Federn E
Rev Int Hist Psychanal. 1988;1:109-15.
Ernst Federn met in the concentration camp Buchenwald Bruno Bettelheim and the Chechoslovakian psychoanalyst Dr. Brief. They discussed the application of psychoanalytic knowledge to the situation in the camp, particularly the defense mechanism of "identification with the aggressor". Of the three, Bettelheim was released after one year, Dr. Brief died in Ausschwitz and Ernst Federn was liberated by the U.S.A. Army. How he could use his psychoanalytic knowledge to survive but also to help fellow prisoners is demonstrated.