Between April 20th and June 22nd of 1945 the anonymous author of A Woman in Berlin wrote about life within the falling city as it was sacked by the Russian Army. Fending off the boredom and deprivation of hiding, the author records her experiences, observations and meditations in this stark and vivid diary. Accounts of the bombing, the rapes, the rationing of food and the overwhelming terror of death are rendered in the dispassionate, though determinedly optimistic prose of a woman fighting for survival amidst the horror and inhumanity of war. This diary was first published in America in 1954 in an English translation and in Britain in 1955. A German language edition was published five years later in Geneva and was met with tremendous controversy. In 2003, over forty years later, it was republished in Germany to critical acclaim - and more controversy. Newly translated into English, this diary has been unavailable since the 1960s. It is an astonishing and deeply affecting account of a woman fighting for survival amidst the horror and inhumanity of war.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'A Woman in Berlin is a war diary unlike any other. This is a victim's eye view, a woman's perspective of a terrifying onslaught on a civilian population, yet her account is characterised by its courage, its stunning intellectual honesty and by its uncommon powers of observation and perception. This book is one of the most important personal accounts ever written about the effects of war and defeat.' Antony Beevor
About the Author
The writer of this remarkable account was a German woman thought to have been a journalist or publisher.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Berlin hell under the Red 'liberators',
By
This review is from: Woman in Berlin Hb (Hardcover)
The anonymous author of this fine wartime diary is amost certainly Marta Hillers, a former journalist, who died in June 2001 at the age of 90.
Although published in the US and UK mid 1950s it was largely ignored by a world not ready to see Germans as victims too. Since being republished, after the author's death, this book has become a belated bestseller -and deservedly so. It shows the Red Army for the rabble they were-watches, booze and women were considered the booty of war and with a thug like Stalin as a political leader no restraints were placed on the animals from the steppes. Estimates of rape vary from 90,000 -130,000 in the climatic struggle for Berlin, according to medical records, with over 10,000 German females perishing as a result of the animalistic attacks on them, or by suicide or injury as a consequence of such assaults. All told the Red Army raped over two million women as they rampaged across eastern Europe-a figure that included Jewish women who had escaped death in the Nazi camps only to suffer again at the hands of these Red 'liberators.' The author, an articulate professional, who had toured the Soviet Union before the war, and knew some of the language, describes the orgy of rape, and after having thrice experienced pack rape at the hands of such scum she sought out a Red Army officer -prostituting herself to be protected from the pack. The author brilliantly describes the breakdown in Berlin society in this diary, starting on the 20 April 1945 (Hitler's birthday) before the Reds arrive in her suburb, and ending on the 16 June - just over a month after peace was restored in Europe. There may be some people who think the German civilians deserved what they got -but this reviewer is not amongst them. Depravity is depravity, regardless of who is on the receiving end and the rationale for fighting the war was to stand against such heinous war crimes, not to add to the list of the atrocities. The Red Army's record in World War II is a disgrace and outraged comments from Russian spokesman convince no-one. It is appopriate that the fine British historian, Antony Beevor, has a preface in this republished version. His more recent work on the Battle for Berlin, was attacked as a 'slander' against the Red Army by the then Russian ambassador to Britain. No doubt that Russian apologist would also consider this diary a fabrication (a charge levelled earlier). Still, for years the murder of the Polish officer class in the Katyn Forest, by the communists, was also labelled a 'fabrication' while the continued imprisonment of the Hero of the Holocaust, Sweden's Raoul Wallenberg, was similarly regarded as 'false' western propaganda. The courage of this woman, and many others, in war shattered Berlin contrasts greatly with the rank record of the Red Army and is a must read by anyone interested in the impact of total war on a great city and its people.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Woman in Berlin,
By
This review is from: Woman in Berlin Hb (Hardcover)
This book tells the forgotten story of the average German citizen's experience during WWII. On par with Anne Frank's diary in terms of historical significance, poignant life experiences, and the sheer deconstruction of society during war. Of course, since it is an adult's perspective, the themes are on a more mature level. The writing is excellent, the images searing and moving. I can't believe this book is no longer in print or that it is not better known.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling account,
By
This review is from: Woman in Berlin Hb (Hardcover)
A chilling, disturbing account of the first weeks of the Russian occupation of Berlin. The book left a deep impression, and a bitter aftertaste, even a feeling of guilt. The Russian internet is full of denial and angry denunciations: the Germans brought it upon themselves, how dare they offend the memory of war veterans, etc, etc. - this is truly sad. Two wrongs do not make right; the Germans committed atrocities in Russia, no one says otherwise, but is this enough to justify rape and plunder of the civilian population? Russia is not willing to face this dilemma; the Russians prefer to forget, or pretend not to know, or refuse to believe, and so the present generation, too, shares the blame. This book is stark reminder of the darker side of the Soviet occupation. Does it tarnish the treasured Russian self-image of a "liberator of Europe"? Absolutely. And this is how it should be, for history is often unpleasant and does not square with political contigencies. I only wish it was read more in Russia. It will not be read, not amid all the nationalist stink. Yet a woman in Berlin must not be forgotten, nor should all the other women in Kiev, or Minsk, or Warsaw - victims of war and tyranny. I think this is the broader message of this book.
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