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A Woman in Berlin
A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary | Philip Boehm
18 posts | 22 read | 31 to read
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.
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mirnas
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Pickpick

Anonymus woman kept a diary from April to June 1945 in Berlin and describes everyday life after the Russian troupes envaded the city. Hunger, omnipresent death, mass raping of German women... Strong narrative voice retells the horrors with a dose of humour. A must read for those who are interested in WWII.

18 likes1 stack add
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Daniella.Richardson
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Getting ready to start Book #13 of 2021!

1 like1 stack add
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Becker
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Pickpick

A good read and yet another example of the ugliness of war. However I do recommend it is read with a critical mind. I finished it with plenty of questions.

23 likes1 stack add
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youneverarrived
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A true diary account written by an anonymous woman living in Russian Army occupied Berlin spanning from April to June 1945. So much brutality and fear that I couldn‘t even begin to imagine but the author writes down all she, and other women, experience with such strength and resilience. Highly recommend it. #cruelworld #aprella

Reviewsbylola Sounds amazing but devastating. That cover. 😍😍 7y
Sophoclessweetheart Wow. This sounds perfect! Heartbreaking but just my kind of thing x 7y
Cinfhen Ooh, echoing the others...sounds like a powerful read 7y
See All 6 Comments
emilyhaldi You sold me!! #stacked 7y
Mdargusch So horrific! 7y
Cathythoughts Sounds great 👍🏻 7y
62 likes6 stack adds6 comments
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TaciturnWhenReading
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Pickpick

So far I‘ve read just 11 books this year and this was my favorite. Although I think this will end up a favorite for all of 2018. I could NOT put it down.

Love the awesome giveaway idea @Liberty ! ❤️#THEWALLSARECLOSINGIN

36 likes3 stack adds
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TaciturnWhenReading
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This book has me riveted. An anonymous diary which tells the chilling, matter of fact, civilian account of the final days of war and the Russian occupation of Berlin in 1945.

January‘s #nonfiction2018

Tamra Ohhh, sounds good! 7y
44 likes8 stack adds1 comment
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ReadingsByTheC
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...#bookhaul stack #4

JacqMac Those are some nice stacks you have. 7y
ReadingsByTheC @JacqMac Thanks! 😄 7y
26 likes2 comments
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bekakins
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Seriously harrowing book.

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RealBooks4ever
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Both books are women's accounts of coping with their surroundings, but I found A Woman In Berlin to be better written. #readthisnotthat #maybookflowers

JazzFeathers Sounds interesting. I have a fascination for Germany during the Wars at the moment. Stacked 8y
RealBooks4ever @JazzFeathers I like reading about Germany no matter what the time period! 💜💜💜 8y
14 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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ineverlearn
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Pickpick

Our September book of the month. We found many insights in this diary. Could it be true that women respond more to this than men and that men tend to be a little dismissive of it? What I think is that there should be no difference between the perspectives of men and women as long as the reader can empathize. The diarist sometimes has an arrogant tone but suffering is still suffering. You still feel her. I like this a lot (and the carrot cake).

6 likes1 stack add
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moniquereads
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Pickpick

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, except for the occasional history or biographical book. But this one, the diary of a woman in Berlin written just before and after the fall of the city in 1945, allows a glimpse of how it is to be collateral damage. And I love its candor and honesty.

"I only know that I want to survive - against all sense and reason, just like an animal." ??

2 likes1 stack add
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ineverlearn
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My birthday, 71 years ago. This is an astonishing diary that gives an account of WWII Germany from the POV of an "anonymous" woman.