Berlin

by Theodor Plievier, Gino D'Achille (Illustrator)

A city ripe for rape. The war in Europe is nearly over. From East and West the Allied armies are converging on the ruins of Berlin. Luftwaffe piolots are sent on suicide missions to ram enemy bombers. The Nazi leadership prepares for suicide. Those who try to flee the holocaust are turned back with threats and bullets. Soon Russian troops are in the city itself, mopping up pockets of fanatical resistance in desperate, bitter battles. They work over the city with a house-to-house coverage of looting, gunfire - and rape. Berlin's long apocalypse has begun...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, World War II, Germany, German Literature

478 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book when it came out in the Panther edition and it has stayed in my memory since. It's really a book in two parts, the first (almost three-quarters) being about the fall of Berlin in memorable descriptions of collapse, chaos and insane fanaticism followed by the return of the hero, Zecke, from Soviet imprisonment and working in East Berlin. Certain images from the book have stayed with me since that first reading over 40 years ago (perhaps it was my age?) and I still recall the opening line to the final section; "Zecke, Zecke, where is Zecke".

[Oscar Espejo Badiola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se me ha hecho larga, muy larga, no encuentro el motivo, pero así ha sido.
El tema es interesante, las otras novelas de la trilogía me han gustado, pero esta se ha alargado, no me ha aburrido, me ha resultado repetida en muchas cosas, los relojes, las violaciones, etc.
La novela consta de varias partes, la caída de Alemania con un Hitler acabado y totalmente ido, no sé si alguna vez no lo estuvo, el intento de salvarse cada uno como pueda, la llegada de los rusos y su "venganza" sobre todo hacia las mujeres y por último la política y la vergonzosa división de Berlín a manos de la URSS.
Pero repito, se me ha hecho larga.

[James Varney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much of this is great. Plievier is superb in describing combat and living through both it’s terror and hellish aftermath.

[Konstantinos Kousis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reveals that war doesn't end when bullets stop fire.
Savior isn't necessary a good guy