[National socialist violent measures against psychiatric patients: ways of coping by family members].

In the cause of an historical study dealing with the closing of an ancient psychiatric hospital in Luebeck during the 2nd world war the infrafamilial structures of the deported patients were explored. Among 136 clinical reports 42 cases were found in which families succeeded to get into contact with deported patients, in three cases their efforts to have them discharged were successful. Stress was laid on the exploration of 12 relatives of deported or murdered psychiatric patients. The interviews were structured following the "oral history" concept and psychological interpretation was added. Focussing on infrafamiliar coping processes which were developed facing the NS-propaganda it was found that working-class people tended to see the victim in an idealized role. They showed a strong projective defence remembering Psychiatry as an integral part of nazi-system. Others saw their relatives as victims of war in general. Some of the relatives tried to repress the existence of surviving patients for a long time, a smaller group clinged to the idea of Euthanasia. Remarkable were the deep effects of eugenic nazi-propaganda on the following generation. The national socialistic violence concerning their fathers or mothers was often a total "tabu" and they nowadays still fear to get into contact with Psychiatry being aware of "suffering" from the same "bad blood" as their murdered relatives. Dealing with patients' resistance to therapeutic efforts in gerontopsychiatric wards their heritage of the nazi ear should be taken into account.