The diary of a 34-year-old female journalist named Marta Hillers begins in Berlin on Friday 20 April 1945. The day is Hitler’s birthday, and “the war is rolling towards Berlin” (15). The residents of Berlin worry about the Russians arriving from the east. Marta’s home has been bombed, and she now lives in a small attic apartment which belongs to a former colleague who has not contacted her in some time. She searches for anything to eat, drink, or burn but she finds little. One day, Marta finds a love letter belonging to the former tenant. She reads it and flushes it down the toilet. Marta hears that the milk supply has run dry, which means that children will die. She herself is starving so she eats whatever and whenever she can. People like Marta’s friend, Frau Weiers, spread rumors of starvation and rape, but people rarely talk in public. At night, Marta hides from the bombing in her basement shelter. She writes in her diary while the other residents worry about the structural integrity of the shelter.

On Saturday 21 April, bombs shake the walls of Marta’s building in the early hours of the morning. Fear begins to have a physical effect on Marta, but the act of writing in her diary helps to distract her from the danger.