Russian (or Allied) accounts of Berlin, April 1945 to Potsdam

February 25, 2013 8:18 AM

Looking for memoirs or histories (or fiction, if necessary) of Berlin from the period between the April/May 1945 collapse to the Potsdam conference told from the Russian perspective. Also interested in the first Americans to show up and how they were or were not accommodated.

Additionally, American or other allied memoirs from that specific time and place, the more detailed and hands-on the better. Where the different levels of support staff lived, how they set up the Potsdam conference, what kinds of cooperation and awkwardness ensued.

Like The Good German, only non-fiction. (Or fiction, why not, if something really good is out there.)

posted by BWA to Grab Bag (3 answers total)

Leon Uris' Armegeddon isn't entirely, but is unfortunately mostly from the Ami's perspective.
posted by Rash at 4:49 PM on February 25, 2013

I Remember is a collection of interviews and accounts by Russian WWII veterans. Their Russian-language site is sortable by topic, which includes "Berlin." Some but not all of their accounts have been translated into English but their English-language site seems to be down right now. Otherwise, George Clare's Berlin Days is slightly later than the period you want (1946-47, I believe) but does provide a good sense of the complicated relationships between Allies, Germans, and Soviets during the period before the Wall went up.
posted by posadnitsa at 5:36 PM on February 25, 2013

David Stafford's Endgame: 1945 is more big-picture but it does contain some Berliners' stories, and Potsdam is about the time it ends.
posted by Rash at 7:14 PM on February 25, 2013