THE UNELABORATED TRAUMA OF DEPORTATIONS

Abstract: : The deportations that took place in the Moldavian SSR featured several traumatising instances: deportation, uncertainty, stigmatisation, survival in harsh conditions, the violation of all rights, loss of loved ones, witnessing multiple deaths and the threat of one’s own death. The interdiction to speak of these events, enforced for almost five decades, was a specific part of this trauma. Identification with the aggressor, the exaggerated tendency to adapt, the annullment of one’s own authenticity, and the development of false Self — all these were defence strategies indispensable for many of the deported. The descendants of the deported bring in the psychotherapy conscious and unconscious messages their predecessors transmitted: “Be cautious, do not act out, do not stand out, be quiet, be loyal to your superiors, believe no one, the ones closest to you will sell you out”. A slow process of metabolising trauma, by former generations and the lifting of the interdiction to speak of said trauma have facilitated openness in the most recent generation to a psychotherapeutic endeavour.