Psychotherapies, and Psychology in the Third Reich

In today's Germany, the Holocaust remains an ever-present specter: How such planned and orchestrated mass murder could have occurred during their fathers' lives—and possibly with their fathers' assistance—has continued to preoccupy the sensitive members of the postwar generations. Mostly with the help of psychology and left-wing politics, these young Germans have wanted to make sure that no such atrocity will ever again occur. To that end, some of them have been on the lookout for neo-Nazi youth who again might emulate Hitler and his followers; others have been delving into the history of the Third Reich in order not to repeat it; yet others have explored the psychic mechanisms, and the attitudes, that allowed Hitler to be catapulted to power; and still others have been investigating the causes of the social, political, and economic fiasco of the Weimar Republic. In recent years, and already before the removal of the Iron Curtain, additional efforts have been made to root out terrorist acts, anti-foreign and anti-Semitic propaganda, and right-wing political agitation against immigrants who expect to settle in Germany. That, to a large extent, is why the recent inclusion of the right-wing extremist Joerg Haider's Freedom Party in the Austrian government has caused such international outrage.

But for over thirty years, the majority of Germans kept avoiding discussions of the Holocaust. After the Nuremberg trials, which began in December 1946, were ended, there ensued silence, and a collective cover-up. Although some participating psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and psychologists kept meticulous records and saved personal letters, these did not surface then. Nor did the files, reports, and reminiscences of the members