V Alexander - The Taster

Most will read this book as a novel, a fictional account of a life in a significant time period. Others may read it as history. And it is to those latter readers that I issue a caveat: The Taster is not intended to be a strictly historical account of the Third Reich. For example, Joachim Fest in his book Inside Hitler’s Bunker (2002) makes the astounding statement that the circumstance of Hitler’s suicide in the Berlin bunker “has by now become impossible to reconstruct.” Was a third party involved in his death? Historians have speculated on such a possibility. That question opened up my novel for me. It allowed me to place Magda in the bunker with Hitler.

I researched The Taster to the best of my ability; however, historical accounts and timelines do vary. The reader should know I made every attempt to marry history with fiction. In reconstructing the day-to-day life at the Berghof, I relied on many sources, some of which differed. I inserted real people, now dead, among my characters. Hitler had a knack for keeping company with those who served him personally. A major character in the book, Cook, is a composite of several hired by the leader of the Reich. Hitler had many cooks who served him with varying degrees of success. My main model was Constanze Manziarly, but she was not serving at the Berghof when my heroine, Magda Ritter, arrives in the late spring of 1943. Such is fictional license.

The timeline of Hitler’s stays at his various headquarters and travels is well documented. The Nazis were, if anything, meticulous in their detail. Again, I have tried to honor history, although there may be, for the sake of fiction, occurrences where action and timeline don’t necessarily coincide. For example, I placed Hitler in the Berghof during Christmas 1943. Other sources say he spent an unobserved holiday at the Wolf’s Lair during that time. Some historical details were difficult to track down. I advanced the timeline somewhat for Bromberg-Ost, a concentration camp for women. Try as I might, I found no photos and little information about this camp, except for details about female guards who were later hanged for their crimes.

Many readers may ask the question: Did the rank-and-file SS, Wehrmacht and German citizens know about the death squads, the camps and the corresponding atrocities? The answer is open to debate. Several books have questioned whether all Germans were complicit in the Nazi undertakings. Or were they just blithely unaware? Certainly high-level officials and some officers within the Party knew what had been ordered, but to indict all officers, Party members and nationals is misleading, I think.

From that viewpoint, I also wanted to portray the plight of the German people during this time. Not all of them were fervent Nazis. The SS “conspirators” and other officers who spearheaded the July 1944 bombing at the Wolf’s Lair knew details about Reich activities that were not available to the German people. Had the public known what was going on, the propaganda machine perpetrated by Joseph Goebbels might have taken a very different turn. But even today, historians disagree on why the attempt was made on Hitler’s life. Was it because the war was going badly and the officers wanted to save their necks, or because they knew about and abhorred Hitler’s atrocities? History favors the former supposition.

Many assassination attempts on the Führer’s life failed or were never carried out. Some were “lone wolf” plots; others were hatched by groups. My research indicated that a major factor in these attempts was the intention of killing not only Hitler but other major targets as well. Many conspirators were concerned about who would take over the government and, therefore, failed to act. Some plots were quashed over this important consideration. I used this idea as a fictional element in The Taster . This factor had faded considerably by the time von Stauffenberg came into the picture.

In the creation of this novel, I would like to thank my editor at Kensington Books, John Scognamiglio, for believing in this book; Evan Marshall, my agent, for steadfastly steering the course; and editors Traci E. Hall and Christopher Hawke, both of the brilliant red pen, for their invaluable suggestions in plotting, emotion, nuance and choreography. As always I rely on my beta readers for their astute observations: in this case, Robert Pinsky and Mike Deaton.

I have read too many books on the Third Reich over the years to cite them all, but a listing of a few major works in my library is necessary. There are also many invaluable Web sites, too numerous to mention, that aided me in the writing of The Taster .

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. William L. Shirer.

Inside Hitler’s Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich. Joachim Fest.

Inside the Third Reich. Albert Speer.

Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary. Traudle Junge, edited by Melissa Müller.

He Was My Chief: The Memoirs of Adolf Hitler’s Secretary. Christa Schroeder, with an introduction by Robert Moorhouse.

The Hitler I Knew: Memoirs of the Third Reich’s Press Chief. Otto Dietrich, with an introduction by Robert Moorhouse.

Night, Elie Wiesel.

The Holocaust Chronicle. Publications International, Ltd.

Of significant help with photos useful for historical reconstruction was Third Reich in Ruins at www.thirdreichruins.com.

Lest we forget, this book should serve as a remembrance for all who lost their lives in World War II. We tend to forget that the events portrayed in this novel occurred only seventy-five years ago, a blip in time. We can only hope and pray that God’s grace and our diligence will deliver us from similar events in the future. Another global war would surely lead to annihilation; therefore, we must maintain a constant vigil against those who would use their power to destroy.

The suggested questions are included to enhance your group’s reading of V. S.Alexander’s The Taster .

1.Magda describes what her life was like as a young woman in Germany. The Reich wanted women to be mothers as well as workers. Do you think she was happy under these restrictions?

2.Early in the book, Magda witnesses a couple being arrested on a train. What do you think their crime was?

3.Magda has little choice but to accept the job as a taster for Hitler. If you were in her place would you have continued or left the Reich’s service?

4.Cook teaches Magda about poisons. What do you think your reaction would have been to such training?

5.Eva Braun tells Magda a secret. Do you think Magda was correct in her understanding of the secret?

6.Karl shows Magda the pictures of the atrocities committed in the East. Would you have believed him?

7.Hitler loved his dog and acted as a father figure to many on his staff. Do you believe that he held any goodness in his heart?

8.How did Magda change in the course of the novel? Do you think she became a stronger woman?

9.Would you have pulled the trigger?

10. The Taster is written from the viewpoint of a German woman. Much has been written about “ordinary” Germans and their role in World War II. What do you think? Has the novel given you a new perspective on the war?