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A Woman in Berlin: Diary 20 April 1945 to 22 June 1945
 
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A Woman in Berlin: Diary 20 April 1945 to 22 June 1945 (Paperback)

by Hans Magnus EnzensBerger (Afterword), Anonymous (Author), Anthony Beevor (Introduction), Philip Boehm (Translator)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
Price: £6.97 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Paperback: 311 pages
  • Publisher: Virago Press Ltd; New edition (6 April 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1844081125
  • ISBN-13: 978-1844081127
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.6 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 13,183 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #2 in  Books > History > Military History > Battles & Campaigns > Battle for Berlin
    #5 in  Books > History > Essays, Journals, Letters & True Accounts > 20th Century
    #5 in  Books > Biography > Political > Countries & Regions > Germany

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Product Description

Review

'it's not a book, it's a poem, an epic poem... Exemplary' - Jameela Saddiqi 'a most extraordinary war journal' - Susan Jeffreys 'this is not an hysterical woman... you simply cannot dismiss it... profoundly, acutely embarrassing... an insight into the resilience of people in an unknowable situation' - Robert Sandhill 'one of the most powerful books I've ever read...the best money you'll ever spend' - Kate Mosse 'This book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit' Nina Bawden, Daily Mail 'A war diary unlike any other... her account is characterised by its courage, its stunning intellectual honesty and by its uncommon powers of observation and perception' Antony Beevor 'One of the most powerful books I've ever read' Kate Mosse 'One of the essential books for understanding war and life' A.S. Byatt


Nina Bawden, Daily Mail

'This book, which could have been horrifying, is instead exhilarating: a rare tribute to the human spirit' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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A Woman in Berlin: Diary 20 April 1945 to 22 June 1945
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A Woman in Berlin: Diary 20 April 1945 to 22 June 1945 4.7 out of 5 stars (15)
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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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72 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A shocking and amazing account that stays with you for days, 17 Dec 2006
By millie1512 (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This is the diary of a woman in Berlin from May 1945, when the Russians took over, to July when some form of normality returned and the Allies carved up the city between them. The author remains anonymous though we do know she works in publishing, which gives her a good eye for detail, and that she's intelligent and cultured, speaking some Russian and French, which she is able to use in the days to come.

At the start she chronicles the mass rapes that she and a large proportion of women in Berlin suffered, after which point the book moves on to her daily quest for survival. In her case that included `befriending' various Russian officers for protection. It also details how ordinary Berliners coped in the immediate aftermath of the fall of the Nazis and shows how the circumstances brought out the best and the worst in people.

The recent airing of accounts such as this, and Anthony Beevor's 'Berlin, The Downfall', has caused a certain amount of controversy in Germany and in Russia.

Are we somehow letting the Germans off the hook by making a parallel between what happened to them and what they did in the Second World War?

I don't think a diary such as this does anything of the sort. In their own way, the women such as the anonymous author of this book, were the final victims of Naziism, falling victim to Russian soldiers who were brutalised after four years of war.

On a human level it's impossible not to be shocked and horrified about what this woman went through and experienced; and to be amazed at how she dealt with the ordeal and recovered psychologically from it. And it's worth remembering that though this happened sixty years ago, rape is still used in war today - you only need to look at both Bosnia and the Congo for two contemporary examples.

This is an exceptionally powerful first hand account of how people can both lose and retain their humanity. It is one of those books that stays with you for days. Truly one of the most remarkable things I've ever read.
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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible, 1 May 2006
By Lala B (Ireland) - See all my reviews
An incredible diary of a young woman's existence in Berlin during the Russian occupation. She writes in such a moving and simple way...and without bitternes.She writes about the struggle the Berliners endured day to day: of their starvation, their constant battle for survival, how they filled their days all the while being in fear of their lives, placating and 'befriending' the Russian soldiers, surviving, being raped daily and the spiderfine thread with which they clung to life.......there is a heart stopping moment when she describes the soldiers' fixation on a young child.....if you read anything this year let it be this book. It is so hard to imagine this only happened 60 years ago..it is truly horrific and absorbing.
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A tale of appalling personal suffering, an incredible book, 29 Jun 2006
By Mr. K. Papas "kleopapas" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book is a compellingly brutal account of a woman's fight for survival after Berlin falls to the Soviet army in the spring of 1945 and the immediate weeks of occupation. It is no secret that there were mass rapes of practically any available German female but what is surprising is just how widespread this was. The author not surprisingly has remained anonymous and the book takes the form of a diairy. What becomes immediately apparent to the reader is that the author has an amazing eye for detail and seems to be able to chronicle truly horrific events in a very objective, almost journalistic style. To the author's credit, she manages to emerge psychologically unscathed and even manages to inject humour into the darkest and most terrifying ordeals. You will be left feeling amazed at the strength of the human spirit and how even in the worst possible circumstances - hope exists.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A struggle in the face of adversity
A very moving account which is thought provoking and also shows that despite living through the most awful atrocities you can come through the other end. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Campbell79

4.0 out of 5 stars Struggling for survival
This personal diary covers a two month period in the life of a young German woman. She writes of her life in Berlin from April to June 1945 when Berliners came to realise what war... Read more
Published 5 months ago by LindyLouMac

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and frightening true diary.
You can't help but be moved by this diary - written by a professional woman in the last days of the Second World War and beyond as Germany sinks to defeat and Berlin is iver-run... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Uncle Barbar

4.0 out of 5 stars The other side of war
A "Woman in Berlin" is the frank and honest diary of a young woman caught up in the dark days during the fall of Berlin in 1945. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Bob Salter

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable, even poetic account of a vicious time
In the middle of chaos, amidst the wreckage of the broken city, the anonymous author marvels at the innocence of a baby girl with copper ringlets of hair. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Ian David Curry

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating piece of history
We are very fortunate that this anonymous woman kept a diary of the terrible events that happened to her and many other German women living in berlin at the end of WWII,because... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Chelli

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential book about Berlin in 1945
Other than fully endorsing what other reviewers have said about the power of this extraordinary account of the ending of the war in Berlin, from April 1945 and the next two or... Read more
Published 21 months ago by H. A. James

5.0 out of 5 stars A shocking reminder...
I read this book keeping in mind not only the described facts by the (anonymous) author, but the terrible circumstances it was written under... Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2007 by Othon Leon

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting
I, like some of the other reviewers, first heard about this book while reading Beevor's Berlin: The Downfall. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 2007 by Saul Over

4.0 out of 5 stars a touching review of a difficult time.
I bought this book and read the introduction by Anthony Beevor. It took me 6 months to finally bring myself to read the book which i did in one day. Read more
Published on 8 Jul 2007 by Mr. Davendra Singh

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