STUDIES OF THE NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR WAR DOCUMENTATION THE POLITICS OF WAR TRAUMA THE POLITICSOFWAR JOLANDE WITHUIS & ANNET MOOIJ (EDS.) THE POLITICS OF WAR TRAUMA In 1945, after the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, JolandeDr Martijn Withuis, Eickhoff THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR II Europe had to come to terms with its devas- sociologist,(1967) is a historianis a senior tating losses. Millions of people had lost their researcherwho has published at the IN ELEVEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES lives. Others were ill, starved and haunted by their Netherlandswidely on the Institute role and experiences in camps and in hiding, during combat forposition War Documentation of academics and bombardments. Nowadays in most Western countries a disaster like that would be met with (NIOD).in the Third Annet Reich. Mooij He is an army of psychotraumatologists. But in 1945 the ais freelance a researcher researcher. at the concept of posttraumatic stress was unknown. SheNetherlands has published Institute How did the medical professionals and the victims severalfor War books Documentation in the themselves perceive their health? What pension fi (NIOD)eld of medical in Amsterdam history. schemes existed? And which categories of victims and a lecturer in were eligible for support? cultural history at The Politics of War Trauma compares the attitudes Radboud University and policies towards the health consequences of WWII in eleven European countries: Austria, Belgium, Nijmegen. Denmark, East-Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and West-Germany. JOLANDE WITHUIS&ANNETMOOIJ(EDS.) It shows the remarkably asynchronous development of the medical approach to the survivors in these countries. In a truly interdisciplinary and innovative way the book connects aspects of the aftermath of war that are not usually analyzed together. Changes in medical and psychological thinking about the consequences of the war and the prevalence of war-related health problems are analyzed in the context of the political and cultural histories of Cold War, welfare state, memory and psychiatry. a ISBN 978-90-5260-371-1 Distributed in North America by Transaction Publishers. A a The Politics of War Trauma niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 1 31-5-2010 14:52:28 studies of the netherlands institute for war documentation board of editors: Madelon de Keizer Conny Kristel Peter Romijn i Ralf Futselaar — Lard, Lice and Longevity. The standard of living in occupied Denmark and the Netherlands 1940-1945 isbn 978 90 5260 253 0 2 Martijn Eickhoff (translated by Peter Mason) — In the Name of Science? P.J.W. Debye and his career in Nazi Germany isbn 978 90 5260 327 8 3 Johan den Hertog & Samuël Kruizinga (eds.) — Caught in the Middle. Neutrals, neutrality, and the First World War isbn 978 90 5260 370 4 4 Jolande Withuis & Annet Mooij (eds.) — The Politics of War Trauma. The aftermath of World War ii in eleven European countries isbn 978 90 5260 371 1 niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 2 31-5-2010 14:52:28 The Politics of War Trauma The aftermath of World War ii in eleven European countries Jolande Withuis & Annet Mooij (eds.) a Amsterdam 2010 niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 3 31-5-2010 14:52:28 isbn 978 90 5260 371 1 © 2010, Jolande Withuis and Annet Mooij All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by photoprint, microfilm or any other means, nor transmitted into a machine language without written permission from the publisher. Cover design: Jos Hendrix, Groningen Lay out: Hanneke Kossen, Amsterdam Printed in the Netherlands Aksant Academic Publishers, po Box 2169, nl-10oo cd Amsterdam, www.aksant.nl in co-operation with Transaction Publishers, www.transactionpub.com niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 4 31-5-2010 14:52:28 Contents Acknowledgements ix List of Abbreviations xi Introduction: The Politics of War Trauma 1 » Jolande Withuis part i Eleven Nations Chapter 1 A Nation of Victims — How Austria dealt with the victims of the authoritarian Ständestaat and national socialism 15 » Helga Embacher and Maria Ecker Chapter 2 A Kaleidoscope of Victimhood — Belgian experiences of World War ii 49 » Sonja van ’t Hof Chapter 3 From ‘Deportation Pathology’ to ‘Traumatismes Psychiques de Guerre’ — Trauma and reparation in post-war France (1940’s-1990’s) 79 » Maria Teresa Brancaccio Chapter 4 Negotiating Victimhood in East and West Germany 1945-2005 107 » Svenja Goltermann Chapter 5 Where Have All the Traumatized People Gone? — World War ii and its aftermath in Italy: trauma and oblivion 141 » Maria Teresa Brancaccio Chapter 6 Collective Suffering — Consequences of World War ii in Luxembourg 167 » Sonja van ’t Hof niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 5 31-5-2010 14:52:28 Chapter 7 From Totalitarianism to Trauma — A paradigm change in the Netherlands 193 » Jolande Withuis and Annet Mooij Chapter 8 A Psychiatric Study of World War ii Survivors — The case of Poland 217 » Jacek Bomba and Maria Orwid Chapter 9 From Camp to Claim — The kz syndrome and ptsd in Scandinavia, 1945-2010 241 » Ralf Futselaar part ii A Comparative Approach Chapter 10 The Aftermath of World War ii — A Comparison 271 » Annet Mooij Chapter 11 The Management of Victimhood — Long term health damage from asthenia to ptsd 287 » Jolande Withuis Conclusion 323 » Annet Mooij and Jolande Withuis Bibliography 333 Index 357 List of contributors 367 niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 6 31-5-2010 14:52:28 niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 7 31-5-2010 14:52:28 niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 8 31-5-2010 14:52:28 Acknowledgements On the occasion of the publication of this book we would like to thank all who have contributed to this comprehensive and complex international project. First of all, of course, our eight authors, who, with enormous dedication and resourcefulness, have opened up a new area of research. We retain very good memories of our collaboration, and in particular of our work conference in Amsterdam on 10 October 2008. The active and inspirational contribution of our oldest author, Polish psychiatrist and family therapist Maria Orwid, on that day is still vivid in our minds. We deeply regret that she is not here to see the publica- tion of this book, but we consider ourselves fortunate that our work could profit from her valuable knowledge and insights. Maria Orwid passed away in February 2009, at the age of 78. Furthermore we thank Julia Suchar. Had it not been for her kind offices we never would have been able to include Poland in this project. We also received assistance from historian Karel Berkhoff, sociologist Tom de Ridder and psycho- therapist Kees van der Velden, who provided, each in his own field, essential con- tributions. Thanks are also due to the scientific supervisory committee, consist- ing of dr. Eveline Buchheim, dr. Conny Kristel and prof. dr. Peter Romijn of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, and prof. dr. Pieter Lagrou of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Their close and thorough reading has benefited the book. With the exception of the chapters on Germany and Austria, that were trans- lated by James Fearns (Germany) and Mel Greenwald (Austria), Maggie Oattes translated or corrected the entire book with great care and commitment. The title ‘project coordinator’ does not do justice to the importance of Anne Helfrich. She kept the project going, took care of all correspondence, paid the bills, gave the authors the warmest welcome, and remained cheerful throughout. She has been invaluable for the successful conclusion of this project and for keeping up our job satisfaction. niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 9 31-5-2010 14:52:28 x | The Politics of War Trauma Last but not least, we want to thank our subsidizer, the Ministry of Health, Wel- fare and Sport, Department of Victims and Remembrance World War ii. Their generous grant made this pioneering project possible. We owe a debt of gratitude to Puck Huitsing in particular for her inspiring interest and her confidence in our work. Annet Mooij, Jolande Withuis September 2009 niod-wartrauma-def3-mei.indd 10 31-5-2010 14:52:28 List of Abbreviations aivg Aide aux Israélites Victimes de la Guerre (Aid to Jewish War Victims) ak Armia Krajowa (Home Army) aned Associazione Nazionale Deportati (National Association of Deportees) anei Associazione Nazionale Ex Internati (National Association of Ex-Internees) [military deportees] anmig Associazione Nazionale Mutilati e Invalidi di Guerra (National Association of Mutilated and Disabled Veterans) anpi Associazione Nazionale Partigiani Italiani (National Association of Italian Partisans) apa American Psychiatric Association cdec Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (Centre for Contemporary Jewish Documentation) cdj Comité de Défense des Juifs (Jewish Defense Committee) cegesoma Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society cfln Comité Français de la Libération Nationale (French Committee of National Liberation) cln Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (Committee of National Liberation) clnai Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale per l’Alta Italia (National Committee for the Liberation of Upper Italy) cmp Centre Médico-Psychologique (Medical Psychological Centre) cmr Conseil Médical de la Résistance (Medical Committee of the Resistance) cnppa Confédération Nationale des Prisonniers Politiques et Ayants-droit (National Confederation of Political Prisoners of Belgium) cnr Conseil National de la Résistance (National Council of the Resistance) Comintern Communist International cor Conseil de l’Ordre de la Résistance