08-02-2012, 06:10 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-02-2012, 06:26 AM by Adele Edisen.)
Jan,
I just finished reading all of your posts. Thank you for all that. It's ovewhelming. Seems that the CIA, Army, etc. have duplicated and even gone far beyond what the Nazis and other fascists had done. The Nazis achieved powerful control over people in their concentration camps. Not many inmates tried to escape or resist, and only a few guards (armed, of course) were needed to control hundreds of prisoners. Why weren't there more attempts to resist or escape?
Bruno Bettelheim, in his book, THE INFORMED HEART, seemed to think that the effects of starvation, humiliation, and dehuminization effects of life in these camps kept people from
even trying to escape or resist. He made an interesting observation, though, based on ckass origins of the prisoners. Those from the comfortable upper and middle classes were most adversely affected by camp life, more likely to become "the walking dead" zombie-like creatures. Those from the working classes and less fortunate stations in life fared better, perhaps because they had experienced stresses in life and had repeatedly overcome deprivations. Those who had an understanding of the political nature of their imprisonment, the socialists and commmunists, seemed to do better - possibly being the ones most likely to have plans and goals for their life, or plans to fight back somehow.
Viktor Frankl, another psychologist who specialized in treating the mental problems of survivors of the concentration camps, noted that those who had a purpose for living and future plans had a healtier prognosis than did those who pitied themselves and sunk into deep depressions with no goals or purpose. He himself had also been imprisoned in a concentration camp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
Adele
I just finished reading all of your posts. Thank you for all that. It's ovewhelming. Seems that the CIA, Army, etc. have duplicated and even gone far beyond what the Nazis and other fascists had done. The Nazis achieved powerful control over people in their concentration camps. Not many inmates tried to escape or resist, and only a few guards (armed, of course) were needed to control hundreds of prisoners. Why weren't there more attempts to resist or escape?
Bruno Bettelheim, in his book, THE INFORMED HEART, seemed to think that the effects of starvation, humiliation, and dehuminization effects of life in these camps kept people from
even trying to escape or resist. He made an interesting observation, though, based on ckass origins of the prisoners. Those from the comfortable upper and middle classes were most adversely affected by camp life, more likely to become "the walking dead" zombie-like creatures. Those from the working classes and less fortunate stations in life fared better, perhaps because they had experienced stresses in life and had repeatedly overcome deprivations. Those who had an understanding of the political nature of their imprisonment, the socialists and commmunists, seemed to do better - possibly being the ones most likely to have plans and goals for their life, or plans to fight back somehow.
Viktor Frankl, another psychologist who specialized in treating the mental problems of survivors of the concentration camps, noted that those who had a purpose for living and future plans had a healtier prognosis than did those who pitied themselves and sunk into deep depressions with no goals or purpose. He himself had also been imprisoned in a concentration camp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
Adele