Concentration Camp Survivors in Norway and Israel, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1972

The general background of the groups investigated The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the severe psychic and physical stress situations to which human beings were exposed in the concentration camps of World \Var II have had lasting psychological results, to discover the nature of these conditions and the symptomatology they present, and finally to investigate which detailed factors of the above-mentioned stress situation can be con­ sidered decisive for the morbid conditions which were revealed. In order to elucidate these questions from different points of view, I have examined groups of former concentration camp inmates both in Norway and Israel. The Norwegians who were examined compose a fairly uniform group of men and women, born and bred in Norway, who after the War naturally returned to their native country. The Israeli groups which were examined were drawn from almost every country in Europe that had been under German occupation during World War II. They had all immigrated into Israel, mostly after 1948.

I. Introduction. The General Background of the Groups Investigated.- 1. The period prior to the arrest.- 2. The period from the arrest to the delivery into the concentration camps.- 3. The time spent in the camps.- 4. The period after liberation.- II. Previous Investigations.- III. The Collection of the Material and Its Arrangement.- A. The Norwegian groups.- B. The Israeli groups.- IV. The Background of the Investigated Persons and Their Personality Before Arrest.- 1. Home and childhood.- 2. School education and age distribution.- 3. Civil status, occupation, ‘personality’.- V. Conditions During Persecution and Captivity.- 1. Somatic aspects.- 2. Psychic aspects.- VI. Conditions After Release from Captivity.- A. The Israeli groups.- B. The Norwegian groups.- VII. The General Influence of the Stay in the Concentration Camps.- 1. Changes in personality.- 2. Why did they survive?.- 3. Feelings of guilt.- VIII. Present Conditions.- 1. Occupational status.- 2. Somatic and psychiatric symptoms.- 3. The concentration camp syndrome.- IX. The Psychiatric Picture of the Disorder.- A. The Norwegian groups.- B. The Israeli groups.- X. Summary and Conclusions.- References.