Reddit reviews A Woman in Berlin

>That's because the Germans had little else to blame on the Red Army and they did their best to exaggerate or simply make up events that would 'strengthen' German resolve.

That statement is baseless and factually incorrect and should never have been made.

The cases of rape in Berlin when the Russians took the city are countless ... I mean literally countless - it's been estimated from the hundreds of thousands to the millions. Nearly every woman from age 8 to 80 was raped in just that city alone - this is historical FACT.

The only reason there has ever been conjecture about the numbers of rape victims is due to the "German woman's shame" following the occupation.

The book A Woman in Berlin which is written anonymously (although I believe they know who the author is now) is an excellent text depicting the horror of occupation under Russian rule. When it was released Berlin women were up in arms and tried to say the author was lying (partly because of the shame the women felt and partly because of Soviet pressure and propaganda). The author refused to allow it to be published again until after her death in 2006.

While German propaganda at the time was FILLED with lies and absolutely played up the brutal Russian brutality the rapes were very, VERY real and happened on a scale that is literally not able to be estimated. Even during the Cold War the Soviets admitted to some degree that the rapes occurred but stated it was nothing compared to what the Germans had done, which is partly true.

You know, until very recently, I knew nothing about how Germany suffered during and after the war. I just figured that when the allies advanced and won, that they all just treated the losers very humanely.

There's a really good book called "A Woman in Berlin" that details the atrocities committed after Berlin was sacked by the Russian army (it's written by a woman who survived it all). It doesn't minimize what the Nazis did, but it just goes to show you that history really just isn't always cut and dry or clearly divided between good guys and bad guys.

Here is a great memoir written by an anonymous woman who survived this ordeal.

It's an extremely tough read, as it deals with rape and many violent situations, but helps contextualize the Russian occupation of Berlin.

That does! Thank you:) I think it is too! I know most people realy only focus on the Nazi part of it all, but there’s so much to German history! (Like the Barbaric Tribes).


World Wars are super interesting! Have tou ever read All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque? There’s “sequel” to that book called The Road Back. It looks at what happens to a (German) soldier after World War I ended. That’s supposed to be an accurate representation of soldier’s sentiments at the time. Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger is a (German) soldier’s experience during WWI. Holocaust by Bullets, Ordinary Men, Sleepwalkers, Europe’s Last Summer, and A Woman In Berlin are some pretty incredible books about these wars. Don’t know of you’ve heard of them or have read them, but thought I’d made the suggestion! Movie wise I’d say Generation War if you haven’t see it yet:) The Darkest Hour movie was great if you haven’t seen that! I’m planning to watch Babylon Berlin soon. Don’t know if you were looking for suggestions but I thought I’d make some!

Yes, a bunch of real knights in shining armor, those Russians.
http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Berlin-Eight-Weeks-Conquered/dp/0312426119/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374552695&sr=8-1&keywords=a+woman+in+berlin

A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312426119/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Qf-SDbG6RYDYB) is the memoir of someone who survived the imprisonment while Berlin was occupied.

Unbroken. It's phenomenal. Basically a plane crashes and the survivors are forced to try to survive on a raft for an indeterminate amount of time. Great story of resiliency.

Flags of our Fathers. The book before the miniseries. Also phenomenal.

If you like really really detailed historical accounts, you can't do much better than The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich although I would probably recommend the audio version. It's available through audible. I got about half way through it before I had to stop, but man, it was detailed. DETAILED. If you ever wanted to know the minutiae of Hitler's daily life in part, this is it.

A memoir from a female perspective, perhaps? Well, A Woman in Berlin is your book. It's harrowing. There are things talked about here that most history books gloss over.

A Woman in Berlin.
Excellent book about life in Germany following the fall of Nazism- specifically the experiences of female civilians.

https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Berlin-Eight-Weeks-Conquered/dp/0312426119

I'd like to provide some information since it seems that the OP is the one who is engaging in revisionism here.

Here is the Wikipedia page about rape during the occupation of Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Germany

There is also a book written by a victim/eyewitness of these atrocities:

http://www.amazon.com/Woman-Berlin-Eight-Weeks-Conquered/dp/0312426119

Also, Red Army had a pattern of this behaviour, you can read more about Soviet atrocities here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_crimes

I'm disgusted by the fact that OP is trying to pretend that these things didn't happen and brush it off to some "Nazi propaganda" (???).

Soviet Union was great at propaganda, and modern-day Russia is as well, judging by the fact how unaware Russian people seem to be about atrocities comitted by the Red Army, or Soviet Regime in general.

Please ignore the OP who is trying to whitewash history, and please pay attention to what the actual consensus among the historians is.

P.S. I don't understand the argument that pointing out well-documented atrocities comitted by the Soviets somehow downplays (victim-blames Soviet women???) the also well-documented atrocities comitted by the Nazis.

For a book to read about this issue, consider: A Woman in Berlin, an anonymous diary of a woman who lived through the fall of Berlin.