KZ Syndrome
Publisher: Houtekiet
A scar that never disappears
KZ syndrome is post-concentration camp syndrome, a form of post-traumatic-stress disorder. It occurs in people who lived in the camps under constant threat of death or mutilation. After libration, they experienced intense fears, nightmares and pain. Their emotional wounds are sometimes transmitted to subsequent generations.
Henri Heimans’ parents were both active in the resistance during the war. They were arrested by the Gestapo, tortured and deported. His Jewish father endured Breendonk, Auschwitz and a death march to Ebensee. His mother, a talented violinist, returned from Ravensbrück badly damaged and then had to deal with the horrific death of her first husband, active in the Jewish resistance. She suffered from KZ syndrome, with severe migraines, anxiety and suicide attempts. Only after liberation did they meet.
The Pano report on Schild & Vrienden, in which Dries Van Langenhove and his supporters trivialized the Holocaust, touched Heimans deeply. He filed a complaint for negationism. Together with Dirk Verhofstadt, Heimans travelled across Europe to the camps and other places where his parents ended up. The result is a haunting quest and at the same time a warning about the dangers of the far-right.
