PSYCHOLOGICAL LOOK AT THE
HOLOCAUST
Daniel, Chandler, Leianna, Johnathan, Jeremy
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF NAZI’S
FROM
THE HOLOCAUST:
• Brainwashing of German youth started at a very young age.
• Children were enrolled in Hitler Youth at the age of 10 to the age of 18.
• Once Hitler proclaimed that the Jews were the cause of all of Germany’s problems,
the Germans that went to the schools and youth groups did not doubt their
teachings.
• Hitler controlled what these children were taught in schools and in the youth
programs.
• They were taught to praise Hitler and his actions.
• They were taught to work hard for their country and for the better good of Germany.
• After the fall of Hitler, the majority of the young German soldiers did not realize there
was mass murder going on in the camps. They had to be physically shown. Most of
them broke down emotionally after witnessing the tragedies.
• The caused many of the soldiers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
• PTSD caused the soldiers to have lack of sleep, relive the events of the Holocaust, and
severe anxiety.
During the Holocaust:
• Psychopathological
disorders, or
undiagnosed mental
disorders.
• Jews experienced a
great sense of fear.
• Example: When
other Jews in the
camps began
disappearing and
no one knew where
they were going or
what was
happening to them.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS ON
JEWS FROM THE HOLOCAUST:
Many survivors say:
After the Holocaust:
they are “incapable of living life to
the fullest.”
Many survivors made efforts to create a
“new family.”
Experienced fear of separation.
They lost their
“much needed
spark to life.”
Fear of prolonged sickness.
Anxiety
Survivor’s Guilt
Depression
Restriction of emotions
Weakening of social skills
They are unable to “adapt to day to
day life.”
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Paranoia
Nightmares
Panic Attacks
COPING MECHANISMS
DOUBLING
The formation of a part-self which ultimately becomes an entirely separate
self which takes control under stressful or violent circumstances.
“ I WAS A DIFFERENT PERSON IN AUSCHWITZ. I REALLY
WAS. I WAS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON.
-Anonymous
Doubling allows for the transfer of conscience and guilt from one person to another. In other words, it
allows for the transfer of guilt from the conscious brain to the subconscious.
”
NAZI JUSTIFICATION
• Telling your self that the negative actions are for the greater good of your
society.
• Nazi doctors more specifically said that they were “killing in the name of
healing.”(healing the Nordic race) Because of that idea, they still saw
themselves as practicing doctors rather than the executioners that they
were.
ISSUED COPING MECHANISM
• An early version of crystal meth and
a cocaine based ADHD medication
called Pervitin were a standard
issued item.
• The Nazi soldiers believed they were
simply multi-vitamins.
DESERTION
• the action of illegally leaving the armed forces
• 300,000-400,000 deserters in the German army
• Rate of around 2%
• 35,000 of those soldiers were executed
TYPES OF MENTAL DISORDERS
• PTSD (4.3)
• Anxiety (3.6)
• Alcohol use disorders (3.5)
• Multiple Diagnoses (1.72)
• Drug Dependence (2.7)
WHY DID THEY DO IT?
“irrationality and hysteria became routine and illusions became transformed
into delusions. The delusional disorder assumed mass proportions”
(Dawidowitzc)
• Blind obedience to authority
• Social isolation& Emphasis on camaraderie (love not hate)
• Consequences if they did not comply
WHY THEY DID IT CONTINUED…
• Though Anti-Semitism was a large factor, the strong implementation of
comradeship played an even bigger role in the destruction of the Jewish
population.
• Though Germany’s defeat was eminent, interviewed Nazi soldiers said antiSemitism is not what fueled them. It was, in fact, the strong bonds they had
with their fellow soldiers which was reinforced by the NCO’s who were said to
be “the glue.”
• The fact that they operated in small groups instigated group pressure, and
group honor.
OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY
• Asch Experiment: people will conform to those around them even if they
think it is wrong
• Milgram experiment: people will obey those who they believe are in a
position of authority
• Elevator Experiment: people are primal creatures and strive to conform to
the group around them, whether they know them or not.
• Catholic Church supported Anti-Semitism
SOCIAL ISOLATION &
CAMARADERIE
• Group socialization-The reciprocal processes of norms, roles, and networks
by which group members adjust and adapt to one another
• Long-standing prejudice
• Viewed as “heroes”
• Militant group supports one another
CONSEQUENCES FOR SOLDIERS
• Execution
• Loved ones killed
• Looked down on by society
SURVIVORS LIVING IN ISRAEL
●
●
●
Several studies have been conducted and show that survivors living in Israel are able
to cope with the holocaust much better.
Researchers think that this is a result of the survivors being able to live around others
going through the same thing.
The research has also shown that there is no physical or cognitive thinking
differences between survivors living in Israel as opposed to other countries.
DEPRESSION
●
●
●
There were many survivors who immediately began experiencing depression when
they realized that the majority of their family had not survived.
Some survivors never showed any signs of depression until their 60's or 70's.
Immediately after the holocaust many survivors started to begin their new lives, so
this helped them to suppress the memories of the concentration camps. Years later
when these survivors retired from work they began to feel lonely, and began to
become depressed from thinking of memories of the holocaust.
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS
DISORDER
●
●
●
Almost 50% of survivors showed symptoms of PTSD.
One of the most common symptoms is “Numbness”, the survivor distances
themselves from other people and have difficulty experiencing emotions.
Many also developed sleeping disorders, usually caused by nightmares or flashbacks
relating to concentration camp life.
SURVIVOR SYNDROME
●
●
●
On study has showed that 43% of survivors suffered from survivor syndrome.
Many survivors that developed survivor syndrome have a difficult time interacting
with others. These survivors don't show interest in the future and they have a difficult
time trusting other adults.
Many suffer from reoccurring dreams or nightmares, some survivors also have
sudden flashbacks of events that happened in the camps.
EFFECTS ON THE GERMAN PEOPLE
●
●
●
68% of Germans were either afraid of their future, or were afraid of facing
punishment.
Around 40% of the German population felt guilty about the holocaust even if they
hadn't committed any crimes.
When polled 65% percent of German youth said they were ashamed of the crimes
their ancestors had committed in World War ll.
WORK CITED
• Wittchen HU, Schönfeld S, Kirschbaum C, Trautmann S, Thurau C, et al. (2013)
Rates of Mental Disorders Among German Soldiers Deployed to Afghanistan:
Increased Risk of PTSD or of Mental Disorders In General? J Depress Anxiety
2:133. doi: 10.4172/2167-1044.1000133
● http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/09/holocaust-survivors.aspx
● http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/survivors
/SurvivorPTSD_Andy05z.htm
• Wilson, John P., Zev Harel, and Boaz Kahana. Human Adaptation to Extreme
Stress: From the Holocaust to Vietnam. New York: Plenum, 1988. Print.
• Jensen, Olaf, and Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann. Ordinary People as Mass
Murderers: Perpetrators in Comparative Perspectives. Houndmills,
Balsingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print.
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