A Woman in Berlin, an anonymous memoir later attributed to journalist Marta Hillers, is essential if you're curious about this topic. As you might imagine, this is not a comfortable read. She and her neighbors watch the war wash over them like a wave in April-May 1945. Little enough changed once their building became Soviet territory. They were bombed out and hungry, and that did not change until the fighting stopped. But civilians began fraternizing and finding common ground with their occupiers immediately, and fear gave way to relief in many instances. Of course for the women it turned into a nightmare, and the drama of the story centers on the author attempting to keep a Soviet Major as her boyfriend in order to ward off sexual assaults from lower ranking soldiers.

Otherwise, life ground on. Rations were distributed, meals were shared. People drank. And as soon as was possible, people found their way back to old offices and began picking up the pieces. Actually, it is remarkable how soon people began going about their business again.

It is also a fascinating document of the sorts of rumors flying around Germany at the time. Notably, that Franz von Papen was flying back from Turkey to take over the government and negotiate with the allies.