Transitional Justice & Mental Trauma in Post-Conflict Societies
- Ibi Rauf
- Jan 27, 2017
- 4 min read
On May 9th, 1945 Nazi Germany surrendered to the Soviets which marked the end of the Holocaust, a twelve-year long genocide of the Jewish people. Nearly half a century later in 1998, on the other side of the world, a plebiscite was held to determine the future of Chile which freed it from a violent dictatorship that had lasted for sixteen and a half years. Though emerging in different places, in different time periods, and from various sources of conflict, both these tragic events led to the creation of cinematic and literary work that examines post-conflict societies. For instance, Hannah Arendt released in 2002 is a biographical drama which focuses on the life of the famous German- Jewish philosopher and political theorist Hannah Arendt and her involvement with the controversial trials of the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Death and the Maiden, a play written by Ariel Dorfman centers around Paulina, a survivor of an unnamed conflict under an unnamed regime (but can be assumed to be the Chilean Conflict) and her struggles with healing after being held as a prisoner.
Both these works focus on an important form of transitional justice, a trial. In the film, Adolf Eichmann stood trial for 15 counts of criminal charges that included crimes against humanity and the Jewish people. However, Death and the Maiden focuses on trials in a much more informal way. The antagonist Paulina was held prisoner during the conflict in her country and during her imprisonment was repeatedly raped. When a stranger named Dr. Miranda assists her husband, Gerardo, with a flat tire and later shows up in their home to return his spare, Paulina becomes suspicious that he is the man that physically abused her. She does not, however, have any concrete evidence of this, except that his voice and smell are familiar to her. From these suspicions, she takes Dr. Miranda hostage in attempts to gain a confession out of him for his crimes. It is clear in the play that Paulina's motives for holding a trial stem from an emotional source. This dynamic is also present in the trial of Adolf Eichmann, as his trial is emotionally charged with 112 witnesses, many of them being Holocaust survivors as well [1]. It is beneficial to examine an emotional scene from Hannah Arendt as this dynamic is not as apparent as in Death and the Maiden. Below, is a word cloud taken from the opening scene of the trial of Adolf Eichmann.
The words are sparse because the scene is short, but the words used are very powerful. Words like blood, Auschwitz, graves, ashes, etc. that are emotionally charged are used to set up the basis of this trial. In the following scene, Arendt is shown raising concern that this trial should not become a "show trial" for Israel and frequently discusses how the deeds of Eichmann are being overshadowed by a tragic and emotional history. The goal of bringing to light these aspects of the trial is not to criticize the emotion behind it, but to understand why it is there, and what can be done to minimize the emotional trauma that individuals endure during a conflict. Through further research, I was able to find that there were little to no resources for individuals immediately after the Holocaust to aid in emotional trauma. There were laws set up by the government of West Germany in conjunction with the Claims Conference to compensate Nazi victims, but these laws were strict and explicitly stated that they would not compensate for emotional or mental damages [2]. Death and the Maiden deals with a similar problem as well. Gerardo, Paulina's husband, is appointed to be on the National Truth Council to report on human rights abuses that occurred during the conflict. The council though focused on what it considered to be "serious cases," i.e., cases that resulted in death. Cases like Paulina's which involved mental and emotional trauma were not seen as serious and therefore would not be given the same kind of importance, and this is a point of contention between her husband and herself. I argue that because Paulina was not given an outlet or recognition for her trauma, this caused her to take matters into her hands and hold an informal trial. Also, in the case of the Hannah Arendt film, Holocaust survivors were given an outlet to express their trauma through the Eichmann trial, but it seems to one of the only formal outlets that they were given. The lack of an encompassing formal way of dealing with emotional and mental trauma post-conflict in both works raises multiple points. But the most importantly is, how can a nation efficiently deal with emotional and psychological trauma on a mass scale? It can be seen from both works that a lack of this process can lead to a perpetuation of conflict and can prolong the healing process. Death and the Maiden shows the limitations of truth commissions as those adhere to a strict definition of severe trauma. I would offer the solution of broadening the scope of what is considered to be traumatic and recognizing mental trauma as a valid affliction. It is crucial to point out that it is possible that psychological trauma was not acknowledged in these conflicts because post-traumatic stress disorder was not recognized as a mental disorder until 1980 [3], much after the Holocaust ended and about 20 years before the Chilean conflict ended. So as the psychological study continues to develop and the effects of war on an individual continue to be explored, the gaps in transitional justice from a psychological perspective can be filled or at least better understood, and better ways to deal with post-conflict trauma can be developed to aid in the healing process.
[1] A people's History of the Holocaust and Genocide. http://remember.org/eichmann/charges
[2] Claims Conference: The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. http://www.claimscon.org/what-we-do/compensation/germany-payments/beg/
[3] US Department of Federal Affairs. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/PTSD-overview/ptsd-overview.asp
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