A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City--A Diary

By Anonymous

Book Overview

An astonishing find-the landmark journal of a woman living though the Russian occupation of Berlin-which has already earned comparisons to diaries by Etty Hillesum and Victor Klemperer For six weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman, alone in the city, kept a daily record of her and her neighbors' experiences, determined to describe the common lot of millions. Purged of all self-pity but with laser-sharp observation and bracing humor, the anonymous author conjures up a ravaged apartment building and its little group of residents struggling to get by in the rubble without food, heat, or water. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, she depicts her fellow Berliners in all their humanity as well as their cravenness, corrupted first by hunger and then by the Russians. And with shocking and vivid detail, she tells of the shameful indignities to which women in a conquered city are always subject: the mass rape suffered by all, regardless of age or infirmity. Through this ordeal, she maintains her resilience, decency, and fierce will to come through her city's trial, until normalcy and safety return. At once an essential record and a work of great literature, A Woman in Berlin not only reveals a true heroine, sure to join other enduring figures of the twentieth century, but also gives voice to the rarely heard victims of war: the women.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805075402
• ISBN13: 9780805075403
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Metropolitan Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.1" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

Aftermath in Berlin during world war ll

Wow ! Is just one of a hundred ways to describe this book ! Everything you have read about this book in the description, IS EXACTLY what your getting in this story ! The word BRAVERY is just to insignificant to even describe the Author of this Diary, and All of the poor devastated and Abused women ! How she can write, and not spew hatred, in every other word, is beyond me !! She just simply ..as she puts it, writes..to write about what is happening to all the older and younger woman that are left behind, as all the younger and able bodied men are all drafted off to fight. All that is left behind, are basically women of all ages..from very young to very old, children, and older men who can't fight in the war, because of age or illness. Their Struggles are so real, from No food, No Electricity, No water, not knowing what day, what week, even what time it is. Just the simple acts of taking a bath, cooking, eating, Just keeping a Roof over your head, from all the bombings.. ANYTHING that might be considered a luxury, but in reality is just the basics of everyday life..is GONE.. all GONE. Then to be attacked on a daily basis by the victorious Army... is unbelievable.!! These women young and old who lived through this, show their astonishing strength, resilience, and Courage that I couldn't even imagine having ! The Author of her diary does not write in a way where she condemns anyone or looks for sympathy...she just simply puts into words the REAL struggles of the aftermath of war. TO me HER and all the Young and Older Woman that endured ...should all be ordained into Sainthood!!! I think She and her Diary Are just REMARKABLE .

Amazingly humane and moving

It's almost a shame that the author is anonymous. Her writing is incredible. I have researched rape in conflict for the past three years and her insight and bravery and humor has helped challenge me. She truly is a survivor. I highly recommend this book. Far from being as depressing as you might think it is, it is an important book to read to understand what it means to be human and caught in the middle of a war.