Nationalsozialismus in der "zweiten Generation." Psychoanalyse von Hörigkeitsverhältnissen (review)

124 SHOFAR Spring 1997 Vol. 15, No.3 Particularly disturbing is a risk that Markusen and Kopf recognize themselves, that the impact ofthe term "genocide" might be weakened by their broadening it to include virtually any case ofdeliberate governmental mass killing. Currently there may be more consensus about the proper definition ofthe term than the authors will concede. When the question of defining genocide was posed to a group of historians at a recent conference on the Vietnam War, there was virtual unanimity supporting a version of the current U.N. definition, "acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group," which is more restricted than the position ofMarkusen and Kopf. Ifthe broader categorization is accepted, and the usage ofthe term "genocidal" becomes more commonplace, then the only way to attract attention to the most serious cases ofmass murder will be by calling them another "Holocaust," thereby devaluing that term as well. We have already seen examples ofthis semantic inflation in Bosnia. The most valuable part of this book is its concluding chapters, where the authors summarize their findings and provide suggestions for the future. They are correct that the technology and practices of modem warfare have a vast potential for the destruction of civilians, and the world must be more aware ofthe increasing capability of states to commit mass murder. Interventions such as that in Bosnia may indicate a growing international concern. with cases of possible genocide and a willingness to act to stop them. But education must continue, and studies such as this one, that heighten awareness of the conditions that cause and permit genocide, will be an essential part of that process. Conrad C. Crane United States Military Academy Nationalsozialismus in der "zweiten Generation." Psychoanalyse von Horigkeitsverhiiltnissen , by Anita Eckstaedt. 2nd ed. Frankfurt-am-Main: Suhrkamp, 1996. 516 pp. DM32.80. National Socialism in the Second Generation. Psychoanalysis of Bondage Relationships addresses the hidden psychic impact of the Nazi generation on their children. The author, a German psychoanalyst, has given her colleagues a well-researched (194 references), thoughtful elaboration ofher insights into the mental struggles ofher patients with the forgetfulness, if not total silence, of their parents regarding the events of that period. Since this recall was blocked from any discourse, proper identification with parental figures and the sense of selfwere seriously weakened. Because many ofthe patients also expelienced significant trauma as young children, the resolution of such traumatization could not be achieved in silence and tended to result in phobic, psychosomatic, and depressive symptoms, among others. The psychoanalyst, also a victim ofthese dynamics, is likely to overlook their significance in an identification Book Reviews 125 with the patient's submerged pain. Eckstaedt advises her colleagues to be more alert to the defenses and resistances arising from a need to protect the self from a post-traumatic syndrome among those they are to help as well as in themselves. After the introduction, the book is divided into clinical and theoretical sections. The author emphasizes her interest in dealing with the wartime and immediate post-war periods during the initial interview in hopes ofsetting the tone for openness and for sensitizing the patient to the gaps in their life stories. The absence and loss offathers during the war and post-war years left many ofthe patients in an ambivalent relationship with their mothers, complicating a developmental growth process and an identity formation that was beyond awareness. The reports ofJewish psychoanalysts who had examined victims ofNazi atrocities and the status of the children, i.e., the second generation, strongly prompted Eckstaedt to become more sensitive to intergenerational concerns among her gentile clientele. Frequent reference is made to the work of Bergmann and Jucovy as providing inspiration for understanding of intergenerational boundary disturbances. Indeed, Eckstaedt's second chapter first appeared in 1982 in Bergmann and Jucovy's edited volume, Generations of the Holocaust, under the title of"A Victim ofthe Other Side." Avoidance of talking about one's Nazi experience, forgetfulness, denial, mutism, devaluation of the present, and silently clinging to old beliefs characterized parental attitudes which did not allow the next generation to challenge the earlier generation's deeds...