And then they would leave. But until they arrived—often they were hours later than announced, and sometimes did not come at all—
I was forced to keep straightening blankets, picking up bits of straw which fell from the bunks,
and shouting at the poor devils who tossed in their beds and threatened to upset all my efforts at tidiness and cleanliness.
Apathy was particularly increased among the feverish patients, so that they did not react at all unless they were shouted at.
Even this failed at times, and then it took tremendous self-control not to strike them.
For one’s own irritability took on enormous proportions in the face of the other’s apathy
and especially in the face of the danger (i.e., the approaching inspection) which was caused by it.
In attempting this psychological presentation and a psychopathological explanation of the typical characteristics of a concentration camp inmate,
I may give the impression that the human being is completely and unavoidably influenced by his surroundings.
(In this case the surroundings being the unique structure of camp life, which forced the prisoner to conform his conduct to a certain set pattern.)
But what about human liberty? Is there no spiritual freedom in regard to behavior and reaction to any given surroundings?
Is that theory true which would have us believe that man is no more than a product of many conditional and environmental factors—
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