Elisabeth is the daughter of an innkeeper who marries
Hugo, a film director at the ministry of propaganda. From 1933 to 1945 she
records different events of her life in Germany, in her diary. In this novel
various phases of her life; as a wife, mother and as a German national are
covered. It covers the time period when Hilter comes to power in Germany and is
bent on expanding the German empire.
At some places in the book she could not cover all
the details and at other one can find entries missing for a large number of
days or in some cases weeks. In her diary which has later been arranged into a
novel in form of this book, she has mentioned events which seem very awkward to
modern day reader. For instance in those days girls who were thought to have
slept with Jews had to get their heads shaved. Jews were considered sub-human
and were not allowed to stay in hotels.
In addition to that the German propaganda was at its
height as a special cross was given to German mothers with high fertility. In
another case Elisabeth has mentioned that there was a ban on cosmetics
production in Germany and most of the resources were diverted to the war machinery.
Elisabeth used to attend parties and met top Nazi party officials. She meets
Goering and later also has an affair with Dr Goebbels to help her husband’s
career.
But as the war progressed Elisabeth saw the fall of
Berlin in the Second World War. Hugo had already developed a conflict with
Goebbels and was later killed by the Nazis, as he was found to be involved in a
plot on Hitler’s life. Hugo and Elisabeth’s son Michael gets lost in Germany as
he intends to defend Germany at a very young age and leaves home. Later on
Elisabeth marries an American businessman and moves to Texas.
Her diary
presents a clear picture of the life in the times of the Nazi Party and the
atrocities committed by them in the name of German Nationalism.
