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| Dr Robert Jay Lifton |
THE NAZI DOCTORS:
Medical
Killing and
the
Psychology
of Genocide © |
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332 |
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| AUSCHWITZ: THE RACIAL CURE |
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an effort to find sufficient common ground to enter into
something on the order of humane dialogue. We had each made compromises, and
the process was valuable for us both, but we could only sustain it temporarily.
In parting, each of us felt a certain relief in returning to what he really was
and is. Which is not to say that Dr. B. returned to being a Nazi, but rather
that he overtly reclaimed Nazi-related elements still important to his sense of
self.
Consistent to the end, he made no moral statements. He did make
clear that, despite the late hour, he would drive the several hours back to his
home so that he could enjoy the winter sunshine and skiing the next day. He had
valued our interviews. But now he was eager to leave the hotel room, to leave
Auschwitz and the conflicts that had been engendered by our
dialogues. |
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| Dr. B. and the Jews |
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Ernst B.’s achievements and ambiguities are reflected
in his attitude toward Jews. The basic consideration here is his remarkable
record in Auschwitz of treating them as human beings in need. His Simon Cohen
dreams, moreover, suggest sufficient openness to a Jewish friend to internalize
him as a kind of conscience, and also an expression of humanity in
German-Jewish relations. But when I asked whether he had previously been
concerned about his friend’s fate, he answered vaguely, “Perhaps [on
a] subconscious [level] [Vielleicht unterbewwcst],” upon becoming
aware of the “Jewish emigration,” and added that he and his friends
had the impression that Jews were emigrating under “relatively good
conditions because they — were unwanted, because they had no opportunities
to remain here longer.” He could place the Cohen family in that category,
because it was well-to-do and influential, but the image is essentially a Nazi
one and covers over early victimization of Jews.
Then, reaching for
candor, he added that his friendship with Simon Cohen “was not especially
intense,” and that in his mainstream group of German friendships, “we
didn’t have many Jews.” He added also, “I am convinced that I,
like many others, suppressed that … [in a] conscious [way].” That
theme of having repressed or suppressed what was happening to the Jews recurred
throughout our talks. As he said, “That was at a time when general
prosperity was developing for most people, and of course it was much easier
simply to suppress unpleasant things.” But we may also assume a certain
degree of awareness, and acceptance, of that victimization.
The subject
came up in a direct way during our second interview. At the time his wife made
her statement about not being against me, only against Auschwitz, she also
asked me, “Why don't you help the Jews?” adding (in relation to
Israel and a Middle East impasse then occurring) that “they are still the
most hated people in the world” and that they needed to be helped in some
way so that they would not be in a situation |
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THE NAZI DOCTORS:
Medical Killing and the
Psychology of
Genocide
Robert J. Lifton
ISBN 0-465-09094
©
1986 |
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Page 332 |
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