza Kaplan, my tireless editor, and Michael Green, my brilliant publisher, devoted years to this novel and the associated journey. They are my heroes. Thank you to Shanta Newlin, Theresa Evangelista, Semadar Megged, Talia Benamy, Katrina Damkoehler, and my Philomel family for giving history a voice and my stories a home.

None of this would be possible without the beautiful people at Philomel, SPEAK, Penguin Young Readers Group, all of the Penguin field reps, Writers House, and SCBWI.

My sincere gratitude to my wonderful foreign publishers, sub-agents, and translators for sharing my words with the world.

The hands and heart of Courtney C. Stevens have touched every page of this novel.

My writing group sees everything first: Sharon Cameron, Amy Eytchison, Rachel Griffith, Howard Shirley, and Angelika Stegmann. Thank you for ten years of dedication and friendship. I couldn't do it without you and would never want to.

Fred Wilhelm and Lindsay Kee helped me spark the title and Ben Horslen contributed across the ocean.

Yvonne Seivertson, Niels Bye Nielsen, Claus Pedersen,
Mike Cortese, Gavin Mikhail, Beth Kephart, Genetta Adair, Ken Wright, Tamra Tuller, the Rockets, JW Scott, Steve Vai, the Lithuanian and Baltic communities, the Polish community, the Myerses, the Reids, the Smiths, the Tuckers, the Peales, and the Sepetyses all contributed to my writing efforts.

Heartfelt thanks to my biggest supporters—the teachers, librarians, and booksellers. And most of all, my sincere thanks to the readers. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Mom and Dad taught me to dream big and love even bigger.

John and Kristina are my champions and the best friends a little sister could ask for.

And Michael: his love gives me the courage and the wings. He is my
everything.

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