Fear and Panic in Nazi Concentration Camps: a Biosocial Evaluation of the Chronic Anxiety Syndrome

Res on the chronic traumatogenic anxiety syndrome, its clinical symptomatology, psychobiologic dynamics & psychosoc implications as present in 200 cases is reported. Most of these cases were given a total of 4 interviews, with several people undergoing from 60-80 psycho-therapeutic & explora...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of social psychiatry 1964-04, Vol.10 (2), p.134-141
Main Author: Trautman, Edgar C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Aggression
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Concentration Camps
Depression
Dreams
Fear
Fear/Fears
Humans
Jews
National Socialism
Nazi/Nazis/Nazism
Old Medline
Panic
Paranoid Disorders
Psychological Warfare
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Summary:Res on the chronic traumatogenic anxiety syndrome, its clinical symptomatology, psychobiologic dynamics & psychosoc implications as present in 200 cases is reported. Most of these cases were given a total of 4 interviews, with several people undergoing from 60-80 psycho-therapeutic & exploratory sessions each. The syndrome was caused by the soc mass experiment on human beings carried out in Nazi concentration camps. The anxiety symptoms were almost identical in all patients. The persecution procedure followed by the Nazis is detailed from a psychol'al point of view. Behavior reactions are examined. The odd response which the victim's irrational, hysterical-instinctive behavior sometimes evoked in the attacker is noted. A kind of nonverbal instinct COMM seems to exist between the animality of the aggressor &that of the subdued victim. The elements of the chronic anxiety syndrome produced in the survivors are described as consisting of nightmares, anxious expectations & torturing obsessions, frightening delusional & hallucinatory spells, paranoid aggressiveness & fits of violence, & a variety of psychosomatic reactions, eg, disturbances in the vasomotor system & dystonic irregularities of the intestinal organs, headaches, dizziness, & inability to concentrate. In all cases, physical examinations including X-rays disclosed no organic cause. Depressive reactions also occur. A psychobiologic evaluation of the chronic anxiety syndrome of survivors is presented. It is found to be connected with the dynamic of a traumatic or anxiety neurosis. The genesis of the syndrome is explained from a psychodynamic point of view. Some sociol'al considerations of the Nazi concentration camp experiment are offered. M. Maxfield.
ISSN:0020-7640
1741-2854
DOI:10.1177/002076406401000204