Results
This last chapter will connect the approaches developed in the preceding chapters. To begin with, a summary of the historical information about St. Lambrecht women’s concentration camp is given. Then the psychological situation during incarceration in St. Lambrecht and in the main camp at Ravensbrück will be discussed, as well as the psychological and physical impact on the imprisoned women, chiefly extracted from the descriptive biographical interviews. Besides getting answers to the investigative questions, the psychological focus was on the damage to the prisoners’ physique and their psyche. Therefore, the results must be compared with the previous chapter’s description of the psychoanalytical theories about trauma caused by incarceration in a concentration camp. In conclusion it will be made clear from a psychoanalytical viewpoint whether the thesis about the victims maintaining their spiritual and moral integrity can be verified or whether this must be put into perspective or proved false.1The statements on this subject are also insights gained from self-found oral history-data. Only three interviews could be conducted with women from among the victims. Thus, the results may be regarded as a descriptive overview of the traumatic camp experiences of a few individuals that cannot be applied to the collective in a generalising way.
Establishment of the concentration camp for women in St. Lambrecht in mid-1943 took place in a time period in which the SS started to take a greater interest in the economic use of ‘human capital’ from their concentration camps. The reasons for transferring a small group of female prisoners to a place where there was already a concentration camp for men, were mainly based on the increased need for so-called typical women’s work to be carried out by the female prisoners. By having women doing kitchen work, cleaning jobs, gardening and agricultural and forestry jobs, full use could be made of the labour force of male prisoners for so-called men’s work, construction jobs in the village of Eben, the Verwalter’s villa, or for constructing the sewage system. That was the reason that the entire male prison group, without exception all craftsmen, was transferred from Mauthausen to the sub camp St. Lambrecht and then put to work according to their profession. Setting up the concentration camp for women meant that the male prisoners were withdrawn from work that was physically less taxing and had less access to jobs which provided better food, such as in the kitchen or gardening.
There were often guests in the monastery, which could be a further explanation for the request for female prisoners, seeing that the feminine qualities of greater social skills and greater cleanliness are typically attributed to women. The reason for choosing this persecuted religious group was that the SS perceived the female Bible Students’ qualities of being diligent, willing and trustworthy labourers, as long as there were no conflicts of faith connected to the work involved. That was never the case in St. Lambrecht, because the women were never put to work in the nearby dynamite factory. The labour of the Jehovah’s Witnesses served to help Verwalter Hubert Erhart to achieve his ambitious plans. The SS estate already had barred rooms, making it quick and easy to set up accommodation for a small group of female prisoners, separated from the concentration camp for men.
The SS already had a huge staff shortage by 1943. That is probably one of the reasons for choosing the group of Bible Students, who needed only very little guarding. Guard duty was not considered necessary, and the presence of a female SS guard was only a formality. None of the Bible Students would plan to escape – their reputation was well-known.
Based on the above, it is clear that the concentration camp for women served only economic interests. Because of the importance of their work the female Bible Students received relatively better treatment even though they were exploited. In the final years of the war, the labour potential of prisoners also decreased noticeably as a result of the extermination program of the Nazi camp system. The ‘trustworthy female Bible Students’ were less and less available as forced labour. This was clear from the request for more female prisoners in 1944, which was apparently rejected, because there were no more additions to this group of prisoners.
The defensive position of the SS in St. Lambrecht regarding the return of sick prisoners to the main camp, probably arose from their wish to maintain their allotted number of prisoners. A decrease in the number of prisoners by transporting them back to the main camp, with no hope of replacements, had evidently to be prevented. This could well be the explanation as to why the camp doctor and the local doctor in the village of St. Lambrecht were called in to attend to the sick Bible Students. The desire for a quick recovery of the sick female prisoners is fully explained by the law of logic behind an exploitative forced labour system.
Economic exploitation was obviously given priority in the women’s concentration camp. The importance of a labour force and the lack of this specifically female ‘reservoir of prisoner labour’, by which the economic interests were served and the subsequent increase of the SS Standartenführer Hubert Erhart’s power having been achieved, explains the better living conditions in comparison with the main camp in Ravensbrück or Mauthausen. Better care as regards nutrition, treatment or medical aid was not based on a more humane mindset of the SS staff but was due to the economic aims of the camp leadership.
The homogeneity of the group of prisoners, being exclusively Jehovah’s Witnesses, had a positive effect on the mental and moral state of the individual women. All concerned described the atmosphere within the group as being ‘pleasant’ and ‘relaxed’. The companionable sense of solidarity of belonging to an independent entity with set standards, contributed to the social development of character. Separation within the group was unnecessary as none of the female prisoners had been persecuted by the Nazis for any other reason, for instance political reasons. Bible Students were therefore not confronted with summons to participate in political resistance. Thus, it was necessary only to establish boundaries towards the outside world, in the form or resistance to the oppression of the Nazi regime. Particularly in St. Lambrecht concentration camp, but also in Ravensbrück women’s concentration, the Bible Students succeeded in committing active opposition, such as by their efforts to convert the civilian staff working in the kitchen. The female Jehovah’s Witnesses did not tolerate abuse by the exploitative SS for activities that would go against their convictions, such as any war support efforts. The prisoner’s group refusing to do work such as ‘angora rabbit breeding’ or in the ‘vegetable garden’ in Ravensbrück resulted in severe punishment, but even this could not daunt these women in their conviction. Their opposition to the Nazi regime was also shown by their smuggling Bibles and religious literature into both concentration camps. While relocating a vast library on the SS estate, they stole several Bibles and hid them in the camp2WTA Emmen, interview Hoogers-Elbertsen, Jans, 30-08-1993. to be used on their free days for their religious book study.
Jehovah’s Witnesses in St. Lambrecht even succeeded in obtaining provisions for celebrating the so-called Memorial.3Bread and wine. They had violated the rule forbidding contact with the local population and were able to determine the correct date4The ‘Memorial’ must be celebrated on a specific day of the year. and managed to get the necessary provisions.
Apparently, there was no great rivalry within the group by the one having more agreeable work than the other. The Bible Students carrying out the more agreeable tasks – mostly work indoors – smuggled food for the others into the camp, thereby running the huge risk of being punished.
The Bible Students never took on prison jobs such as that of ‘block senior’. They opposed every attempt of the Nazis to use them as an instrument for the advancement of the concentration camp system.
On issues of faith the members of this group of prisoners relied on the opinion of two sisters in the faith who were recognized as being so-called anointed ones. When possible, these anointed sisters were relieved of their duties by the other group members. That is to say, the other Bible Students did their work when the opportunity arose. The ‘anointed’ could thus take time to put their interpretation of the Bible down in writing.5WTA Emmen, interview Hoogers-Elbertsen, Jans, 30-08-1993. By committing these words to paper, important beliefs were preserved so that the entire group was fortified and provided with ‘spiritual food’.
The incarcerated Jehovah’s Witnesses were able to uphold their spiritual and moral integrity because they were in a position to live up to the requirements of their faith and could thereby satisfy the goals of the Superego. The assumption is thus established that the spiritual and moral integrity were maintained as a stabilising factor. At the same time, the Bible Students could not evade the psychological damage inflicted by the camp experiences. Likewise, the physical damage is a reminder of the suffering and the undeniable trait of having been victims of the Nazi regime.
The stages of trauma (Keilson) began for the female Jehovah’s Witnesses with persecution and arrest by the Gestapo or by those in collaboration with the Nazi regime in areas occupied by Hitler’s Germany. These women had been wrested from their families and their daily social activities. The situation arose where the victims, if they wished to remain true to their faith, were helplessly at the mercy of their oppressors. Most of the Bible Students arrested had been in several prisons during their incarceration and had been subjected to various methods of interrogation designed to break the faith of these women in their religious conviction. The conditions in the prisons, often typified by the appalling hygiene and scanty food rations,6WTA Emmen, interview Hoogers-Elbertsen, Jans, 30-08-1993. along with the transport to concentration camps, left an indelible mark on the victims’ psyche. ‘To be transported like cattle in an open wagon’7PA, interview Huisman, Gerdina, 15-10-2002; Hoogers-Elbertsen, Jans, 16-10-2002. is dehumanising and degrading for the victims, causing a permanent breach of identity with the Ego. Physical damage showed up plainly in these first stages of traumatisation. The victims’ high stress level arising from the inability to adjust psychosocially to the period of incarceration, led to an immunobiological weakening of the physique that, in addition to an inadequate diet, thus lowered resistance to infectious diseases.
All former camp prisoners described the Aufnahmeschock8Shock of admission. (Frankl) upon entering the concentration camp at Ravensbrück. At that moment, if it had not already happened, this intimidating experience of an inconceivable new life situation destroyed all uniqueness necessary for individualism. The concentration camp system humiliated new prisoners by forcing them to undress for disinfection in front of the male SS guards who openly watched and inspected them. Having to stand naked in front of strange men with power over the victims, is a demonstration of male oppression of all that is human and feminine and was perceived as a perplexing violation of the rules of moral boundaries.
These women told of crying fits and sleep disorders which are symptoms of the heightened activation of the sympathetic nervous system due to their incarceration at Ravensbrück. The group of victims also told me about the traumatic circumstances of being starved, the hardship of forced labour, constantly expecting one’s own death or of losing friends by ‘selection’ or by torture. When Sophie Hemmink was transported to Auschwitz to die in a gas chamber, the conviction of the Bible Students, that the Other Person must have humane feelings, was shattered. By this loss, one member of the group fell into a severe depression, that did not lift in St. Lambrecht concentration camp.
The victims of camp Ravensbrück were exposed to the ‘realistic psychotic cosmos’ that became the very essence of the traumatic experiences. The harsh punishment of ‘the bunker’ made any attachment to human existence seem unreal. The goal was to destroy the identity of the individual.
That the efforts of the Nazis against the group of Bible Students proved futile, can be attributed to their survival strategy. In the first place, the meaning of suffering individually was exclusively related to their religious conviction, for which the Jehovah Witnesses were willing to give their life.
Furthermore, the mindset of being part of a social group that shared the above-mentioned values, provided mutual support and a sense of security and solidarity. The collective identity, marked by a specific triangle, that the female prisoners derived from being part of the group of Bible Students, could not be destroyed by the concentration camp system.
Their communal faith also made it possible to develop friendships during incarceration, because the faith served as a basis for trust in personal relationships. Developing a social network prevented destruction of the inner bond. Through the integrity and mutual assistance shown by others in the faith, their confidence in the religious collective was strengthened. One example was when the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Ravensbrück took the huge risk of smuggling adequate food to their sister in the faith, who was in the hospital barrack with typhoid. By doing so, they saved her life. Finding that this action actually worked, seeing what they had accomplished, must have prevented feelings of being completely helpless.
The group I researched will have experienced a certain amount of psycho-emotional demoralisation – in response to the increase of sympathetic activity of the nervous system – to have been able to withstand the persistent mental and physical strain of hunger, exploitative labour and sickness. The state of complete indifference and sheer apathy described by Viktor Frankl, seems not to have occurred in the group of women in my research. In my view, this is explained by the individual purpose in life, which raised the camp experiences to a trial of faith.
The Bible Students could prevent the narcissistic emptiness (total loss of self-love) in two ways. Firstly, there was the stabilising memory of good experience prior to the period of persecution and repression. Self-love was then also retained through object binding by staying in touch with their sisters in the faith. This also prevented the destruction of the inner Self.
Automatic actions that only serve to satisfy primitive needs were not developed, as maintaining their social relationships prevented this and they took care that their behaviour was meaningful. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were also not overcome by ‘cultural hibernation’. Of all the various groups of prisoners, they had the most dynamic cultural perception by their being active members of their faith. By their acts of faith, they could ward off the destruction of their identity that the Nazis aimed for. As has already been established, they could preserve their spiritual and moral integrity because they managed to meet the demands of a psychological structure, that of the Super Ego.
On the other hand, the demands of the Ego and the Id had to be drastically blocked, because it was impossible to satisfy these demands within the camp system. The Jehovah’s Witnesses preserved the possibility of getting rid of suppressed aggression – that represents the driving force of the Id structure – by hard work, in a manner socially acceptable to the group. One example of this was their impeccable cleaning of the model barrack. That had a positive effect on the structure of the psyche. This psychological fact may have escaped the notice of the Nazi powers. At any rate, they could not properly psychologically interpret the disciplined actions of the female Jehovah’s Witnesses in this respect.
Gender specific needs obviously went unfulfilled under the camp system and moreover, could not be sufficiently sublimated. This was apparent in the development of amenorrhoea,9Failing of the monthly menstruation. whereby the body reacts pathophysiologically to the persistent psychological strain. Apparently, conditions improved in St. Lambrecht concentration camp. The victims tell of their menstruation periods returning while imprisoned there.
The executions that took place in the roll call area at Ravensbrück, are the trauma experiences that remain engraved in the memories of those who were forced to attend them. In this case, we are talking about damage to the Ego structure. It was impossible for the witnesses of the murder of their fellow prisoners to react in any manner, for instance by undertaking any action or even just removing themselves from the confrontation (transfer of their own will). The individual is thereby robbed of the possibility of meeting the demands of the Ego, which adapts itself to the actual social environment. Such incidents could also disable the Ego’s defence mechanisms and have a devastating effect on parts of the psychological structure.
The psychological trauma experienced by the Bible Students was likely worse at the women’s concentration camp at Ravensbrück than at St. Lambrecht, as far as one can make a comparison here. In any event, the Jehovah’s Witnesses destined for St. Lambrecht faced better living conditions – the reasons for this have been pointed out earlier. In St. Lambrecht the women were allowed at least a little privacy through having their own beds and a personal space in a chest of drawers. Of essential importance was the increased predictability of the events at St. Lambrecht, which led to better living conditions. This resulted in the lessening of the psychological strain and stress, and in conjunction with this, the reactions of the vegetative nervous system also normalized.
The limited group size in the sub camp also proved to have a positive influence on the psychological state of the individual women. This made it possible for the women to get to know each other better and to build more intense relationships with new persons, which in turn helped keep narcissism (love of Self) in check and brought out their existing social competences.
I perceived the consequences of camp imprisonment at St. Lambrecht particularly in the physiological damage and injuries due to physical exploitation. The main goal at St. Lambrecht was to enforce the greatest amount of work while providing as little food as possible. Even though the quality and quantity of food was much better than that at Ravensbrück, still it was insufficient in amount and diversity for the women who performed physically hard labour. It is significant the oedema and the frequent recurrence of infectious diseases developed among these prisoners. This is attributed to the physical effects of the meagre diet. The immunosuppressive consequences of the stress of living in a camp may well be the cause of boils and tooth decay.
The third phase of trauma according to Keilson, applies to the living conditions in camp St. Lambrecht. This phase is characterised by using up the last available energy resources.
Just how deeply the camp structure is ingrained into an individual’s life, is apparent from the change in behaviour affected by the trauma: for several days the Bible Students turned up for roll call, even after their liberation.10PA, interview Huisman, Gerdina, 15-10-2002. This caught the attention of the cloister pharmacist, who could not sympathise with such behaviour. The pharmacist’s anger relates to the voluntarily appearing for roll call after liberation. In consequence, this event has remained in the memories of those involved. According to Erikson, analogous to the development of identity theory, this collective behaviour could point to a stagnation. The Bible Students identified themselves with their role as prisoners even beyond liberation. The traumatic experience caused a change in behaviour, because it would have been more logical to immediately cease any behaviour that had been enforced by the Nazi regime.
Liberation from camp imprisonment was seen by Jehovah’s Witnesses as a triumph by their God over evil. Tolerating the inhumane circumstances was considered a trial of faith which they had overcome because they had remained loyal to their God as well as to their beliefs.
For that matter, liberation did not end the traumatic circumstances for the Bible Students. The journey back home, that occurred in several long stages, was typified by stopovers in Displaced Persons Camps. The Bible Students encountered humiliation there too, for example, by being examined for sexually transmitted diseases.11PA, interview Berkers, Toos, 16-10-2002. Diseases delayed the journey for some12Sjaan Pronk got an appendicitis; Gerdina Huisman got a severe laryngitis during the journey home, so that for weeks after her arrival in the Netherlands she could only communicate by writing. and testifies to the bad state of health of the Jehovah’s Witnesses after liberation from the camp.
The survivors of concentration camps Ravensbrück and St. Lambrecht interviewed by me, were also later diagnosed with the consequences of trauma, such as Horie describes for cognition, feelings, actions and physical functions. They make mention of nightmares, from which the victims awoke in panic with a pounding heart, inducing flashbacks. These are scenes from their time spent in Ravensbrück. They also mention frequently recurring thoughts about their time in the camp.
Increased tension, described as a ‘too tightly wound up spring’ or an ‘alarm clock wound up too tightly’,13PA, interview Huisman, Gerdina, 15-10-2002. points to lasting damage to the Id structure. The urge to scream loudly is also caused by damage to part of the Id. It serves as a channel or outlet of the subconscious, cooped-up anger caused by the traumatic experience of camp life. Increased jumpiness and nervousness that have negatively influenced the rest of their lives, can also be attributed to the emotional regulation disorders caused by trauma.
The shaken social world order, that mainly originated at Ravensbrück camp, where the victims were subjected to an unpredictable social environment in the form of the Nazi machinery, also caused disorders of self-perception and of how other persons were viewed. These in turn influenced the bond between mother and child and caused the victims to feel unable to be a ‘normal’ mother after their camp experiences. This emotion seemed to be related to a pervasive sense of guilt that targeted their offspring. The survivors tried to put this feeling into words and explained that they wondered whether it had been better if their children had never been born to a woman who had survived two prison camps. Thereby they expressed their inner aimlessness that is present as a feeling but cannot be reflected because it hinders awareness.
The victims also report somatic symptoms in different parts of the body, which are also related to the trauma due to the camp experiences.
The Dutch fellow-survivors visited each other frequently. Most of them, as well as the Belgian, spent several vacations in the area of St. Lambrecht.
In this respect, in accordance with Freud, we can speak of an activation of the death instinct that repeatedly compelled the victims to visit the place of their trauma and to seek contact with fellow survivors. Seeking their presence in order to relive the identity of a camp prisoner, stems from a subconscious attempt to explain and process the trauma suffered. This aspect of the social identity is also evident in the documents that were kept from the time spent in the camp or, for example, still using a sewing kit that was made in camp St. Lambrecht. These things were integrated as a reminder of this most stressful time of their lives.
In conclusion we can say that the Bible Students of camp St. Lambrecht were first of all given support by their religious community when they were rebuilding their lives after returning to their home country. In particular, they received social help from those who shared their religious norms and values. This was a main contribution towards being able to process the traumatic experiences. The women who survived were also relatively quickly acknowledged in the Netherlands, as well as in Belgium, as having been victims of the Nazi regime. Most of them were granted a disability pension.
The women who returned to East Germany quickly became victims of a suppressive political system for a second time. During the first years after the war, Jehovah’s Witnesses there were granted the status of ‘victims of fascism’. This was soon revoked, just as the allocation of ‘compensation’ that the DDR had paid out to persons persecuted by the Nazis. The religious community was banned by the DDR authorities on 31 August 1950. The Ministry of Home Affairs justified the prohibition with the accusation that Jehovah’s Witnesses were engaging in activities that were against the law. They were also accused of conducting a systematic witch hunt against the existing democratic order and its laws, under the cover of a religious organisation, and of importing illegal literature. The foremost reproach was that Jehovah’s Witnesses were spies for an imperialistic power. In the first few days after the ban, already more than five hundred members were arrested. Others were forced to sign a written confirmation of no longer associating with the religious community. Many former camp prisoners were affected by this. The court sentenced 674 female Jehovah’s Witnesses in the DDR for anti-state activities, espionage and propounding so-called negative war propaganda between 1950 and 1961. The persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the DDR ended only after forty years, when the ban was lifted in 1990. Those persecuted, who had been branded persecutors, received formal recognition from the state on 14 March 1990.14See Garbe 1998, p. 306 ff and Garbe 1999a, p. 543.
In West Germany the focus was primarily on the re-integration of former National Socialists in the first years after the war. They were responsible for governance, war industry and the army. In a country where the population refused to remember and denial dominated, there was less attention given to the rehabilitation of the Nazi victims. The BRD paid little attention to the fate of Jehovah’s Witnesses that had been persecuted by the Nazis, also in terms of compensation. In principle, Jehovah’s Witnesses had the right to claim compensation under the provisions of law, which states in the first Section that those who had been persecuted ‘based on religion’, had the right to file a claim. However, such compensation was usually never awarded to Jehovah’s Witnesses or their next of kin, who had been convicted because of conscientious objection.
Not until 1997 did the German Bundestag15Parliament. adopt a motion which declared conviction for conscientious objection unlawful and promised the victims a one-off benefit. In West Germany, there was the non-recognition as Nazi victims, while in East Germany, Jehovah’s Witnesses were being persecuted.16See Garbe 1999a, p. 543 and Garbe 1998, pp. 303-306.
The temporary state government in Austria adopted the first law on victim care on 17 July 1945. In this first version they differentiated between victims who had actively committed political resistance and those who had ‘only’ been persecuted. An official statement which made it possible to claim a pension, was reserved only for those who had ‘fought using a weapon or were unconditionally committed in word or deed’ for an independent Austria. Proof of having been a victim of persecution was provided for those victims, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, but the benefits were next to nothing, except for a small tax advantage. Pension rights were only gradually given to the victims of persecution. The differences that arose immediately after the war between victims who had been persecuted on account of resistance and victims who had only been persecuted, still exist to this day. Providing evidence for the cause of physical or psychological damage is, down to this day, a major hurdle for the victims for attaining their victim status.17See Bailer-Galander 2003, pp. 110-114.
Summarised, it can be established that in many areas my findings were congruent with the literature about trauma due to incarceration in concentration camps.
Maintaining spiritual integrity was proof of an intact moral strength which the destructive Nazi powers were unable to get a grip on, particularly for the collective of the female Jehovah’s Witnesses.
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