This was a A Good Read recommendation. A diary by a woman journalist covering the period April-August 1945, as the advancing Russian forces entered Berlin.

The thing that makes this book fairly shocking is the treatment of the people of Berlin by the Russian soldiers - specifically the fact that nearly all the woman (including the author) are raped multiple times. This doesn't dominate the narrative though: much of the book is about how people simply try to survive, with ever diminishing food and resources available.

Couple of notes I made: By April 1945 U.S. and UK bombers had bombed 90% of the buildings in Berlin - I didn't know it had been that devastated.

When she talks about Russians arriving in some place where there’s a lake that she used to swim in. Said it didn’t sound right “The Russians are in ” I suppose this would be like me hearing “The Russians are in Southampton”

Completed : 12-May-2015 (audiobook)