Theme of Research
The theme of this research is the concentration camp for women in St. Lambrecht in Upper Styria, Austria. This concentration camp is remarkable because its group of inmates consisted exclusively of Bible Students. My scientific interest goes out to both the historical and psychological viewpoints because they are intertwined with the Holocaust history which is responsible for the collective as well as the individual trauma.
The starting point is a specific concentration camp situation with certain characteristics which had a concrete impact on the imprisoned Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ve assumed that the members of this group were able to maintain their spiritual and moral integrity but at the same time were injured mentally and physically.
In this context, questions pertaining to the specific characteristics of the women’s concentration camp at St. Lambrecht are answered, such as: how did the experiences of the inmates differ from the experiences of the inmates of the main camp Ravensbrück? What can be said about the difference of resistance in the concentration camps? And what was the purpose of the work to which the Bible Students were forced? The establishment of the women’s concentration camp seems to have no connection with the establishment of the men’s concentration camp a year earlier, and so the question arises: what reasons could there have been for establishing the women’s camp and what effect did it have on the men’s concentration camp?
In advance it may be stated that, the homogeneity of St. Lambrecht concentration camp inmates is an important feature which lastingly influenced the psychological situation of the individual Bible Students. My psychological presentation of the question chiefly concerns signs of identity breach and effects of traumatic experiences, given the individual’s history. What will also be reviewed is how they were psychologically processed during captivity and after liberation. How the survivors viewed the differences from the main camp is also important to ascertain.
Considering this query, the microcosm of the concentration camp will be reconstructed and thus provide insight into this thesis. No research has been carried out on observations of the women’s camp from the outside, for instance by the local population, because they were not relevant to the answers of the research queries.
After the description of the sources and methods of research, in chapter 1 a short overview is provided of the religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses and their religious doctrine, the origin of their organisation and the history of their persecution during National Socialism. Because the entire group of prisoners that was transferred to the so-called work camp in Styria came from the women’s concentration camp at Ravensbrück, chapter 2 deals with the situation in the main camp and specifically that of the Bible Students who were later added to the transport list for St. Lambrecht. This description is an important and necessary facet for gaining insight into the traumatisation of those concerned who underwent specific stages.
The following chapter (3) will define the history of the monastery at St. Lambrecht being seized by the National Socialists who seized it to be used as an SS estate. Also discussed will be the board appointed by the military authority and the establishment of the men’s concentration camp St. Lambrecht, because these affairs are directly connected to the women’s concentration camp and therefore consequential to this context.
Chapter 4 will, insofar as oral and written source material allows, reconstruct the history of the women’s camp as accurately as possible. The life stories of all 23 former inmates of St. Lambrecht in chapter 5 will be a monument to these victims of the Nazi regime. None of the women ought to be forgotten, even if there is only a little biographic material available on a few of them.
Chapter 6 will outline the relationship between the views on traumatization in the concentration camps and chapter 7 will deal with the results of the interviews.
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