In the mid-1950s it's easy to see why Germans and Soviets were reluctant to publish the festering details of mass rape in April/May-'45 Berlin. The Cold War had just started, East and West was divided but not yet walled off, each side stockpiling as much propaganda as possible. Marta Hillers's brave decision to publish her unedited and highly explicit diary of the events between the downfall of Germany and Soviet occupation was lost in the rubble of that charged debate of Capitalism v. Communism, which was all blah blah blah. Her accounts, published anonymously and remained unknown until her death in 2001, were real, visceral, and less accessible than the mediocre diaries of another war victim. Each chapter represents a day: the first few taking place in underground bunkers during the massive civilian slaughter overhead via Soviet artillery and American airplanes; then the confrontation with drunken Soviet soldiers looking to sexually assault and rape indiscriminately (something like 100,000 women were raped in Berlin); and lastly the re-building of Berlin and struggles of adjusting to a colonized home. The style is journalistic matter-of-fact that's sometimes striking for its nonchalance. Writing the diary was her form of coping (or dissociating) with the massive trauma. Regarding WW2 literature, this should be mandatory.