Controversially I thought of myself in the position of a Jew in Nazi Germany's controlled concentration camps. What would I have done differently? Giving myself some time to think and to be critically honest with myself of what I would do inside a camp, I came up with possible solutions. It would seem obvious to conspire for a mass riot and jailbreak to use the mass to overrun the guards; however, this would more than likely be extremely difficult because of extreme use of prepared lethal force. The psychological undertone for such lethality in one's mind might seem to have such a force that would undoubtedly be extremely heavy as to defy an entire system. I don't think I could find it within myself to start such a plan unless many were to become physically involved. I propose a more psychological tactic aimed at the guards and maybe even the higher powers. I proposein devastating and desperate times the creation of culture is a good tool. I would create a culture within the confined areas to condition a new mindset of hope and purpose. To do this I would want a surrounding audience to become organized and define a secret hierarchy of those who are most important by their own talents. Then I would suggest the creation of original songs (and perhaps even codes to go with the songs or lyrics). However, it would be the music that would be used as a psychological weapon aimed primarily at guards. The objective is to create music without meaning but spoken in a way where the guards interpret their own meaning which conveys sadness and a sense of their own wrong doing. Since they know what they are doing is wrong, it should shake them psychologically. The more sad a song sounds, the more it will affect them psychologically. To make sad songs, I propose examining and utilizing content that often makes individuals feel the most emotionally heavy. Personally, I prefer songs from the masters of emotional chaos such as Dir en Grey. Their old song "Ain't afraid to die" has in my opinion a deep sad and rather dark meaning that makes the song even more emotionally intense. The more deeper the meaning of the lyrics, the greater the effect on the guards. If the guards get annoyed, then perhaps a suggestion of change of tactics. I propose timing is the best solution. After giving some time for the guards to calm down, I suggest humming the tunes instead. The effects I think will be even greater when in a group. In addition, perhaps songs could also be aimed at the subconscious as well. The utilization of lyrics can also be used as a code or message to convey a secret language or information to be used around the camp. Eventually when hierarchies fall and the burden of death becomes heavy, I suggest hitting the guards and the entire camp with the greatest emotional-psychological weapon. A choir of perfect harmony and scale. A great example is "Ghosts of Reach" from Halo 2's soundtrack. The more perfect, scaled, and loud the choir, the more I think it will shake the vary foundation of the psychological consciousness of the oppressors. It's also important to study and take analysis of what fails and what does not. Just because one is in captivity doesn't mean they can't stop from being scientifically productive. The progress and innovation of such psychological tactics may prove to be progress or successful if it effects the psychological well being of those who understand what they are truly doing. In essence, psychological conditioning should be fought psychologically because a concentration camp is not only an institution for those held captive, but for those who are also protecting it. Furthermore, another tactic for creating culture would be to make plays of favorite TV shows, games, and stories. The creation of culture and the ability to pull together as one (collective mindset) will be the greatest source of psychological and emotional survival. However, all this is for nothing if there is no utilization of personal ethics, social harmony, collectivism, and the ability to do what is moral in given circumstances. It's important to show the guards the good in people as people help each other. It is also part of a psychological tactic to make them feel more like the bad guys. Another way to do this is to use the military tactic of faking your condition when seen by guards to make them feel more like the bad guys. I think this is often used and perhaps may or may not be very effective to the suppressors. It's my own personal and perhaps controversial belief that maybe The Stanford prison experiment could have been a failure if a cell mate were to have or develop their own individualistic/ non-social set of ethics and to pull back into his or her own imaginative reality (another idea could be retracting from having a "western" mindset into a collective mindset and perhaps maybe even focusing on self-enlightenment). Another idea could have been perhaps if a group of cell mates were to created their own culture with each other through songs, traditions (and maybe even a tradition of having fun taunting the guards and possibly conditioning them to feel awful), and their own basic form of entertainment (such as physical or verbal story telling or active plays). Another idea could also be to willingly listen to ideas of hope of others and to imagine oneself free from their suppressors as a form of hope. Maybe another method could have been to psychologically tone out torturous external activities by the suppressors as if some kind of zombie-like work routine and focus instead on personal ethics, personal enlightenment, micro cultures, and friendships created by other cell mates. I think by changing one's mindset, one could adapt to their environments (metaphorically speaking, like a grain of salt being inserted into a water, where it becomes one with the water). A good example maybe important to remember is the idea that "this is what the system is doing to me, while I rather be doing something else instead." mindset. Lastly, going back to concentrations camps topic, I think it's entering the train or when in transit and being taken to a concentration camp that is very important to the beginning of psychological initialization. Since there is a lack of supervision in such trains, I believe this is a good time to experiment with psychological tactics such as singing a choir or collectively planning of an exiting tactical ambush, takeover, or a discrete escape and evasion maneuver. The more organized, the more utilization of strategy, the learning of talents, the raise in intelligence, the search for solutions, the use analysis, and the ability to carry out psychological warfare without being harmed, the more of a chance of survival or re-institutionalization of oppressing powers and ability for one to increase their chances of survival in a modern concentration camp. I'd like to believe it's not just the numbers of people that can make a mass of people dangerous but the number of highly intellectual minds constantly organized, planning, and utilizing unseen strategic and functional scientific systems. If the soldiers are conditioned to be psychologically perfect than it seem obvious the battle can be taken on psychologically. Overall I think the more a person prepares and plans for a situation, the more they are prepared if it ever comes. Nonetheless, these are my thoughts on what I would do if I were a Jew going to or were inside one of Nazi Germany's concentration camps.
Ain't Afraid to Die by Dir en Grey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7emCZCSmuxA
(Don't mind the artistic creepy dark visual kei look, it's a Japanese subculture aesthetic without an objective meaning)
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