The Odyssey of Priam’s Treasure Guestpost by Elisabeth Storrs

I’m welcoming Elisabeth Storrs today with her compelling tale of the WWII odyssey of Priam’s treasure and her excellent novel Fables & Lies: A World War II Novel. Here is her guestpost:

The Odyssey of Priam’s Treasure

Recently, I released Fables & Lies: A World War II Novel which tells the tale of the Berlin museum curators who braved air raids to safeguard their nation’s antiquities, in particular, a priceless trove from Troy known as “Priam’s Treasure”.

What inspired me to write Fables & Lies? I’ve always been entranced by the ancient world. One of my prized possessions is a battered copy of EM Behrens’ Myths and Legends of Ancient Greeks and Romans passed down through my family which is over 100 years old. A quintessential component of the book is a summary of Homer’s The Iliad that details the last year of a ten-year siege between the Mycenean Greeks and the Trojans. Homer’s characters are etched into the canon of western literature: the Greeks – Agamemnon, Achilles, Menelaus; and their enemy, the Trojans: Hector, Paris and King Priam. And of course, the Trojan women whose fates were so tragic: Andromache, Hecuba, Cassandra. And not to omit the catalyst for the war – the faithless wife, Helen of Sparta. One version of the foundation of Rome described by Virgil in The Aeneid also features Trojans: Aeneas and his son, Ascanius. Etruscan art heavily draws on episodes from the epic poem. Over the millennia, the story has inspired countless books, movies and TV series and, no doubt, will continue to do so into the future.

The legend of the Trojan War and its aftermath was told via various authors, the most famous being Homer in his The Iliad and The Odyssey written in the C8th BCE. The historicity of conflict remains debated by historians although those who consider it a reality postulate the war occurred at various dates between 1250-1180 BCE.

Enter Heinrich Schliemann

Archaeologists identified the ruins at Mycenae around 1700 but the site of Troy remained elusive with many different theories postulated as to its whereabouts in Anatolia. Enter Heinrich Schliemann, a middle-aged German business tycoon who made a fortune as a privateer in the Crimean War. Schliemann came to archaeology late in life with deep pockets and an even deeper conviction he could locate the site of Troy by using Homer’s descriptions in The Iliad. Between 1870 and 1890 he conducted numerous excavations on a hill known as Hisarlik overlooking the Dardanelles in Turkey.

In 1873 the amateur archaeologist literally struck gold when he found a sensational cache of gold, silver and bronze vessels including two fabulous gold headdresses, numerous earrings and multiple strands of beads. Believing he had located Homeric Troy, he named the trove “Priam’s Treasure” and the glorious jewellery – “Helen’s Jewels”. Soon after, his beautiful young Greek wife, Sophia, was photographed wearing the ancient parure which caused a global press sensation. Schliemann’s fame spread, despite criticism of his heavy-handed excavation methods which involved digging a massive trench that obliterated Roman and Hellenistic ruins in his haste to find the Bronze Age citadel. In fact, Schliemann had dug down to a level that predated the Homeric era by 1,000 years. It would take a decade before he would concede the owner of the treasure could not have been the legendary Priam. In the meantime, he was seen by serious scholars, particularly in his homeland, as an ostentatious parvenu whose academic credibility was tenuous.

Smuggling out Priam’s Treasure

The permit granted by the Ottomans to excavate the site stipulated any finds were government property. Nevertheless, Schliemann immediately smuggled the treasure out of Anatolia to his house in Athens. Uproar ensued until a court case under Greek jurisdiction settled the matter. The Ottomans were paid 50,000 francs in compensation. Schliemann then vacillated over which museum would display the collection. After an exhibition in London, he toyed with handing it over to museums in Moscow, France and the US until he was convinced by his countrymen to “bequeath” the treasure in perpetuity to the German people. He was given the keys to Berlin and promised the gold would be displayed in a salon which would forever bear his name in the newly erected Ethnological Museum. In the 1920s, the treasure, together with nearly 10,000 archaeological finds discovered in subsequent Trojan digs, were moved to the Museum of Pre and Early History which was situated next door to Gestapo Headquarters.

The continuing odyssey of Priam’s treasure in WWII

Fast forward to WWII. Germany’s national treasures were under threat from air raids. Museum curators sprang into action packing their exhibits and storing them in bank vaults. As the bombardments intensified, priceless exhibits were stored in a massive flak tower near the Zoo. When the Soviets finally occupied Berlin, Priam’s Treasure, alongside millions of other pieces of artwork across Eastern Germany, were removed to Russia. However, the Soviets claimed the Trojan gold was lost in transit in the chaos. Its whereabouts remained a mystery for 50 years until the Russians finally admitted the treasure was hidden in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

A Novelist’s Inspiration

In the early 1990s, I became fascinated with the story of Schliemann and the gold’s disappearance which prompted me to write a contemporary mystery novel. At the time, the Russians had yet to admit they’d been hiding the gold. When the news broke, my plot became redundant and the book was relegated to the bottom drawer! Decades later, after finishing my trilogy, A Tale of Ancient Rome, I returned to Schliemann, curious to find out the true story behind the treasure’s own odyssey. My research revealed the amazing story of the courageous Berlin museum curators and their staff. I also discovered the museum director who protected the priceless exhibit was a Nazi and a member of Himmler’s SS Ahnenerbe Research Institute. This, in turn, led me to the Nazis’ dark quest to subvert history to serve power.

My protagonist, Freyja Bremer, is a patriotic museum assistant raised on Nazi dogma. Through her love affair with Cambridge educated archaeologist, Darien Lessing, her eyes are opened to the rot beneath the Regime’s lies, as they both strive to protect Priam’s Treasure and other antiquities. Intertwined is Freyja’s forced marriage to Kaspar Voigt, an Ahnenerbe ethnologist, and her quest to discover what her husband’s twisted research entails. As such, Freyja’s safekeeping efforts and her journey to enlightenment form the spine of the novel. However, I also explore the Ahnenerbe’s promulgation of the Aryan Myth which exhorted Germans to believe in their superiority, and ultimately justified conquest, dispossession and murder.

Disputed Treasure

As for Priam’s Treasure, Russia refuses to hand back the trove as it claims it as war reparations. Germany says Schliemann bequeathed it to the German people and it should be returned. Turkey argues ownership should revert to the country of origin as Schliemann smuggled it out of Anatolia and paid scant compensation. My current work-in-progress, The Pinocchio Door, explores the story of the journey of the gold from its creation in Troy, Schliemann’s discovery and theft, and the Soviets’ plundering and subsequent secrecy.

I hope you’ll consider reading Fables & Lies. It’s perfect for readers who love emotional, thought-provoking historical fiction which explores the complexities of survival, resistance, impossible choices and moral conflict in wartime.

For Further Exploration

Connect with Elisabeth through her website or Triclinium blog. You can find her on Facebook Instagram Goodreads, Amazon Pinterest LinkedIn and Bookbub. Subscribe to her newsletter for monthly inspirational interviews.

FABLES & LIES: A WORLD WAR II NOVEL

Available in Digital, Paperback and Audio editions https://books2read.com/fablesandlies/

Book description of Fables & Lies

Under a brutal regime, what price must be paid to preserve truth, treasure and love in a world built on lies?

WWII Berlin. Freyja Bremer, a patriotic museum assistant, marries Kaspar Voigt, an ambitious SS scholar, to protect her father. Yet she is unaware her husband is instrumental in Himmler’s twisted quest for Aryan supremacy.

As she strives to safeguard the priceless Priam’s Treasure from air raids, Freyja falls in love with Darien Lessing, an archaeologist who exposes the moral decay beneath the Regime’s myths. Her awakening drives her into perilous resistance – aiding a Jewish doctor and his wife, Darien’s sister – while uncovering Kaspar’s role in the SS’s darkest programs, which subvert history to justify invasion, abduction and murder.

As Berlin collapses into chaos and bloodshed, Freyja, caught between duty, deception and desire, must risk everything to preserve truth in a world built on lies.

A heartbreaking yet triumphant love story, Fables & Lies shines light on lesser-known aspects of the Nazi Regime. It gives voice to the complex moral struggles of German women, the forgotten resistance of Gentiles married to Jews, the dangers of contested history, the evils of Himmler’s racial studies program and the unsung bravery of German museum curators who saved their nation’s treasures.

Endorsements of Fables & Lies

A harrowing story of a young woman caught in the machinations of the Third Reich and in the web of a regime-compliant family. FABLES & LIES is meticulously researched and emotionally resonant, sure to delight readers who love a hearty feast of history in their fiction.

Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of THE RAGGED EDGE OF NIGHT

‘A powerful and heartbreaking story set in war-torn Berlin, FABLES & LIES charts the slow dawning horror of a young woman as she realises all she has been taught about Hitler and the Third Reich is a lie. Impeccably researched and sensitively rendered, Elisabeth Storrs has shone a light on little-known aspects of life in Germany under the Nazi regime.’  

Kate Forsyth, bestselling author of BITTER GREENS

‘Emotionally involving and morally complex, Fables & Lies is…a gripping deep dive into Freyja’s viewpoint as she gradually penetrates the fog of propaganda instilled into Germans for years by the cruel Nazi regime and awakens to a new and courageous purpose, one that involves considerable risk… I haven’t read another WWII novel like it.

Sarah Johnson, Reviews Editor for the Historical Novels Review

‘A chilling and meticulously researched journey into the shadow world of the Ahnenerbe. Blending historical rigor with gripping fiction, FABLES & LIES reminds us of the devastating consequences when history is twisted to serve power.’