Empathy - Angel of Humanity against Dehumanization - the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

This study sought to provide a better understanding of the way Jewish population used a series of internal resources to resist, survive and continue thereafter to lead a life as close to what we consider normal as possible. Trying to identify a theory in order to explain human behavior in situations of terror drove to Terror Management Theory. Despite the diversity of cultures around the world there are some psychological defense mechanisms which have a unique role: defusing awareness of death through a set of beliefs that give meaning and value to life (Solomon, Greenberg & Pyszczynski 1989). The starting point of this theory is the book written by Ernest Backer whose central idea was that awareness of death has a devastating effect, with the risk that the fear of death paralyzes the person (Becker 1976). To check how the situation of the Jews imprisoned in concentration camps or work camps fits this theory I have used 15 interviews selected from the archives of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I have done an initial encoding of 5 interviews obtaining several themes and subthemes. Next, I extended the coding to the rest of the interviews following only the most relevant 6 themes: genocide awareness, leadership, manifestations of empathy, heritage, faith and religious practices, gratitude. Religious beliefs (the promise of immortality, the belief in resurrection, eternal soul and surviving through legacy) seem to support individuals during traumatic experiences and I have examined them in the overall context of religious faith by performing a subsequent qualitative interpretation. Also, I considered following two of the essential virtues from the theory: empathy and gratitude for the preservation of life. The results of this qualitative research confirmed only in small measure the theory with regard to Holocaust situation. I assumed two possible explanations for this result: either the terror to which Jews were subjected surpassed the intensity of terror assumed by the theory or the time was a determinant factor (the amount of time during which they were subjected to dehumanizing treatment was too long for most protective mechanisms). Manifestations of empathy probably remain the most important resources.