Int J Psychoanal (2009) 90:809–825 doi: 10.1111/j.1745-8315.2009.00169.x Being in Berlin: A large group experience in the Berlin Congress H. Shmuel Erlich*, Mira Erlich-Ginor* and Hermann Beland** *Israel Psychoanalytic Society Midbar Sinai 42, 97805 Jerusalem, Israel –
[email protected] **German Psychoanalytic Association ⁄ IPA (Final version accepted 19 November 2008) In July 2007, the International Psychoanalytic Congress convened for the first time since the war in the former Nazi capital, Berlin. An open large group forum was held at this meeting, where attendees (Jewish, German and others) had the opportunity to explore the emotional aspects stirred up by being in Berlin. Hun- dreds of people participated in the event and described it as the ‘heart of the Con- gress’. We examine several aspects of the event, including the passions stirred, the containment of the setting, and the voices present and absent. Keywords: anti-Semitism, experiential large group, Holocaust, reparation, trauma To my surprise I discovered that my hotel room happens to be above the bunker where Hitler committed suicide. Then came the thought: As an analyst, do I have to identify with Hitler? I had the sudden thought of having lived with a ‘Nazi mother’ all my life. My shame at the sight of the German flag – I only hope my daughter will be free of this burden. It hadn’t occurred to me for a single moment that I might say something. Then I thought that I come from a family that remained silent all the Nazi-years. The history of psychoanalysis, by virtue of its unique relationship with Sigmund Freud and the disproportionate ratio of Jews among its early and later adherents, was deeply scorched by the rise to power of Nazism and the per- petration of the Holocaust.