Swansong 1945 : a collective diary of the last days of the Third Reich
Title:
Swansong 1945 : a collective diary of the last days of the Third Reich
Publication Date as Range:
2014-2015
ISBN:
9780393248159
Uniform Title:
Echolot. English.
Edition:
First American edition.
Physical Description:
xxii, 479 pages ; 25 cm
General Note:
First published in Great Britain by Granta Books, 2014 as Swansong 1945: a collective diary from Hitler's last birthday to VE Day.--Title page verso.
Original German edition first published in 2005 as Das Echolot : Abgesang '45 Ein kollekitives Tagebuch by Albrecht Knaus Verlag, Munich.--Title page verso.
Contents:
Foreword / Alan Bance -- Preface / Walter Kempowski -- Editorial Note / Walter Kempowski -- Note on the English Translation -- List of Abbreviations -- Friday, 20 April 1945 -- Wednesday, 25 April 1945 -- Monday, 30 April 1945 -- Tuesday, 8 May/Wednesday, 9 May 1945 -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgements -- Sources 1. Published and broadcast sources -- 2. Archives and institutions -- Index.
Abstract:
This book chronicles the end of Nazi Germany and World War II in Europe through hundreds of letters, diaries, and autobiographical accounts covering four days that fateful spring: Hitler's birthday on April 20, American and Soviet troops meeting at the Elbe on April 25, Hitler's suicide on April 30, and finally the German surrender on May 8. Side-by-side are vivid first-person accounts of civilians fleeing Berlin, ordinary German soldiers determined to fight to the bitter end, American POWs dreaming of home, concentration camp survivors' first description of their horrific experiences, as well as the intimate thoughts of figures such as Eisenhower, Churchill, Stalin, Joseph Goebbels, and Hitler himself.
Geographic Term:
