Contents
Based on the article by Maksimov M., On the verge — and beyond. Human behavior in extreme conditions, the journal «Knowledge is Power», 1988, N 3, p. 73-79.
Source vikent.ru
Comments by Maksimov M.
Maksimov M. On the edge — and beyond it. Human behavior in extreme conditions, the journal «Knowledge is Power», 1988, N 3, p. 73-79.
According to the observations of Bruno Bettelheim, all prisoners in the concentration camp could be divided into three groups according to how they reacted to external circumstances: “In the first group, place those who could best resist the camp, in the second — those who are worse, in the third is even worse […] here is the answer given by life.
In the last group officials of all kinds and stripes. For them, the main thing in life is a uniform, regalia, ranks, and the attitude of the authorities. That is, all life values are external. Once in the camp, they instantly lose all this and find themselves naked. The main advantage of an official — the ability to obey — here turns against him. And as a result, the rapid disintegration of personality.
In second place are deeply religious people. This is understandable — in normal life they were engaged in the improvement of their souls. They have faith, and you can take it with you to the camp. And there it can even be strengthened. Believers in the camp try to stick together, help each other and support other prisoners.
In the first place — people for whom honor is much more important than life. In the old days, these were aristocrats, now — I find it difficult to find the right word, let it be «aristocrats of the spirit.»
Commentary by Erich Fromm
Erimkh Fromm, «Anatomy of human destructiveness», M., «Ast», 2006, p. 94-95.
“The behavior of these people showed how incapable the German middle class was to oppose National Socialism. They did not have any ideological principles (neither moral, nor political, nor social) to show at least internal resistance to this machine. And they had a very small margin of safety to survive the sudden shock of arrest. Their self-consciousness was based on confidence in their social status, on the prestige of the profession, the reliability of the family, and some other factors … Almost all of these people, after their arrest, lost values and typical features important for their class, for example, self-respect, an understanding of what is “decent” and what no, etc. They suddenly became completely helpless — and then all the negative features characteristic of this class came out: pettiness, quarrelsomeness, narcissism. Many of them suffered from depression and lack of rest and whimpered endlessly. Others turned into crooks and robbed their comrades in the cell (it was an honorable thing to deceive an SS man, but it was considered a shame to rob your own). They seemed to have lost the ability to live in their own image and likeness, and tried to focus on prisoners from other groups. Some began to imitate criminals. […] Bettelheim here gives a very subtle analysis of the self-esteem of typical middle-class people and their need for identification: their self-consciousness was fed by the prestige of their social position, as well as the right to give orders. When these supports were taken away from them, they immediately lost all their morale (like air released from a balloon). Bettelheim shows why these people were so demoralized and why many of them became obedient slaves and even spies in the service of the SS. But it is necessary to name one more important reason for this transformation: these non-political prisoners could not grasp, fully understand and evaluate the situation; they could not understand why they ended up in a concentration camp, they were not criminals, and only one thought fits in the orthodox mind: only «criminals» deserve punishment. And this misunderstanding of the situation led them into complete confusion and, as a result, to mental breakdown. Political and religious prisoners reacted to the same conditions quite differently.
For the political, who were persecuted by the SS, the arrest was not a bolt from the blue, they were psychologically prepared for it. They cursed their fate, but at the same time they accepted it as something corresponding to the very course of things. They were naturally preoccupied with what awaited them and, of course, with the fate of their loved ones, but they certainly did not feel humiliated, although, like others, they suffered from the terrible conditions of the camp.
Jehovah’s Witnesses all ended up in a concentration camp for refusing to serve in the army. They were perhaps even more steadfast than the political ones. Due to their strong religious beliefs, they did not lose their identity, since their only fault in the eyes of the SS was their unwillingness to serve with weapons in their hands, they were often offered freedom if they did agree to serve contrary to their convictions, but they steadfastly rejected such proposals.
Jehovists, as a rule, were rather limited people and strove for only one thing — to convert others to their faith. Otherwise, they were good comrades, reliable, well-mannered and always ready to help. They almost did not enter into disputes and quarrels, they were exemplary workers, and therefore guards were often chosen from them, and then they conscientiously urged the prisoners and insisted that they do the work efficiently and on time. They never insulted other prisoners, they were always polite, and still the SS preferred them as seniors for their diligence, dexterity and restraint.
A similar stratification was observed in the Stalinist camps, where hereditary aristocrats, military personnel and clergy often turned out to be the most persistent.