Quotes from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“Ich versuche mir vorzustellen, wie es wäre, wenn mir dies Erleben zum ersten Mal auf solche Art zuteil geworden wäre. Ich muß den Gedanken abbremsen, so was ist nicht vorstellbar. Eines ist klar: Wäre an dem Mädchen irgendwann in Friedenszeiten durch einen herumstreunenden Kerl die Notzucht verübt worden, wäre hinterher das übliche Friedensbrimborium von Anzeige, Protokoll, Vernehmung, ja von Verhaftung und Gegenüberstellung, Zeitungsbericht und Nachbarngetue gewesen – das Mädel hätte anders reagiert, hätte einen anderen Schock davongetragen. Hier aber handelt es sich um ein Kollektiv-Erlebnis, vorausgewußt, viele Male vorausbefürchtet – um etwas, das den Frauen links und rechts und nebenan zustieß, das gewissermaßen dazu gehörte. Diese kollektive Massenform der Vergewaltigung wird auch kollektiv überwunden werden. Jede hilft jeder, indem sie darüber spricht, sich Luft macht, der anderen Gelegenheit gibt sich Luft zu machen, das Erlittene auszuspeien. Was natürlich nicht ausschließt, das feinere Organismen als diese abgebrühte Berliner Göre daran zerbrechen oder doch auf Lebenszeit einen Knacks davontragen.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“These days I keep noticing how my feelings towards men - and the feelings of all the other women - are changing. We feel sorry for them; they seem so miserable and powerless. The weaker sex. Deep down we women are experiencing a kind of collective disappointment. The Nazi world - ruled by men, glorifying the strong man - is beginning to crumble, and with it the myth of "Man". In earlier wars men could claim that the privilege of killing and being killed for the fatherland was theirs and theirs alone. Today, we women, too, have a share. That has transformed us, emboldened us. Among the many defeats at the end of this war is the defeat of the male sex.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“Harte Arbeit, spärliches Brot - doch die alte Sonne a Himmel. Und vielleicht spricht das Herz noch einmal. Was habe ich alles gehabt in meinem Leben - überreichlich!”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“Soms wou ik, dat alles voorbij was. Dit zijn vreemde dagen. Je beleeft de geschiedenis uit de eerste hand, de dingen die later in de geschiedenisboekjes zullen staan. Maar van dichtbij lossen ze zich op in zorg en angst.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“I couldn't help thinking how good I'd had it, until now - the fact that love had always been a pleasure and never a pain. I had never been forced, nor had I ever had to force myself. Everything had been good the way it was.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“Der zweite russische Gast ist ein junger Kerl, siebzehn Jahre alt, Partisan gewesen und dann mit der kämpfenden Truppe westwärts gezogen. Er sieht mich mit streng gerunzelter Stirn an und fordert mich auf, zu übersetzen, daß deutsche Militärs in seinem Heimatdorf Kinder erstochen hätten und Kinder bei den Füßen gefaßt, um ihre Schädel an der Mauer zu zertrümmern. Ehe ich das übersetze frage ich: ‘Gehört? Oder selbst mit angesehen?’ Er, streng, vor sich hin: ‘Zweimal selber gesehen.’ Ich übersetze.

‘Glaub ich nicht’, erwidert Frau Lehmann. ‘Unsere Soldaten? Mein Mann? Niemals!’ Und Fräulein Behn fordert mich auf, den Russen zu fragen, ob die Betreffenden ‘Vogel hier’ (am Arm) oder ‘Vogel da’ (an der Mütze) hatten, das heißt, ob sie Wehrmacht waren oder SS. Der Russe begreift den Sinn der Frage sofort: den Unterschied zu machen, haben sie wohl in den russischen Dörfern gelernt. Doch selbst wenn es, wie in diesem Fall und ähnlichen Fällen, SS-Leute waren: Jetzt werden unsere Sieger sie zum ‘Volk’ rechnen und uns allen diese Rechnung vorhalten. Schon geht solches Gerede; ich hörte an der Pumpe mehrfach den Satz: ‘Unsere haben’s wohl drüben nicht viel anders gemacht.’

Schweigen. Wir starren alle vor uns hin. Ein Schatten steht im Raum. Das Baby weiß nichts davon. Es beißt in den fremden Zeigefinger, es kräht und quietscht. Mir steigt ein Klumpen in die Kehle. Das Kind kommt mir wie ein Wunder vor, rosa und weiß mit Kupferlöckchen blüht es in diesem wüsten, halb ausgeräumten Zimmer, zwischen uns verdreckten Menschen. Auf einmal weiß ich, warum es den Krieger zum Kindchen zieht.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“The most bitter thing in the life of a single woman is that every times she enters some kind of family life, after a while she ends up causing trouble: she's one too many, someone doesn't like her because someone else does, and in the end they kick her out to preserve the precious peace.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

“Ändå lockar livets mörka och förunderliga äventyr. Jag stannar nog kvar, om inte annat så av nyfikenhet, och eftersom det gläder mig att andas och känna mina friska lemmar.”
― quote from A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary

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