Hi there, everyone. This actually is not for my NaNoWriMo story, but for another novel I'm working on. It begins in Poland in 1939 and is about a girl who is living in Poland with her grandmother while her parents stay in Poland. Here are some questions I have:
I) Would it be possible for the girl and her parents to call each other once a week? Her father's fairly well-to-do and is in Parliament, if that makes a difference.
II) Did anyone know that Poland would be invaded September 1, or did it take everyone by surprise? If no one knew for certain, did anyone have suspicions? I know that tension was building and Britain and Poland were probably anticipating some sort of invasion by Germany, but I wasn't sure if they suspected it to occur on that date.
III) What was dating like back then in Poland? Did they have specific customs that were different than American dating?
That's all I can think of right now. I'd greatly appreciate anyone who could help me with these questions! Thank you very much!
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2009 Story: Under the Flag of Stars and Stripes: Romance/Drama/Coming-of-age/Historical
51,046 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 15 58
I) Would it be possible for the girl and her parents to call each other once a week? Her father's fairly well-to-do and is in Parliament, if that makes a difference.
II) Did anyone know that Poland would be invaded September 1, or did it take everyone by surprise? If no one knew for certain, did anyone have suspicions? I know that tension was building and Britain and Poland were probably anticipating some sort of invasion by Germany, but I wasn't sure if they suspected it to occur on that date.
III) What was dating like back then in Poland? Did they have specific customs that were different than American dating?
That's all I can think of right now. I'd greatly appreciate anyone who could help me with these questions! Thank you very much!
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Although I have suspicions about your first question, I'll leave that to others if anyone knows better.
Did anyone know? Yes and no. Tensions had been rising for a long time, abetted by Hitler's plans to create a crisis even if there wasn't one. Did people know that September 1st was the magic date? Probably not. Did people know it was going to happen soon. Yup. Witness the scrambling about as the allies courted Russia. Did the average Pole know? They had to know it was coming soon also, but the specific day might have surprised them.
At this point in time, Hitler did little without telegraphing his next move, and he had been fomenting revolt and uprisings within Poland and the corridor for months. The Germans were surprised, but only because Hitler kept saying he didn't want war, and his other conquests had come with resorting to shooting (for the most part) so when it happened, many Germans were left to say "What happened?" The Poles, on the other hand, were tactically surprised, but not strategically surprised. The government was already making moves, and desperately seeking allies with the hope of dissuading Hitler. Of course, that didn't work.
Surprised? Nah.
I know nothing of Polish dating habits at the time, and I don't believe anything in my library has much either. However, if you don't find anything, I'll be happy to do some digging...when I'm not trying to write.
----------GP
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2006 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book I
2007 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book II
2008 NaNo winner - Berlin, Witnesses at the Crossroads of History, Book III
2009 -
18,000 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 18 59
I) Would it be possible for the girl and her parents to call each other once a week? Her father's fairly well-to-do and is in Parliament, if that makes a difference.
Yes, it's definitely possible, if they are well-to-do.
I don't really know much about American dating customs, as opposed to Polish, but I'll try :). The general picture would be like this: the man wants everyone to know that the lady is under his protection at any given moment. He would be opening and holding doors for her, helping her get off the cab/down the stairs, helping her take off her coat in the restaurant, pulling her chair out. He would not take a seat when she is still standing, and generally would stand up when she is entering the room.
He also would bring her flowers each time and of course kiss her hand at the beginning/end of the date. When they are at the restaurant/movies/theatre/wherever they have to spend money, he would pay. At the restaurant the girl can choose the dishes, if she wants, but he would definitely choose the wine.
Hope this helps! If you're after more specific stuff, please let me know.
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Nov 8, 2009 - 02 03
The other thing to remember is that the concept of "Dating" as we think of it now would be very different to what a Pole of 1939 would experience. There was certainly a lot of the kind of chivalry that PeiPei was talking about - in fact, this "gentlemanly conduct" was actually taught in classes at the Polish Air Force academy at Deblin, and Polish pilots in Britain in 1940 got a reputation as ladykillers *very* quickly with their hand-kissing and their broken English.
Your characters would probably meet at a dance, which were common social occasions at which it was acceptable to flirt and make physical contact with members of the opposite sex.
However, "dating" was very much in its infancy then, and there wouldn't be so much of a thing about where you "should" be at a certain point in the dating process ("It's our fifth date, why haven't I met his parents yet"), and it would probably be still spoken of as "courting" rather than "dating" - the idea that you were getting to know each other prior to marriage was an unspoken assumption by others, even if not by the couple themselves. Likewise, it was assumed that the couple would not be having sex, and moving in and living together before marriage was a definite no-no.
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If you can fly a Sopwith Camel, you can fly anything.
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Nov 8, 2009 - 02 13
Oh, and regarding the date of the invasion, there were two things that would have clued most Poles in that it would be soon:
Firstly, a week prior to the invasion, on 24 August, Hitler and Stalin concluded a non-aggression pact. What no-one knew at the time was that the pact contained a secret agreement on dividing up Poland. What everyone did know was that the only reason neither Germany nor the USSR had already invaded Poland was that each was afraid of provoking the other. So the idea of Poland's two greatest enemies making peace with each other was very disturbing. If your character's father is in Parliament, he'll definitely be talking about this.
Secondly, a couple of days before the invasion, the Germans staged a fake attack on a radio station in Silesia, a part of Germany which had a sizeable Polish minority. SS men in Polish army uniforms attacked the station, broadcast some propaganda demanding that Silesia be given to Poland, and then left, leaving behind the corpse of a known Polish sympathiser dressed likewise in uniform. Google "The Gleiwitz Incident" for more details. Poles would have probably been torn between believing it to be a German setup to provide a pretext for an invasion, or cursing the Silesian Poles for picking just the wrong moment to try something like that.
If you want any detail about the actual invasion and following events, let me know - I wrote my first NaNo about this period and have studied the campaign quite extensively. If you are relying on what "everyone knows" about it, it's worth doing a bit more research because there are a lot of ongoing myths about September 1939 ...
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If you can fly a Sopwith Camel, you can fly anything.