o presented an
4h
between inmates.POWs who feared that every act or thought of resistance
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would be communicated to the camp administrators, lost faith in their
fellow man and were forced to "untrusting individualism." Informers are
also under several stages of brainwashing and elicitation to develop
and maintain control over the victims.
5. Induction of Fatigue. This is a well-known device for breaking
will power and critical powers of judgment. Deprivation of sleep results
in more intense psychological debilitation than does any other method of
engendering fatigue. The communists vary their methods. "Conveyor belt"
interrogation that last 50-60 hours will make almost any individual com-
promise, but there is danger that this will kill the victim. It is safer
to conduct interrogations of 8-10 hours at night while forcing the
prisoner
to remain awake during the day. Additional interruptions in the
remaining
2-3 hours of allotted sleep quickly reduce the most resilient individual
.
Alternate administration of drug stimulants and depressants hastens
the
process of fatigue and sharpens the psychological reactions of
excitement
and depression.
Fatigue, in addition to reducing the will to resist,also produces
irritation and fear that arise from increased "slips of the tongue."
for-
getfulness, and decreased ability to maintain orderly thought processes.
6. Control of Food,Water and Tobacco. The controlled individual
is made intensely aware of his dependence upon his interrogator for the
quality and quantity of his food and tobacco. The exercise of this con-
trol usually follows a pattern. No food and little or no water is per-
mitted the individual for several days prior to interrogation.When the
prisoner first complains of this to the interrogator, the latter
expresses
surprise at such inhumane treatment. He makes a demand of the prisoner.
If the latter complies,he receives a good meal. If he does not, he gets
a diet of unappetizing food containing limited vitamins,minerals, and
calories. This diet is supplemented occasionally by the interrogator if
the prisoner "cooperates." Studies of controlled starvation indicate
that the whole value-system of the subjects underwent a change. Their
irritation increased as their ability to think clearly decreased. The
control of tobacco presented an even greater source of conflict for
heavy
smokers. Because tobacco is not necessary to life, being manipulated by
his craving for it can in the individual a strong sense of guilt.
7. Criticism and Self-Criticism. There are mechanisms of communist
thought control. Self-criticism gains its effectiveness from the fact
that although it is not a crime for a man to be wrong, it is a major
crime
to be stubborn and to refuse to learn. Many individuals feel intensely
re-
lieved in being able to share their sense of guilt. Those individuals