Life-writing: the diary "A woman in Berlin"

Abstract

The following article analyses a wartime diary A Woman in Berlin. The diary documents seven weeks in Berlin at the end of the Second World War. Since the women were a majority of the population as the German men were captured or killed in a war, they became an easy target for the foreign troops marching through the city. Due to the sensitive topics disclosed in the diary, the author called herself “Anonymous”. The journal was published straight after the war, however, the ones who survived the atrocities of the war did not want to be reminded of the war horrors again. Hence, the diary remained forgotten until 2003 when it was republished to audience acclaim. Despite the public opinion that the author’s identity should remain anonymous, in 2003 the author’s identity was revealed as Marta Hillers. This article depicts three main topics: the author’s self-identity as revealed in her diary, the reflection of the enemy through humour and irony, and the diary as a means of survival. The theoretical part discusses the concepts of life writing and diary. In order to grasp a full understanding of the historical circumstances of the German women life writing, a brief historical background is provided.