Anonymity and Its Collective Nature: The Narrative of "A Woman in Berlin" Kayla McKinnon College

The book, A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City, written by an anonymous female, focuses on the social history during the capture of Berlin by the Red Army in 1945 and how it led to violent acts of rape against Berlin women. The end of World War II left most of Germany, including Berlin, in shambles. This left German civilians, who were mostly women, on their own and fighting to survive in the most basic ways. This story focuses on women in Berlin, who were at the mercy of the Red Army and had to endure pervasive rapes by Soviet soldiers. The author, along with many other women, had to come up with plans to both survive and cope with the difficulties that were placed on them in the conquered city. As the progress of the text demonstrates, the, author’s choice of anonymity adds to the book as a historical source, due to its ability to collectively represent the experience of the other one hundred thousand [1] women raped in Berlin.

The end of World War II left Berlin destroyed but most importantly lawless. Women were defenseless against the Soviet Army, which embodied a large number of men who chose to occupy themselves with violent sexual acts. In her journal, anonymous illuminates the vastness of the issue and...