Indemnification policies for nazi crimes and post-war mental health

The paper focuses on the laws enacted by the Federal Republic of Germany after the Second World War (1939-1945) to denounce survivors of Nazism who suffered material losses and damage to physical and mental health during the nazi regime. More specifically, it analyzes the context in which psychotherapy flourished as one of the possible forms of indemnification for the horrors of Nazism. Taking a look at the post-war scenario in the West, the paper demonstrates that attention to the psychological health of victims arises between a confluence of factors: the valorization of the society of work and consumption strengthened by the values of the Cold War capitalist bloc; the efforts to promote global health included by entities such as the World Health Organization; and the popularization of psi knowledge that reached its peak in the mid-20th century following the mental hygiene movements and the demand for mental health specialists in the military sphere. Such events developed to build the atmosphere in which psychotherapy would play an important role in the post-war world. Thinking about the trauma of survivors of extreme situations and the role of the State in this sphere is relevant to allow reflection on the needs for mental health care and the right to dignity of people who survived.