Dora's conversion syndrome: a contribution to the prehistory of the holocaust

The culture and society in which patient and analyst live and work may silently impinge upon the analytic situation. The Dora case exemplifies the influence of pervasive sociocultural anti-Semitism on the patient's personality development and psychological problems. Identifications with aggressor and victim were significant clinical and social issues. In its cultural and historical dimensions, the Dora case reflects some pathogenic roots of the Holocaust.