Long-Term Effects of Concentration Camps

Following the defeat of the Nazis in Germany, considerable study was conducted into the physical and psychological effects of those who survived concentration camps. The Nazis rounded up and incarcerated Russians, Poles, gypsies and especially Jews, whom the Nazis automatically sentenced to death. Ten million concentration and death camp survivors were freed at the end of the war; however, the physical and psychological impact on them lasted a lifetime and can be grouped into categories.

Depression

• Many concentration camp survivors are depressed and apathetic.

  Concentration camp survivors often display gloomy and pessimistic moods and are frequently depressed. Some people become apathetic and withdrawn while others have angry outbursts and short tempers. Coupled with the depression are bouts of insecurity and a sense of helplessness and sometimes acute lethargy. Survivors often feel persecuted and stressed and occasionally develop disorders related to stress and tension.

Death Guilt

• Death guilt was common among concentration camp survivors.

  Following World War II, concentration camp survivors suffered from "death guilt," which today we call "survivor's remorse," the burden of having survived when so many others did not. Part of this was found to be based on the survivor having been unable to save others or to even help them and resist their captors. Survivors have a sense of responsibility to those who died and are often haunted by vivid, disturbing dreams and sometimes mental images that crop up when they are awake.

Psychosomatic disorders

• Many concentration camp survivors display psychomatic disorders.

  Going hand in hand with death guilt are psychosomatic disorders, often displayed as an insensitivity or inability to feel. While this is often a psychological defense against the horrific reality that the survivor has experienced, if it continues too long, it can manifest an ongoing sense of despair, depression, lethargy and other symptoms. Initially, in the camps, these people become detached from the reality around them and after being freed, they maintained that detachment well beyond its psychological usefulness.

Counterfeit Care

• Some concentration camp survivors become isolated, shunning friends.

  Anxiety has been found among many concentration camp survivors displayed as hostility toward individuals offering help and friendship. These survivors view any offer of aid or assistance with suspicion and resentment, having developed a view of the world around them as counterfeit, or fraudulent. Their anxiety and suspicion was heightened when people around them acted as if their Holocaust experience left them infected with some disease. Some became social outcasts, and others simply withdrew from social interactions.

Collectors of Justice

• Survivors occasionally display a need to make things right again.

  Some survivors became "collectors of justice," individuals determined to punish the guilty for the death camp horrors and to reinstate some sense of moral order. There were no graves to visit and mourn, no remains to bury, only a sense of enormous loss that left them feeling guilty and confused.

Physical Ramifications

• Concentration camp experiences left many with physical ailments that would eventually take their lives.

  While the psychological effects of concentration camps took a toll, so too did the physical effects. Survivors suffered bouts of fatigue, memory loss, sleep disturbance, headaches and other physical ailments. Additionally, many suffered digestive tract disorders and heart disease. Some survivors were literally living skeletons when they were saved, and their bones suffered decalcification due to a lack of calcium in their diet. This often lead to kidney stones and joint problems.