The ritual of dream interpretation in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Abstract

This study is based on the testimonies submitted by former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoners to Polish psychiatrists in 1973. The respondents gave accounts of the daily camp custom of dream interpretation. The method of dream explanation in the camp was not sophisticated. It was a simple way of understanding dreams as future-oriented signs of the dreamer's fate. However, the custom of interpreting dreams in Auschwitz can be described as a complex and multilevel ritual that had at least 3 dimensions: individual, interpersonal, and social. On the individual level, this ritual was oriented on revealing the inmates' future. A prisoner, listening to a dream reader, could receive a good or bad prophecy, and this uncertainty was the core of the process. The interpersonal dimension of this ritual was connected with the inmates' need to capture others' attention. On the social level, dream sharing was a community-building activity. On each of these levels, finding the meaning of a dream was not as important as being engaged in closer relationships with other inmates. This article is an attempt to characterize the Auschwitz ritual of dream interpretation in light of various branches of cultural and dream studies as well as Randall Collins's theory of interaction ritual chains.

Dreaming “the Unspeakable”?How the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Prisoners Experienced and Understood Their Dreams

“…In a previous publication I described in detail the Auschwitz inmates’ ritual of dream sharing and interpreting undertaken while in the camp (Owczarski 2017), and I demonstrated that although they very willingly engaged in this ritual, they were generally not trained in this matter. As I concluded, “the interpersonal and social interactions occurring owing to this ritual were more important than the mere attempts to understand the meaning of the dreams” (Owczarski 2017, 288). In the reports of their after‐war situation, the survivors also revealed their helplessness with dreams.…”

“…Thus, the former inmates often believe in common dream symbols that can predict their future (see Cywiński 2016, 71‐76; Owczarski 2017). Some of them believe in individual dream symbols, connected only with their personal cases, both in the camp and later in life:

Whenever I dreamt about my mummy, there was no way I could avoid a beating the next day—once I watched my back all day, yet in the evening I still got the tiniest of kicks—but a kick all the same.

…”

“…It has to be taken into consideration that their viewpoints often changed along with time. I tried to explain this phenomenon (Owczarski 2017) in light of Randall Collins’ (2004) microsociological theory of interaction ritual chains. As Collin puts it, “what people think they believe at a given moment is dependent upon the kind of interaction ritual taking place in that situation: people may genuinely and sincerely feel the beliefs they express at the moment they express them, … but this does not mean that they act on these beliefs… in other everyday interactions where the ritual focus is different.” (Collins 2004, 44).…”

“…(The very few Polish academics who deal with dream studies perfectly know what I am talking about). Some people certainly believe in universal and future‐oriented dream symbols that can be found in popular dream‐books or in folk beliefs (see Niebrzegowska 1996; Sulima 2014), but generally Poles hold to the old proverb: “A dream is dust, in God we trust” (see Owczarski 2014a, 5‐12; Owczarski 2014b; Owczarski 2017).…”

“…I investigated this material from many perspectives (Owczarski 2016, 2017, 2018). In this article, I will concentrate on how the Auschwitz prisoners experienced and understood their night visions, as well as on the problem of representation of Holocaust memories in dreams.…”