Kestenberg Archive

The file contains two parts: MES's research on the dreams of surivors of Nazi camps and an interview ; Part A: MES's research paper "the interpretation of the dreams of the people who were prisoners in Nazi camps". She interviews 55 ex prisoners, 36 women and 19 men. She concludes that many dreams in the camps were wishful dreams about good food, family, normality and the beauty of nature. These positive dreams helped them find the strength to survive the horrors of the camps. In contrast, they suffered nightmares after liberation especially as they became older and their health deteriorated. After the war, they relived the horrors, and the fear that they would have to experience these horrors again. The dreams also portrayed their inner conflicts and their concern about their health. ; Part B: Interview: MES was born Jewish in Gorlice in 1915. After finishing high school, she moved to Cracow where she studied and worked. In 1939 she fled to Lvov where she worked under the Soviet occupation as a simple worker in a food factory. She stayed in the same apartment during the Nazi occupation with her friends. MES obtained false Aryan papers, was active in the Polish socialist underground (PPS) and was very lucky that no one informed on her. She became permanently crippled as a result of inproper treatment of a broken leg. After her extended hospitilization, she was informed that the Gorlice ghetto was liquidated and that all the members of her family had been murdered. She was interrogated by Ukrainian and German police and was able to convince them that she was not Jewish. MES returned to Cracow after the liberation, taught at the university and had a successful academic career in education, psychology and gerontology.