This is an extraordinary account of a Russian princess's life in Berlin during WWII. The author spent part of her time there as a translator for the German Foreign Ministry and hers is a rare account of life in Berlin during the bombings. Much more interesting is the picture she paints of the Old Germany. The old aristocracy was viewed with suspicion by the Nazis yet they served their country in the fashion of all citizens of Europe when war came to them. The reports of individuals going off to officer training, being posted to the Eastern Front, or losing their sons or friends would sound like those in British or American memoirs if the names were merely changed to something more familiar like Smith and Jones. The appearance of SS officials as department heads was, among other things, a source of unease among many educated Germans who were not Nazis. None were happy about the war's start and Ms. Vasilltchikov even reports the sadness that some of them felt when they learned of the loss of life on HMS Hood. If you think that Germans were Nazis to the last man this book is not for you. For the rest of us it is a warning what happens when government power is acquired by zealots and psychopaths. People with ordinary sensibilities love their country without a deep understanding of its politics. In the 20th century, especially, millions of Europeans and Russians simply could not imagine the degree to which their national governments had become or would become utterly depraved. The underlying decency of some, many, or most citizens was an irrelevancy. We are on the threshhold of being retaught this lesson, blind as we are to the reality that many millions of people could care less about the achievements of Western civilization. Think "hate speech" laws.Read full review
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