The Politics of War Trauma: The Aftermath of World War II in Eleven European Countries

385 Pages·2011·3.21 MB·English

by  Jolande Withuis

STUDIES OF THE NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE
FOR WAR DOCUMENTATION
T JOLANDE WITHUIS & ANNET MOOIJ (EDS.)
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P THE POLITICS OF WAR TRAUMA
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THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR II
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tating losses. Millions of people had lost their
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The Politics of War Trauma compares the attitudes
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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.
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of the war and the prevalence of war-related health A
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ISBN 978-90-5260-371-1 .)
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Distributed in North America by Transaction Publishers.
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
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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
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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
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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.
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