Psychological Responses Of People During The Holocaust

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,

Psychologist Abraham H. Maslow is the developer of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The theory covers human behavior in terms of basic requirements for survival and growth (Cengage, 2002). The theory was developed in the early 1960’s. During this time psychology was taken over by two different views. One side was the human behavior and the other one was the behaviorist. Maslow explained that psychoanalysts had not accomplished the task to consider the behavior of healthy humans. He also mentioned that many subjective experiences that related with human behaviors were being ignored by behaviorist. In the beginning Maslow examined motivations and experience of many healthy individuals. He recognized that there are many requirements in this theory that are important for human survival and to help motivate individuals. He conceptualized different human needs as a pyramid with five levels in

With these few thoughts in mind Abraham Maslow made up a hierarchy of needs. (Boeree, Page 2) The hierarchy of needs has five levels: the bottom one is Physiological Needs, the next one up is Safety needs, the next one is Belonging needs, the next one is Esteem Needs and finally the last one is Self-actualization needs. As Maslow thought he “saw human beings needs arranged like a ladder”, the most basic needs at the bottom and at the top the need to fulfill yourself. (pbs.org, Page 1) Below is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory that Abraham Maslow observed and reported in a paper published in Psychological Review. In psychology Maslow's theory is described as a 5 tier pyramid with the needs most crucial to human survival on the bottom and the less important needs of love, self-esteem, and self-actualization on the top. Humans most basic needs of physical survival takes precedence over all other human needs. In Elie Wiesel's 1st person account of his experience in concentration camps during the holocaust Night , Wiesel describes both the loss of his family, his faith, and his home, but also how he was denied all basic needs for human survival. The severe mental and physical suffering that the Jewish prisoners experienced at the hands of the Nazis conditioned them to put their human values and beliefs aside so that they could simply survive.

The Holocaust was a terrible time for many people, but the part that is often over looked is the psychological and physical effects after liberation. This research essay will work to answer the question; How did the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945 affect the Jewish population in the years following? This will be answered by examining many different types of sources. Most of the sources used are secondary with primary sources embedded within. For example, in many of the books used, there were some quotes from survivors and related persons included as well. There are also some, not many, online sources used which give a modern point of view. All the sources were written in America including both the physical sources and the online sources.

Psychological effects are associated with the mental health of the suvivors. Imagine a situation where you are housed with a lion in one room, what will you feel? Would you be comfortable? That feeling is the exact feeling that the victims of the holocaust were experiencing during the periods they lived in the camps (Levine 350-360). The mental health of the Holocaust survivors was indeed complex and varied. Literature about the Holocaust reveals there was shock upon the arrival in the death camps for the Jews. Their experience is next to the unexplainable. The only sure thing for them at that particular time was death. The Jews lived in fear, heightened because they lived like hunted animals. They were,

World War II ended in Europe on May 7, 1945, but to many survivors of the Holocaust, the war would remain with them for the rest of their lives. Not only had it brutally stripped them of their families, but also of their own humanity. As the survivors came to realizations that their families would not return to them and the initial hardships of returning to a normative life wore off, the memories of the concentration camps and the shock of brutal separation from family came flooding back into their minds. These memories often caused radical change in mental behavior and, to a degree, somaticized themselves into the “survivor’s syndrome.” (Niederland 14) The symptoms seen in “survivor’s

Moreover, there were personal changes in their lives, and they had the disruption in their behavior and reasoning. Many of the survivors expressed agitation and anxiety. They feared to be alone and were chronically apprehensive. These psychological effects did not end here, some of them ended up representing the post-traumatic disease. A series of the researcher has described survivors based on their physiological effects. The study by Braga, Mello, and Fiks, (134), outlines the five psychological themes in survivors. He states the first one to be; death imprint, the second one being death guilt, psychic numbing, sensitivity and the last being the survivors struggle for meaning. From the above factual information were realize that the survivors were happy to have survived but as a result of the mental and psychological problems, their life continued to worsen. Holocaust was the very horrifying situation that caused a lot of destruction of life and families.

Describing humanistic needs Abraham Maslow also shows people how he sees the makeup of individual personality. Each need and stage is based on priority. Maslow's theory shows us the influences of the human needs to personality. Physiological needs are needs people need for survival or benefit to them. Health, food, water, shelter, clothing, and sleep are physiological needs. Coping information is needed to meet these needs. Safety and security, helping information, need to feel safe from physical danger. The ability to have a sense of security, knowing what to expect, is a good example of coping. After these needs are met an individual can experience life in a better quality so one can expand their personality. If living in fear and not meeting the needs of safety or security you are trapped and little room to grow with your personality expand your experiences. As well belonging, need for love, affection, being a part of something, is

Many American immigrants have been affected in both their mental health and family history by Nazi concentration camp experiences. This group of Americans has a unique cultural and psychological history. Many researchers have focused on this cultural group.

The Holocaust was a really tragic event that took place in the period from January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945, during the Holocaust about 11 million Jews were killed (Wikipedia) by a german group that saw the Jewish people as an inferior race, the Nazis, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, mercilessly killed all of those unfortunate to be caught. To this day, there are still survivors that witnessed this horrifying event, there are also journals and articles that explain in great detail how the Holocaust survivors were affected physically and psychologically. In the article “The Holocaust and Its Effects on Survivors: An Overview” Paul Chodoff describes how the survivors of the Holocaust were psychologically affected by their horrific experience during the Holocaust. The article “Disorganized Reasoning in Holocaust Survivors” by Abraham Sagi, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn, Tirtsa Joels, and Miri Scharf compared Holocaust survivors with people who did not experience the Holocaust to see how they were different when it came to psychological health, this was to conclude how the Holocaust survivors were psychologically affected by the Holocaust. “Sense of Coherence Moderates Late Effects of Early Childhood Holocaust Exposure” by Elisheva A.M. von der Hal-van Raalte, Marinus H. van IJzendoorn and Marian J. Bakermans - Kranenburg describes what the children that had survived the Holocaust had to go through to survive and the psychological trauma that scarred them for the rest of their

“We had forgotten everything- death, fatigue, our natural needs. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die… We were the only men on Earth.” These powerful words of Elie Wiesel were used to recount the suffering of a Jewish person during the Holocaust. Similar accounts abound throughout the story of the Holocaust, which is arguably the most widely known genocide in history. The Holocaust was the mass murder of more than six million European Jews (along with gypsies and other people deemed “undesirable”) in concentration camps by the German Nazis from 1941-1945. It is a narrative of a human injustice at the hands of a government, but it is also one of resilience and the refusal to be silenced. Historians have pieced together the story of the Holocaust predominantly from the perspectives of its victims because their firsthand accounts of the event provide a new point of view that contributes in narrating its story. Through the eyes of the victims, we catch a glimpse of what it’s like to be denied basic human dignities, to be forced to abandon all that you previously knew to get away from those who intend to kill you, and to feel helpless as the circumstances you’re under tear your family apart.

Maslow's foundation tier, the one upon which all others are built upon, is the physiological need. Air to breathe, food and water, and adequate sleep are all basic biological needs that the individual must have met. Not only to be motivated by the next level of need in the hierarchy, but to survive. The body's biological drives to fulfill these needs will predominate all other activities, as the very life of the organism is at stake. ( Boeree 1998, 2006)

He placed the most basic needs at the bottom of the pyramid and the most advanced needs at the top of the pyramid. According to Maslow , when people satisfy one level of need, they then move up to the next level. In his theory, the most basic need is the survive – to have enough money to buy food, shelter and necessary clothes. When they have satisfied the need for survival, they then need to feel safe and secure – perhaps from unemployment. So that second level of need is the security. After that, people need to belong to a group and to have friends – these are their social needs. They then move on the needing status. At this stage they need to be respected in the community, to be esteemed, and to be given recognition for what they do. When all these needs have been satisfied, people finally have self-actualization needs. This is ambition to achieve as much as they possibly can – perhaps to be promoted to high-level position with more responsibility. (Jane, 1999) 4

Maslow’s Theory. It was mentioned above that each person has his or her own needs and beliefs. Abraham Maslow, however, was the first one, who has developed a theory, where he divided and explained in details certain behavioral features of separate individuals. He divided person’s needs into physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow’s theory is formed in a hierarchical way, so that physiological needs appear to be in the bottom of the pyramid and self-actualization- on top. He explains that in order for a person to exist, he, first of all, needs to have food, water, sleep, breathing, etc. All these things, according to Maslow, are necessary in order for the person to be able to move forward and to work on his personal traits. Moreover, Maslow explains that these are the most important needs for every person, which provide him with the initial satisfaction. Safety needs come after physiological ones. These needs are connected to person’s home, work, health, family, etc. People need to feel secure about where they are going to sleep, how they are going to earn money and, consequently, support their families. Those are also very strong needs, which affect every person’s satisfaction and behavior. Next need is a need for socializing. Each person needs to belong to a certain group of people in order not to feel alone and unneeded. He needs to feel love and affection in order to feel more confident and successful.