Hunger and lack of sleep contributed to it (as they do in normal life, also)
and to the general irritability which was another characteristic of the prisoners’ mental state.
The lack of sleep was due partly to the pestering of vermin
which infested the terribly overcrowded huts because of the general lack of hygiene and sanitation.
The fact that we had neither nicotine nor caffeine also contributed to the state of apathy and irritability.
Besides these physical causes, there were mental ones, in the form of certain complexes.
The majority of prisoners suffered from a kind of inferiority complex.
We all had once been or had fancied ourselves to be “somebody.” Now we were treated like complete nonentities.
(The consciousness of one’s inner value is anchored in higher, more spiritual things, and cannot be shaken by camp life.
But how many free men, let alone prisoners, possess it?)
Without consciously thinking about it, the average prisoner felt himself utterly degraded.
This became obvious when one observed the contrasts offered by the singular sociological structure of the camp.
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