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Holocaust and Genocide Studies 1986 1(2):279-295; doi:10.1093/hgs/1.2.279
© 1986 by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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THE PRISONER'S FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH AUSCHWITZ*

MICHAL UNGER

Mevasseret Zion Israel

This study focuses on the prisoner's reactions to his first encounter with the death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. Survivors' testimonies offer a unique insight into the larger issue of how people adapt and survive in extreme conditions. Entering the death camp was traumatic for everyone, yet the evidence collected here suggests that the paralysis of emotions and thoughts may not be as general or as total as previously believed. Prisoners reacted in various ways to this initial encounter. Which defence mechanisms worked, how they were mobilized, the nature of the different individual responses and the various subjective factors influencing survival are considered here.

*The Research of this paper was made possible by the Pell Research Endowment Fund, Mrs. Ida Pell, ‘In memory of my beloved parents. Moses David and Feige Schimmel Kuflik, who taught me always to search for truth’


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