100 Books in 2018

43/ a woman in berlin by anonymous

read: 03.06.18 - 06.06.18

book: A Woman in Berlin

author: Anonymous

blurb: Eight weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman kept a daily record of life in her apartment building and among its residents. The anonymous author depicts her fellow Berliners in all their humanity, as well as their cravenness, corrupted first by hunger and then by the Russians. A Woman in Berlin tells of the complex relationship between civilians and an occupying army and the shameful indignities to which women in a conquered city are always subject--the mass rape suffered by all, regardless of age or infirmity.

review: This book was incredible. It didn't feel like I was reading a real life account until I had to remind myself that the words I were reading had been written at the actual time. The horrific things I was reading about actually happened to a real woman.

This book really shed light on things which I didn't know about beforehand, mainly the mass raping of German women after the war by Russian soldiers, and just the extent to which women were raped by all troops throughout the war. It's not something that you learn about in textbooks or something that's spoken of, and after reading this I really want to do more research into it.

Learning about the conditions the people had to live in, with barely any food and no running water, was really incredible to see it through the lens of someone experiencing it. Overall, I think it's such a brilliant book to read and while it's very harrowing I think it's very important.

rating: 10/10