Sensitive Topics, Sensitive Reception. War, Gender, and Cultural Encounter in Marta Hillers’ War Diary, A Woman in Berlin

Abstract

This paper analyzes the war diary of the writer and journalist Marta Hillers, who witnessed the advent of the Red Army’s occupation of Berlin in 1945. Following the disputes surrounding the diary upon both anonymous German publications in 1959 and 2003, this paper examines the different historical and cultural expectations towards women’s war diaries at the two points in time. Furthermore, this paper reflects on the scientific and critical criteria of such concepts as authenticity and their genderbiased applications to male and female diaristic texts. Comparing the manuscript and published texts, meanwhile, the concept of authenticity is analyzed in relation to the technical features of Hillers’ work. Within the reception of the published work, national reception similarly appears at play. No discussion of the authenticity of Hillers’ diary arose abroad, where the book enjoyed popularity from 1959 onwards. In stark contrast, German historians continue to attack the status of the diary. As such, this paper additionally analyzes the potential extents to which this notable difference in reception results from the diary’s consideration of topics still tabooed in Germany : mass rape and fraternization with the Russians. Hillers’ interpretation of the arrival of the enemy’s army in terms of a cultural encounter, strongly inspired by Oswald Spengler’s theory of history, is shown to reverse traditional gender roles, relegating German men to mere bystanders of historical events.