The military dictatorship in Argentina “disappeared” thousands and thousands of people (estimates range from 9,000 to 30,000). The government and its agents captured people who they felt threatened the dictatorship. Captives were hidden away in secret detention centers, where they were tortured and often killed.
Captive pregnant women were usually kept alive until they gave birth, and the babies were given away in illegal adoptions. Police doctor Jorge Bergés, whose name I use in this novel, attended many of these births and wrote false birth certificates so that the children would never know who their real parents were.
These days, people who suspect that they might be children of the disappeared can find out by contacting an organization called the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo. This group is dedicated to learning what happened to their grandchildren who were captured or born in the secret prisons. Through DNA testing and extensive research, the Grandmothers have identified eighty-eight children who had been given away in illegal adoption. The group will continue its work until they find and identify the other four hundred who are still not accounted for.
Although the military dictatorship in Argentina ended in 1983, years passed before the Argentine government agreed to try the people involved in the kidnapping, torture and killings. Even so, disappearances continue. In 2006, Julio López, who had been held and tortured during the dictatorship, was scheduled to give a final testimony against a former chief of police. Hours before the trial, Julio López disappeared and has never been heard from again.